Grow, Grow, Grow!

Growing vegetables in containers is far easier than I thought - or at least the speaker at Tomatomania made it seem so. The tricky part about gardening, it appears, is ensuring the soil conditions (temperature, acidity, nutrients, etc.) are consistent for the plants. In containers, this concern is eliminated, because potting soil is mixed and made perfect for you. Just dump and plant!

As I am new to gardening, the relative simplicity of container gardening is appealing. Eventually, once I am more experienced, I will have an entirely edible garden in my dream-house backyard. Until then, I'll stick to containers.

Here are my learnings from Tomatomania, some basics for growing tomatoes in containers:

1. Containers: Tomato roots can grow as much as 10 feet deep and 10 feet wide in the ground. Thus, you need large containers, 15 x 15 at minimum. Make sure your containers have holes that drain. Wooden or pulp containers are best because they do not retain heat, keeping the roots nice and cool. Avoid dark colored containers that absorb heat. If you do have dark containers already, cover in fabric like burlap.

2. Planting: Plant only one tomato plant per container. You will want to dig a rather deep hole when planting. Pinch off the bottom leaves of the plant and place deeply in the soil, so that only the very top of the plant is above ground. This means you will be planting some of the stem in the soil. This is good! As this will result in more roots faster.

3. Fertilizing: In containers, you will need to fertilize once when you plant (sprinkle fertilizer in the hole you dig for the plant, mixing it deep in the soil by the roots) and every two weeks following. Use an organic fertilizer, following the directions on the package.

4. Watering: Immediately after planting, water so as to soak the root ball. It does not take a lot of water to accomplish this, as the roots are still fairly short. As the plant grows, the container will need more water to reach the growing roots. The key with watering tomatoes is watering deeply and infrequently. Of course, with containers, water tends to evaporate or drain out fairly quickly, so you will mostly likely need to be watering every day or so, particularly as temperatures rise. Speaking of when temperatures rise, watering a little extra on the hottest days so that there is some reserve on the bottom will ensure you plant's roots have enough water to combat the heat.

5. Sun: Tomato plants need full sun. Full sun means 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. What is important with this is heat on the surface of the soil. This does not mean heat in the roots. Thus, placing your containers in an area that receives plenty of sun and heat, but not on a surface that will cook the roots is important. Also, avoiding dark containers, which trap in heat, will ensure a fruitful harvest.

6. Pinching: You can pinch leaves if you'd like; you can do no pinching at all. It is up to you. Pinching results in bigger tomatoes, while not pinching results in more but smaller tomatoes.

7. Shelters: Tomatoes plants grow tall and large, so your plant will need a cage or support of some kind. You will want to install a shelter in your container when you plant, so that you do not injure any roots.

8. Mulching: If temperatures get really hot, mulching (placing shredded newspaper or hay on the surface of the soil) may help.

There you have it! The basics for starting your very own tomato plants. Grow, tomatoes, grow, tomatoes, grow!

xx