Cherry toms in baskets

[nightofjoy]

I'm going to plant out some cherry toms in baskets this year.

After I've got the seedlings to come through, I plant them in individual pots, until they get to a height of around 6 inches?

At this stage, will they grow upwards by themselves to this height?

When I transfer them to the hanging baskets, how do I train them over the edges? Are they vine-like? Will they just do this naturally, or do they need guiding?

[ClayGarden]

Welcome to the forum

I dont know past 4 or 5 inches, but mine are still vertical unsupported. Seem quite stiff/strong too, so i dont know how i would get mine in a hanging basket with out snapping the stem.

A real expert will be along soon i'm sure.

[Two_Sheds]

Trailing / tumbler tomatoes don't need any kind of staking ... they'll know what to do.

[rustylady]

You must make sure you have the right variety if you want to grow in baskets. They must be bush variety, and preferably trailing. Gartenperle is a good one.

[nightofjoy]

I have three types, all apparently suitable for baskets. (including Garden Pearl)

Someone told me that planting at an angle can help the plants head for the sides and over...?

[terrier]

Hi, NOJ, welcome to the forum, I've grown trailing toms for a few years now in baskets and as Two_Sheds says they sort themselves out. If you plant at an angle, it will encourage the plant to grow to one side of the basket so if the basket is big enough you could put more than one plant in. Otherwise plant upright in the centre. Basket plants require a lot of feeding and toms use a lot of water once they start to fruit. Remember tomatoes don't like the cold or draughts, it really slows them down.

[Winged one]

I grow tumbler tom tomatoes in my hanging basket and they hang over the edges a little, but don't really trail down all that far. But I don't need to do anything in terms of staking them or anything like that until very late inthe season when occasionally the weight of the fruit might cause the branches to bend too much and I might support those with little sticks or twine for the last couple of weeks of the season. Not always necessary. I usually get 3 plants to a 16" basket.

[Rocketron]

I tried growing toms in a basket last year and wasn't very successful! It was Ruby that I tried and the plants just grew up and didn't trail (wrong variety I suppose). One of them snapped slightly so we 'saved' it and put it into the conservatory where it grew nearly 6" tall and gave us toms until December!!

Good luck with your basket growing, I hope it goes well.

[Pootle]

These have always worked really well for us (and being out of reach of middle daughter aka 'The Tomato Fiend' we all get some!!) and the tomatoes just get on with it. I have actually planted them through the sides of the basket to get more in too.

I put in some of the moisture retaining granules when I plant them up and a small upturned plastic bottle with the bottom cut off (ie: small coke bottle) into the centre of the basket yo make sure that water gets to the roots rather than just cascading down the sides.

And remember to mist the flowers with water everyday to encourage the fruit to set and you're away - scrummy!

[Eyren]

I put mine in their hanging baskets as soon as they had a couple of sets of true leaves on - they seem to be quite happy at the moment

[nightofjoy]

These have always worked really well for us (and being out of reach of middle daughter aka 'The Tomato Fiend' we all get some!!) and the tomatoes just get on with it. I have actually planted them through the sides of the basket to get more in too.

I put in some of the moisture retaining granules when I plant them up and a small upturned plastic bottle with the bottom cut off (ie: small coke bottle) into the centre of the basket yo make sure that water gets to the roots rather than just cascading down the sides.

And remember to mist the flowers with water everyday to encourage the fruit to set and you're away - scrummy!

Well, the seeds are in, so it's the torturous germination period!! Live!!! Liiiive!!!

3 varieties, potentially 100 plants. I may have overdone it a little...

[ClayGarden]

Well, the seeds are in, so it's the torturous germination period!! Live!!! Liiiive!!!

3 varieties, potentially 100 plants. I may have overdone it a little...

You have a lot of baskets to hang

[colser]

last year i accidentally grew both normal (alicante variety i think) and plum tomotoes in a hanging basket after mixing them up with my bush cherry variety at the trasplant stage.

Ended up with a bumper crop from both ....... and they cropped much better than the equivalent plants inside my greenhouse.

not recommending this as the way forward just pointing out that sometimes the world moves in mysterious ways

[SMS6]

I saw these gothic design hanging baskets and thought they looked ideal for tomatoes. They've got a lovely depth to them and usefully they will stand on their own until it's time to hang.

They didn't come with the plastic outer - I added them because I have problems with Jackdaws pulling them to pieces.

They were £7.99 at B&Q and £6.99 in our local garden centre.

I planted mine with Micro Toms and Tumbling Tom Yellow

[deezyb]

sorry if I'm being a bit of a twit...the gartenperle...are they the tomatoes that will do well in baskets, tubs etc? i've got some seed going but being very very slow to germinate!