Courgette and Tomato varieties

[Balconygardener]

I'm going to attempt to grow my own cherry tomatoes and cougettes this year. It's mostly for fun, but hopefully to get at least a few bits to eat as well!

As my username suggests, I don't have any garden of my own, but I do have a sunny, south-facing balcony with space for pots.

I was hoping someone would be kind enough to recommend varieties of cherry tomato and courgette that would do well in a pot.

From the reading I've done, I think I might be a bit late planting the tomatoes, but hopefully not too late! I intend to get started next weekend (Easter).

Thanks!

[ginger ninger]

Hello and welcome to the crazy gang Balconygardener.
No your not too late for tomato's if ya quick, "Tumbling tom" - " Muskotka" or "The Balconi Collection" from T&M are all good tomato verity's for pot's or cheat and buy one. I grow Eight Ball Courgette in large pot's and they never fail me, they grow to around tennis ball size are Dark green and very tasty, but any bush verity should be OK.
Happy Growing.

[beaufontboy]

Hello and welcome, I havent started my toms yet will be doing so at easter, I grew my toms (balconi and Totem) in pots last year, good results too, the 8 ball courgette that ginger recommended has also been good for me, the bit i struggle with is watering as the pots do dry out fairly quickly when in the sun, I used flower buckets from Morrissons last year as pots, did good ! have fun !

[pjh75]

Garden Pearl were good in pots for me last year... they are quite compact and produce a great yield. Not sure about courgettes, I have only grown all green bush which are quite sprawling so probably not ideal for pots?! I have seen seeds in the garden centre that are dwarf varieties, specifically for pots but I can't remember what they were called - another grape might know.

[elsie-scot]

You could grow some of your tomatoes in hanging baskets, will give you a bit more space. Could but basil or marigold in the middle of the basket.

[Bigmallly]

I'm no good with varieties, I just grow whatever I like the taste of from the supermarket. The only thing I do is stand the tom pots in trays of water. Feed from the top, water from the bottom.

[pjh75]

Was back in the garden centre today and the container courgette is called Midnight F1 - although they were also selling all green bush as a patio set, so I guess people must grow them in pots too.

[Furny]

You could grow some of your tomatoes in hanging baskets, will give you a bit more space. Could but basil or marigold in the middle of the basket.

Hi
Thank you for this response, I am a neewbie container gardener & was going to do some tumbeling toms in a basket & had thought about starting a thread to ask if there was anything i could put in with it so this answered my question perfectley plus i went to look in my seed boxes & have packets of basil & marigold so don't have to buy anything!.

[Jillyreeves]

Hello and welcome :-)

Cant advise you on the courgettes Im afraid as I always so mine in the ground but tomato wise Garden Pearl and Tumbling Toms are a sure fire winner in hanging baskets and tubs.

[rustylady]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the taste of Gartenperle? I would try and arrange a support system and grow Sungold or Gardener's Delight.

[keepondiggin]

Hi - as well as the tomatoes that would go in your hanging basket(s) there's also Tiny Tim,100s and 1000s,which are ideal for pots and do well -Tiny Tim only grows to about 12 inches and does equally well on a windowsill indoors.For courgettes I would choose a baby variety-courgette bambino if you want to use a pot or the Midnight F1 as above or if you can fit a growbag on the balcony you could plant the courgettes in that ? The main thing is to make sure they have plenty of water courgettes are very thirsty.Let us know how you get on and what you decide to grow!

[Pies]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the taste of Gartenperle?

No i can't stand it either,i prefer sweet million and black cherry.Both do well in pots

[COMPOST CORNER]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the taste of Gartenperle? I would try and arrange a support system and grow Sungold or Gardener's Delight.

Another vote for Sungold from me, the best cherry tomato by a mile as far my whole family are concerned. They get eaten like sweets, with very few making it to the kitchen. Will be growing a lot more of them this year.

[Balconygardener]

Hi, everyone - thanks so much for all the suggestions! Unfortuantely, I made the (now very obvious) newbie mistake of assuming that I could just walk into the garden centre and pick the whatever varieties I had decided on - next year (if all goes well), I will go for seeds online instead, but for this year, it's whatever they had on the seed stand:-)

So, I have Tumbling Tom (which I see have at least one recommendation - thanks, Jillyreeves!), and Defender for courgettes. They were both planted on Sunday, and I am excited to see what happens!

Also - thanks so much for the advice on watering and feeding, Bigmally, and everyone's advice that the courgettes will be thirsty. I have bought some of those water retaining crystals to add to the pots when I plant on. Does anyone know if these are worth using?