Toms, in a pot or bag?

[4390evans]

I grew mine in a pot one year didnt get anything edible, a bag the next which was canny but I am thinking about doing them in a grow bag this year, what do you use?

[Potstubsdustbins]

Gave up on using grow bags the standard way to much hassle to get the watering right. I did try standing them on end cut in halve and that worked well.

But for many years now it's been flower buckets in the green house and hanging baskets.

[Scoot]

I grow them in 10 litre buckets. My mam works in a kitchen and she orders in 10 litre buckets of Mayonnaise. Once the bucket is empty, i tell her to fetch me the bucket. I've got loads. Perfect for my tomatoes.

[vixylix]

I used pots and my raised bed last year and both were successful. I'm throwing in a hanging basket this year so will be interesting to see how that compares!

[Jungle Jane]

I grow tomatoes in the ground or in pots & baskets. Best results are plants grown in the ground here for size & yield,although pots next to the house ripen first.

[Penellype]

I use 3 litre pots in the house for small plants with only a couple of trusses at a time. 11 litre self watering pots outside did well for bush varieties last year, planting in soil gives a bigger crop than pots. In the greenhouse I used a grow bed with a drip watering system on a timer which was quite successful. I've also tried hanging baskets but found them not much good (probably too small and under watered) and grow bags which I found totally useless as they were either waterlogged or bone dry.

With the pots regular watering and feeding are essential and I wonder if your problems stemmed from inconsistency here. Another possible problem is lack of fruit set - I have found that some varieties didn't set fruit in the greenhouse - 2 that come to mind were Bajaja and Sweet Aperitif, both of which produced fruit when planted outside.

[cariann88]

I grew mine in pots. They did quite well.

When I do have a garden(how I miss having one) I will be growing in pots again.

But for the time being I am going to be growing small tomato plant's that can go on the windowsill.

[Lisasbolt]

I cannot seem to get very much to grow in pots, especially not tomatoes but that could be a watering issue for me.

I always used to use grow bags for my tomatoes (UK), as long as you do not put too many in them i always found them to work great.

[maverick451]

Toms needs big pots

10L pots need alot of watering, 20L pots imo are about right, 30L pots even better

[Potstubsdustbins]

^^^^^^^^Agreed I am fortunate to be able to give my 12ltr buckets the attention they need, in high summer that means watering at least once a day and checking every morning and evening.

[Jonnyt]

I used a mixture of growbags with the plastic inserts and 17L polypots. Both worked equally as well.

I also think 10L pots are too small for a Greenhouse, they would need watering twice a day on hot days.

[Ryleh]

I've had success in the past with growing in pots but thats a few years ago and was my choice at the time due to lack of planting space in the ground (plus was rented accommodation).

Last few years I've planted in the ground (raised beds) and in hanging baskets and have been happy with the performance. I'll be doing the same again this year.

I've never tried growing in grow bags before though I might be able to find a spare bit of space to put some grow bags as a experiment.

[Florence Fennel]

Flower buckets and. always get good crops

[seasprout]

I use big pots.

[skeggijon]

Having experimented a bit last year, I found my most successful Tomatoes were grown in grow bags. with tomato collars and kept thirsty.
I also grew some in a grow bag with collar, but regularly watered, some in flower buckets and some planted direct in the PT beds. The ones that were kept thirsty produced more fruit for longer and they were (in my opinion) sweeter.