Tomatoes

[sensilights]

Hey all..I wanted to do a few heirloom tomato plants this year there is a local organic grower who sells the young plants for pretty cheap :thumbsup: but don't want to tear up any of my flower garden space so i'm doing them in pots on my patio. My question is what size pot should i use so i don't need to transplant them at all? Thanks!

[texas grass]

i would go to a tomato forum, dont need to talk about tomatoes around here, sorry this is a cannabis forum

anyways most plants want gal of soil per foot of plant

[sensilights]

i'm sorry i figured that some people grew things other than cannabis and figured it was a simple enough question for the organic forum

[Mr. Clandestine]

I grow tomatoes, but I'm not quite sure of the planter size. It's friggin' huge, though. I'd say the lip of the pots are a good 2' across, and probably hold about 15 gallons of soil. My tomato plants never get rootbound in these containers, and I could probably get away with something much smaller... but the containers were given to me for free, and they allow plenty of space for fencing, so I've stuck with them for years. And the tomatoes really seems to love the space. After a few months, the tomatoes I'm pulling off of them are monsters!

[keeko]

Hey all..I wanted to do a few heirloom tomato plants this year there is a local organic grower who sells the young plants for pretty cheap :thumbsup: but don't want to tear up any of my flower garden space so i'm doing them in pots on my patio. My question is what size pot should i use so i don't need to transplant them at all? Thanks!

how big are the plants when you buy them?......are they in the 4 inch pots?.. I would atleast get a 5 gallon pot if they are in a 4 inch. 'celebrity' and 'old german' are some good heirlooms, and if im not mistaken celebrity is somewhat disease resistant.

[sensilights]

Excellent :thumbsup: Thanks for the help guys...i think i'll get a couple of those big ol' 5 gal pots and use a mix of some "super poop" from the local nursery and a mix of black dirt and homemade compost...should i add that same amount of perlite i would for cannabis? 30%ish?

I believe they are around 8-12 inches tall now...these are the varieties she has...Varieties: Brandywine, Mortgage lifter, Caspian Pink, Old German, Bloody Butcher, Russian Black, Big Rainbow, Pineapple, Hawaiian Pineapple, Black Krim, Black cherry, Aunt Gerties Gold, Lillian's Yellow Heirloom, Golden Queen.


I figured for $2 bucks a piece i couldn't go too wrong :)

[stinkyattic]

Drill holes in the sides of the pots, not just the bottom, and lift them up on a couple bricks or something to let them drain freely. 30% perlite is fine- just remember tomatoes suck water like crazygonuts and you'll have to check them daily.
I am growing the heirloom 'mortgage lifter' and a commercial variety 'marglobe' this year, along with a striped yellow-and-orange one that I forgot the name of- lightning something... lol.
If you can get an even bigger pot, like a 10 gallon, that would be even better.

[Shovelhandle]

I grew a strain called "Floramerica" once or twice but haven't seen it in the nursery in years (yes, I buy the potted starter plants). It was a wonderful fruit and high yeild. Have any of you seen these? I would like to grow them from seed if I could locate some.
I have been growing Roma, Early Girl and Beefstake or Big Boy. Three varieties each year. We only have one gallon of whole tomato left from last year, so I think I'll grow another flat this season.

Shov

[sensilights]

I think i'm gonna try the Brandywine and Hawaiian Pineapple and i'll let you guys know. Thanks for the help :)

[Revanche21]

short story

i bought an heirloom tomatoe from wholefoods

it was rotten, i threw it in the backyard and stepped on it to get all the seeds out.

come 5 months it turned into 5 huge heirloom tomatoes

one of those was touching the ground and got half eaten by bugs, put that one in a planter, and smashed it up...

now i have about 20 tomatoe plants in a huge planter...

waiting for the yields haha

[keeko]

short story

i bought an heirloom tomatoe from wholefoods

it was rotten, i threw it in the backyard and stepped on it to get all the seeds out.

come 5 months it turned into 5 huge heirloom tomatoes

one of those was touching the ground and got half eaten by bugs, put that one in a planter, and smashed it up...

now i have about 20 tomatoe plants in a huge planter...

waiting for the yields haha


thats good to hear, kinda makes you think about the circle of life......you think you kill it but give it time and it will flourish. (pretty damn stoned now) any chance on getting pics of your matoes?

[Revanche21]

will get some pictures next time I visit my parents house as this is where I did it at... if I go back soon, don't forget, and the thread still exists, and you still care to see it lol

[inbud]

I have found as a "rule of thumb" is as high and as wide as the plant will get, allow for roots. like if the plant is expected to get three feet tall, then a three foot container, or two feet wide a two foot container at width. But, this is just a rule of thumb, cause i have grown 5+ foot plants in like a less than five gallon container. that was before i got my MMJ recomendation, now i cant seem to grow over a four foot plant in a 15 gallon container! Go figure. (but the grow season is young yet):D

[stinkyattic]

i bought an heirloom tomatoe from wholefoods
it was rotten, i threw it in the backyard and stepped on it to get all the seeds out.
come 5 months it turned into 5 huge heirloom tomatoesAwesome.
Only heirloom maters will do that. The seeds of supermarket hybrids are sterile.

[Revanche21]

Awesome.
Only heirloom maters will do that. The seeds of supermarket hybrids are sterile.

thats awesome to know

too bad I only got one type to grow, its the one thats dark red and with the green on top

I encourage if anyone has any free space in their backyard to try what i did lol

its awesome

free tomatoes with 0 effort!
not to mention they cost me 5.99 a lb USD when i bought mine

[Shovelhandle]

The seed crops went in a couple of weeks ago and are up and growing. Today was the day to plant the hot house seedling veggies. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant all watered in and mulched. Now, watch the magic.

Shov :hippy:

[keeko]

The seed crops went in a couple of weeks ago and are up and growing. Today was the day to plant the hot house seedling veggies. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant all watered in and mulched. Now, watch the magic.

Shov :hippy:

sounds awsome, got any pics.

[the image reaper]

I grew heirlooms from seed (but not in containers) ... got them from a company in Florida, called 'TomatoGrowers', they have a website ... if you get the opportunity, be sure and try the 'Hillbilly' heirlooms ... bi-colored, HUGE 2# tomatoes, maybe the best-tasting tomato ever ... :weedpoke:

[maxsuperdanks]

What would the lighting schedule be for vegging and flowering a tomato plant?

[the image reaper]

'educated guess' - same as cannabis, etc ... the plant adapts to the hours of daylight, regardless of what plant you're talking about ... :smokin:

[maxsuperdanks]

'educated guess' - same as cannabis, etc ... the plant adapts to the hours of daylight, regardless of what plant you're talking about ... :smokin:

Niiiicee


I might grow some tomatoes and weed.


That'd be awesome to have some sick marinara sauce home grown.

[Revanche21]

What would the lighting schedule be for vegging and flowering a tomato plant?

Quick search on Google yielded:

18-17 hours of light for veg and 12 hours of light for flowering

so yea, its the same :)

[stinkyattic]

I've had plenty of success growing hot peppers in my grow rooms, and half decent success with indoor maters- they just get so BIG! And they both attract aphids, yuck. If you want to do indoor I'd suggest a 'patio' style tomato that grows as a squat little bush, and that it be a 'determinate' type, which bears a heavy crop and then dies without getting big and scraggly. You should see the 7+ foot tall tomato at the local grow shop... LIVING IN A THREE GALLON POT!!! Oh, hahahahahahaa, what a sight. I think if I knew the owner better I might gently suggest that he put it in a bigger pot... but I don't want to insult him... maybe it's just a test or something. lol!

[sensilights]

well i didn't get to do the heirlooms this year :( but i did get a couple of early girls and a better boy, and got my cukes, strawberrys, herbs, and lettuce in...only problem was the day after i got everything planted it hailed, then rained 3 out of the next 4 days so their a bit droopy right now lol

On another note the superpoop i talked about before is some crazy superpoop! My mom got some a couple of weeks before I did and threw it in half of one of her beds to see if it was any good...the plants on that side were more than twice the size of the plants on the other side after 2 weeks lol

I threw some in with my lilies this year and after a week they've almost doubled in size...only problem was they don't clean it out so you have to pick through and pull out all the bits of wire and plastic and garbage that got shoveled up with the animal bedding which was pretty gross lol. i threw a bit in my compost pile too and its been moving much faster than before, AND at $5 for all i needed for the veggies and the flowers it was a pretty good deal.

[shauntic]

go 2 the supermarket they are cheap :D

[Shovelhandle]

Nothing like a fresh, garden tomato. I've been scarfing on them for weeks and weeks. I bagged up and froze gallons of them to cook with over the winter. I don't care for the winter grocery store tomatos, usually.

[adamsxm]

i have a tomato plant that keeps flowering but they die and no tomato.that ever happen to anyone?

[stinkyattic]

You need a pollinator. Or a paint brush and some patience. Tomatoes don't set fruit without the help of insects.

[cannawish]

it also could be that the plant is receiving water on an inconsistant or irregular schedule...sometimes that prevents the flowers from setting fruit.

[sensilights]

This is the craziest thing...i'm in zone 5 so my tomatoes and cukes should be done for the year (or so i thought) but i went out to check my cuke vine yesterday (which is yellow and whithery so i thought it was finishing up) and there are 3 nice sized fruits hiding on it and a ton of blossoms again! I have at least 50 large green tomatoes on the tomato plants (2) still as well and a bunch of blossoms on those..but the craziest is my strawberries which havn't produced any fruit since...july lol and these guys have a ton of little tiny fruits i didn't see before that are starting up...gogo superpoo lol

I've decided next year to try nothing but heirloom veggies and to start them all from seed...its good practice and $2 for 25 seeds is much better than $4 for a plant :D

[stinkyattic]

Try the heirloom tomato 'Mortgage Lifter'. Mine were COMPLETELY defoliated down to bare stem from a late frost while I was out of town and then CAME BACK and are now producing fruit. From what I hear, it's a HEAVY production strain. And I can attest at least to its indestructibility!

[sensilights]

Try the heirloom tomato 'Mortgage Lifter'. Mine were COMPLETELY defoliated down to bare stem from a late frost while I was out of town and then CAME BACK and are now producing fruit. From what I hear, it's a HEAVY production strain. And I can attest at least to its indestructibility!

I heard that about that strain...interesting story I've got a book that details 100 strains of heirlooms and the Mortgage Lifter came about in the 1930's, and was so named because after developing the strain, the gentleman sold enough tomatoes over a few year span that he was able to pay off his $6000 mortgage.

That was one that I wanted to try along with Green Grape and Green Zebra cuz they're pretty cool looking and supposedly really tasty, along with Black from Tula, Cherokee Purple, and Pink Brandywines. I was thinking of trying 2 plants of each (except the greens as they're small and really really productive) That will give me 2 greens, 4 black, 2 pink and 2 red, so it should be fun...now I just have to wait til April to plant them...I wonder what I could grow in the meantime....hmmm...lol :D :thumbsup:

[Revanche21]

ok this weekend I will be visiting my parents house which have the heirloom patch I was talking about I'll be sure to take some pictures and show everyone!

what I got from this:

stomping on tomatoes in your backyard is good for you and your family:hippy:

[sensilights]

I look forward to the pictures :D Heirlooms can be so cool looking :thumbsup:

I had to pick all the tomatoes on Monday night for fear of frost and on 2 plants planted in the super poo, and fed only 1 other time with some yummy compost/manure tea I made I picked 61 mostly green tomatoes :D I was shocked at how many I got...i'll have to find the camera and take a picture of my counter covered in multicolored tomatoes, peppers, and cukes cuz it looks really cool

[Shovelhandle]

I had a dozen italian eggplants this summer. They all flowered beautifully, twice. Bugs never eat from them this season but they never got pollinated! Not one fruit! Just a weird year for pollinators. My herb garden attracts lots of odd pollinators.. You'll see swarms of brightly colored little bees, butterflies, moths or flies that you never see anywhere else. I had a hummingbird moth, that I'd never seen before this season.

[Shovelhandle]

I'd love to see some of your heirloom tomatos. I saw some on tv recently. They cut them open, beautiful burgundy, yellow, white, every kind of tomato

[Revanche21]

ok bummer I get there and my parents didn't remind me that they were done growing and the plants have mostly died lol

boo

maybe Ill grow an heirloom plant in my DWC :)