Container Vegetables

I have planted flowers in several gardens in our back yard for years and have had some success with hanging container flowering plants.
I was wondering if anyone had success with those new hanging containers for tomatoes.
It seems like they would be very heavy and I was just wondering.
We did try the strawberry plants for two years and loved those so will do that again this year.
I just don't have a lot of space for a big vegetable garden and could hang these from the garage overhang so if they are any good it would help.
Thanks,
Elaine

Hi Elaine...
I personally, have never tried the hanging tomatoes. But a friend of mine uses one of his smaller greenhouses just for hanging tomato plants...been doing it for years. So it must be working just fine!
Last Spring, I went to pick up some canning jars from someone and they had 4 tomato plants, 2 hanging on each end of a clothesline, 5 gallon buckets. It was the weirdest/coolest thing to see. They said they had been doing for 6 years and had all the tomatoes they could eat...and then some.
My concern, like you noted, would be the weight, though. Is there another place besides your garage overhang? Then again, I'm not sure of the weight capacity of the overhang.

Ping

I am so happy to hear someone had good results from those small hanging basket tomato's, I tried them several times, but lost the plants before the fruit got a chance to swell, I could never keep them watered enough, I was having to do it night and morning as the amount of soil was too little and kept drying out too fast, even the slightest breeze seemed to dry the foliage off the plants, any larger a container would have been too heavy for the hooks that held the baskets with the amount of water that was required, but the same plants were happy and better controled water wise when they were grown in pots on the bench or patio, so good luck, let me know how you get on with this hanging basket method, I would like to master it if it can be done. WeeNel.

Does anyone know what size the root ball gets on a tomato plant? I've been toying with the idea of putting cherry tomatoes in normal hanging baskets, as well as making various hanging planters. But, how much space do the roots need?

Tomatoes have quite a large root ball, the guide I was given for the trial I did was 3 plants, for each 8/10 inch basket, it really was hard work trying to keep the soil moist and when the compost dried out, it was having to drop the baskets into a container of water to get it to go fully moist again, I found this so much work at an already busy time of the garden calender, but the plants looked attractive hanging in the basket when they were tiny, the pollination of the flowers was better too compared with pot methods, as we have to grow our tomato's here in Scotland, but would still like to have another go at it, maybe just try one tomato plant and some herbs rather than 3 tomato plants, maybe I just did it all wrong, that's always a good reason for failure eh. good luck. WeeNel.

Hi Syrumani~
You're on the right track with your cherry tomatoes. In fact, the cherry tomato is the most often suggested tomato for container growing.
I would choose a pot is at least 10 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep to allow enough room for root growth. You'll have to keep it well pruned and a careful eye on the watering and fertilizing. If you use pots with reservoirs in the bottom, I think it would help if the pot will be in full sun.
Good luck...
Ping

WeeNel~
How about a summer salad basket~ Plant nasturtiums, fernleaf dill, parsley, and a cherry tomato plant.
Or an Italian basket: Use basil, oregano, marjoram, garlic chives and a cherry tomato plant....
And just a thought~ I would add a swivel to the hook that you'd be hanging it from...??
What do you think?
Ping
Oh yeah...and lining it with cocoa fiber might help in retaining the water.

Thanks, Ping. I think I'll go to Walmart this week and measure their hanging pots that are $.97 . . . they might be just the right size!

This message was edited Apr 6, 2008 8:07 PM

You guys may want to google "tumbler tomatoes" or look it up in plant files. Great for 12-16 inch baskets.

You are most welcome!
Ping

I have a friend that grows tomatos in 5 gallon buckets, new soil every year and new buckets. He had as much luck in buckets as I had with my raised beds, but he was able to move them around his back yard as needed to catch the sun. We both used shredded paper from our office for mulch, he claims it helps keep cut worms away but I'm not so sure about that. Anyway the rootballs on my tomatos were quite large( raised beds) maybe they adapt to the environment but I would hesitate to plant in smaller hanging baskets #1 you'll be watering twice a day, #2 you'll need fertilizer more often as you have much less soil

Everyone here has been so helpful.
My hubby and talked it over and I think we are going to plant two regular tomato plants in large buckets on each side of the door of our storage shed and hang two cherry tomato plants from the over hang of the garage.
A lot of good information on this site
You all gave such great tips on soil and mulch.
Thanks .

Elaine

Thank for the tips Pinger, I already have a herb garden, and love the fresh herbs, even the grand kids can recognise them by smell and touch now, so some good has come from it apart from the delicious herbs, but I will have another go this year with the hanging baskets, I think part of my problem was that I live right on the ocean, and even the slightest breeze dries out hanging basket soil and foliage rather faster than the tubs and pots I have on the ground as they are a bit more sheltered from the wind/breezes, I also had the swivel hooks too, but maybe the baskets were too small for 3 plants, not enough soil and this also dries out quicker because of it, I love those tiny tumbling tomato's, only problem is when you go out to pick them, you eat more than you bring into the house, oh well they say they are full of goodness, thanks again, I will try remember to let you know how it goes this time around. WeeNel.

you know, I saw the coolest video on you tube and now I cannot find it. A guy had planted veggies flowers and herbs in milk crates ( all over in the gaps) and hung them from a long pole. It looked awesome! I have a milk crate with the larger gaps and am going to try it this year. His tomatoes looked really good in those. He planted basil in the top and had tomatoes all hanging from the sides and bottom.

Wow, sounds awesome, I have been luck enough to travel to lots of different countries, some the poorest you could find anywhere, and we folks would be amazed at the places and containers some have used for planting food crops into, I once saw a pair of old boots hanging outside a shack and it was filled with greenery, passed to quickly to find out what it was growing, but sure was inspirational and fun. WeeNel.

I am thinking of using the top of my shed as a place to do some pols of smaller things, herbs, and lettuce for example. Shoot, it's space, isn't it?
Now, all I have to do is clean the fall leaves off the top of the thing and give it a go.
At this point, any space is a candidate for my never ending quest to find, what is it? Walden, I think. Or is it Eden?
LOL

Neither of them just plane old gardeners genius, good luck Misty, WeeNel.

Thanks, the joy of this site is finding people who know I try things in the garden and won't look at me askance. I do some things in my garden that are just plain odd. I cannot wait until the first neighbor wanders into the garden and looks up and asks, what the heck???
See, as a new gardener when I hear things need sun and I know the sun is up, well, why not plants closer to the sun? Won't they benefit from all that light, I wonder? The only thing I think is they'll be too close to the sun and burn.
Genius? Who me? Nah...just strange. (LOL)

Just make sure your roof is really sturdy... and then take a picture for all of us so we can see your personal approach to roof-top gardening! :)

You really are not too strange, people have been growing rooftop gardens for centuries, honest, in fact, it is becoming the trendy way to preserve the planet, depending on what you grow, it is also a good insulator for your home. but never tried it myself, where I am, I have trouble just trying to keep hanging baskets moist, the breeze and sun will dry your roof garden out really fast, so keep an eye on your water needs and if the roof has a slight slope, it will be hard to keep water into the soil, and the point about strong roof is very valid, but I am dying to hear your results Misty, your never short of ideas, that's for sure, so Good luck. WeeNel.

I must admit I am having second thoughts about this idea. I checked and there is indeed a slope on the shed. Funny, I never noticed that until I wanted to use it for something.
Anyway, think I'll revisit this idea another time. I am, however, going to continue container gardening.

Does anyone know if those tree tomatoes can be put in a large container or if they need to planted directly into the ground.
We did order the hanging tomatoes but I saw the tree tomatoes on TV and wondered about those.
Thanks,
Elaine

Elaine107, if you're talking about the tree tomatoes you see advertised on TV, you should be aware that they're not really tomatoes at all.

Here's the PlantFiles link to what they are: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2730/

I have no idea whether they'd be okay in a container, but it would have to be a big one!

Tucsonjill,
Thank you so much for the link to the tree tomatoes.
Well so much for that idea.
Good heavens how can they advertise those things as tomatoes when they are some tropical plant.
Heck you wouldn't even know how many calories were in one lol.
I think we will just stick to the real old fashioned tomato plants that we can find at our local nursery and the hanging cherry tomatoes that we know are real tomatoes.
There are enough artificial things in our diets without tomato substitutes.
Thanks again.
Elaine