Best tasting tomato for containers?

18 years ago

I used to start my tomatoes from seed, and had lots of room to grow any variety I liked. These days I'm growing them in containers, and buying started plants. I went looking for compact plants that I could manage in containers (with support). I didn't give much thought to flavor because when it comes to these varieties I don't know one from another. I bought:

Husky Red

Husky Red Cherry

Celebrity

Patio

Better Bush

Could I have done better as far as flavor goes? I realize good flavor is a rather subjective thing, but you must have some favorites, yes? I always loved Gardener's Delight (a large cherry), Brandywine, and Giant Belgium.

Thanks,

Susan

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Comments (12)

jenny_in_se_pa
18 years ago
You should check out the Tomato Forum and scan through the posts there. There are many many compact - ie., mostly determinant tomatoes that are flavorful. I have grown "Patio" a few times in the past (although I normally grow full size indeterminants in containers) and it has done well... Celebrity is an old tried and true variety and favorite for many.

I think any home grown is better tasting than the store bought 3 red golf balls for $4 that they sell around here. ;-)
franktank232
18 years ago
I grow them all in containers...take your pick!

Beefsteak, betterboy, Mortgage Lifter...there all growing...just keep the fertilizer and the water handy!
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breezyb
18 years ago
Gardeners Delight is a favorite of mine too!! I've yet to find a cherry tomato I really like better.
LindaMA
18 years ago
This is my first year growing tomatoes in a container or my balcony deck. I'm growing two varieties, each in a 5 gallon container and so far they look great, getting rather large though. I'm growing Buck's County Hybrids and Fourth of July. Buck's is growing like crazy!
ChicagoMike
18 years ago
I'm using a variation on a bottom watering 5 gallon bucket and am successfully growing the following:

Stupice
Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
Zogola
Mariana's Peace
Stump of the World
Kellogg's Breakfast
Black Cherry
Prue
Cherokee Purple

The one's that seem easier to grow are Zogola, Stump of the World, Black Cherry and Kellogg's Breakfast. They're thick vigorous plants that outgrew the others initially, but now they've all outgrown my furring strip stake so I have to set up overhead strings. The Stupice has a fair number of greens growing and Andrew Rahart has one green mater as well. Most have flowers.

So, grow whatever you want. I tire of the gardenings shows that instruct to plant dwarf varieties in containers. My guess is that they say so because they don't know how do successfully grown anything else.
tinarb
18 years ago
I too grow any kind of tom in containers; I use 15 or 20 g rubbermaid containers, many of which have two tomato plants in them. I have some determinates in 10 g round pots that I inherited. I absolutely loved Matt's Wild Cherry tomato; huge plant with great tasting, teeny tiny tomatoes. Right now I have fruit set on Beefsteak Marmanda, Cherokee Purple (Yay! first time growing it), MWC, and Stupice. Lots of flowers on the others.

So far my plants are doing really well; I've got a basic potting soil (compost/sand/loam) amended with coir fiber, perlite, some slow release granular fert, bone meal, and greensand. I also fertilize 1x a week with ALgoflash. My plants look great. It might be a touch overkill but that's usually how it goes with container plants. I'm also using the water retaining polymers to help them through the dry spots (esp. when I'm on vacation and my housesitters water 1x a day in 100 degree heat...)

Go for it! just have a big container and give them the goodies that they need (esp. staking). One more thing - I raised my containers up using some scrap wood, just to give them space to breathe underneath and allow water to more freely drain. My deck gets pretty hot.
alisande
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for all the input! I'll probably get a bit more adventurous next year...

Susan
DrHorticulture_
18 years ago
Gardener's Delight is the best! I don't think you should limit yourself to compact determinates unless you have a very short growing season. Indeterminates yield a lot more but also demand more maintenance in support and they can get quite big and heavy. Just make sure you have good tall stakes (10 ft) or some other supporting system, preferably a horizontal network as well. (I used abandoned clotheslines!). Don't prune as you would 'in the field' since the plant's nutrition is already restricted. I grew Gardeners Delight, Red Currant, Sweet 100, Moneymaker, Ceresa, Red Alert and a few others. They got so big, the sunshine didn't penetrate into the apartment.
jmhewitt
18 years ago
If you are looking for small plants for containers, try out Silvery Fir Tree and Sophies Choice. both are very happy in containers, very early bearers, and taste great!

other than that, anything can be grown in containers....I have about 60 tomato plants of 45 varieties living happily in containers.

Michael
honu
18 years ago
ChicagoMike: For your Mariana's Peace in the 5 gal container, what do you use for fertilizer and how often? What are your daytime high temps like?
thomasstarish
13 years ago
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joebronx
13 years ago
I'm in West Los Angeles and would like to plant Beefsteak
Tomatoes in a 1/2 wine barrel container. What type Beefsteaks do you recommend and how many plants can I put into my 1/2 barrel for maximum yield? I'm a transplanted New Yorker without a green thumb.
Many Thanks for any offered advice.

Best tasting tomato for containers?

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jenny_in_se_pa

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