Hi, disinmtl, >>What is the smallest size pump you think I can get away with? I am eying these 30 gph pumps for 10 bucks, do you think that is too small (also the smaller the better to not use any unnecessary power).I was about to make a comment about the pump power part, as I am always concerned about power consumption and choosing the right-one- but thought I shouldn't meddle here unnecessarily. But now that you ask... What you see at the picture of the link from before, is a huge and quite powerful pump indeed. While I cannot actually say it's oversized, the choice of such a powerful pump is linked to such kind of sprayer used in that setup, which indeed needs a powerful pump to do the job properly. And that's pretty much the key here, - the power, dimension (and obviously price) of the pump is actually linked to the SPRAYER in use and how much pressure it needs to work properly. Best and to play safe is always to test it and have the pump running with the sprayer before buying. There are actually many types of sprayers with very different pressure requirements. The finer the spray/mist they produce the more pressure and power the pump will need. How much better growth is actually to be expected from finer spray or mist, is another question. Finer spray with more pressure is supposed to give better growth, - but how big the difference actually is, is a different matter. It will actually matter more if all other conditions are perfect in the first place. Put on it's head, - if your all around conditions aren't optimal, even the strongest pump producing the finest mist, will not make the difference. In case you opt for a simple dripper instead of a sprayer, the very smallest available pump is actually good enough. As long as it manages the nutrient solution to get pumped up to the top part. And here you can even adopt the position of the pump (deeper or higher) according to its maximum head hight. Here's one of my designs based on A. 2 sprayers with low power requirements and B. based on simple drippers, with even lower pump power requirements. If you need to know the data of both pumps I can check them. I usually don't go by gal/h or head, as the accuracy of these data do vary with manufacturers. But as explained earlier, the dripping system just requires a pump that has sufficient head hight (about one foot something) to operate properly. I have grown over 2 meter (6-7 foot) high tomato plants with such a simple dripping system. PS: using a powerful an expensive pump, that consumes a lot of energy for just a single plant container had always been out of question for me.

I grew all of those varieties last year in 18 gal containers, all doubled up like you are considering. I wish I had only planted one per container. It must have been a root war in there by the looks of it when I cleaned out the containers in the fall. I didn't get a lot of fruit, and the whole first month of fruit setting was wrought with BER. Just too much root stress I think. I promised myself that if I use those containers next (this) year, I would only put in one per container. The only reason I might recommend it is if you just want to try a lot of varieties in the same season. That's why I did it, and it was mission accomplished. But it was also frustrating because there wasn't really that much fruit per plant. But no matter what you decide, be sure to grow the Neve's. The 5 or 6 fruits I got last year (after BER season) were divine, and he will always be on my grow list.

First of all, 18 gallons is plenty for ANY tomato plant. A few brown leaves and leaf stems at the bottom are normal. You indicate that you used "soil". Containers should be filled with "MIX". Roots showing on the top are also normal. I have some right now and they've been showing for a few weeks. You can topdress with some additional growing medium and cover them up, but it really isn't critically necessary for the health of the plant. There have been volumes of posts on Pruning here and at all the other tomato sites. Others will have a different opinion, but I don't prune anything except those brown leaves at the bottom and any damaged leaves or stems that occur during the growing season and are so damaged that they absolutely won't survive. Plants put on enough leaves to shadow the fruit so it doesn't get "sun scald". Light and airy and see-thru plants can equal damaged fruit. Let the plant do its thing. I'd recommend putting the pruning shears back in the drawer, maybe doing a topdressing if the visible roots bother you, and ease off the water to once a day in the morning just before the real heat arrives. This will help keep the roots cooler and the plant less stressed. Ted

Determinates and semi-determinates are never pruned because it terminates production. So the 1 vine/2 vine/3 vines argument doesn't apply to them. That is only applicable to indeterminate varieties which grow very differently. Pruning your plants to 1-2-3 vines will cut your production by thirds or more. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs - Determinate vs. Indeterminates