Did just this 3 years ago when I ran out of space in the back, it's wonderful, good for you. I was inspired by a number of Urban Farm video's. Grass is fairly useless, it is expensive to maintain, fussy to say the LEAST and more work then any veg or herb garden is, once established. This year I have pared the front down to mostly herbs and only leeks as the veg, though random potato plants have sprouted up, where I must have missed harvesting a potato or 10, last year. You just can't get RID of those sneaky potatoes, still have them popping up in another area of the yard where I had them growing 3 years ago!!! And yes, the neighbours think I'm nuts but I amuse them and they all like the invitation to snip some herbs if they wish:)

I've been fighting this battle for years, especially with yellow pear and black cherry. The best I've come up with is lateral poles, and tie them down every few days. I grow mine in containers under a screen (squirrels and jay birds), so can't do the lowering cuestaroble suggests. However my Dad, a flower grower in Indiana '20s-'60s, used to grow free-range (unstaked, untied) tomatoes for personal use in a field on the property, and when they started to look like they had bloomed out, he would just shovel dirt over about 2/3 of the plant, and it would take off again. In the fall just before the first freeze, he would cut off the stem of a few, about a foot into the dirt, gather them up, and string them up in the end of a greenhouse, and we would have tomatoes for another month or so.

westchestergrower, I'm very sorry my naivete has offended you..... and no, I'm not personally offended, in fact I understand you perfectly. Until about 6-8 weeks ago, I had no clue what it ment to grow anything, much less tomatoes. The only tomatoes I've ever seen growing in my life are the ones at a neighboring fruitstand (I'm a city girl, recently transplanted) - his plants are 3-4 feet tall, have 2-3 stems, green as all get-out and have more tomatoes than leaves. That's what I thought tomatoes do. I had no clue they grow in excess of 8' tall, or turn into amazon-like jungles, or are on the dinner menu of just about every pest, bacteria and fungus imaginable. I never envisioned the range of tomato plagues could be as numerous as there are varieties of tomatoes themselves. I also had no idea what a home grown tomato tasted like. Or the pride associated with watching your own dinner grow.... sinking your hands into the dirt, and having the ability to better your plant. Or the utter confusion facing the myriad of voodoo and hocus pocus to wade through in an effort to discover what 'works for you'. (I can't explain how hard it is for me to 'experiment' on my poor plants, wondering what I'm going to find the next morning) And finally, I certainly did not anticipate the enormous and dedicated following of tomato growers and lovers. The art of 'tomatoing' is like nothing I'd anticipated.... its vastness rivals other endeavors of mine like flyfishing and horsemanship. I'm frustrated, confused, embarrassed, enthralled, proud and determined all at the same time. I simply went to home depot, bought a couple of plants and put them in the ground. I never would have dreamed it would develop into an obsession. But obsession it is, which is why I completely understand and respect your comment. Please understand, I literally loose sleep over these plants. I've spent hours upon hours researching and trying to learn. I drive everyone in my life nuts. I've cancelled dinner dates just so I can get back and check on them (I don't currently live at their location, and go days without seeing them some weeks). I'vw skipped meetings at work, just so I could badger the kind folks at the local extension office. From what I'm learning my plants are fairly robust, but they're also struggling and its all my fault. The front looks bushy and green, but inside, its a dying yellow mess. The photos simply don't do the damage justice. Plant after plant is cracking and falling down. The entire grape jungle has collapsed upon itself and the middle is rotting out. The potted plants are in a constant state of having too much or too little water. I'm typically a glass-half-full kinda person... and I really should cut myself some slack here too... but like I'm sure you're well familiar with, after so much time, effort, care and dedication, watching the entire back half of your crop disintegrate and die before your very eyes, and having no knowledge of what to do about it is supremely frustrating and in my naive mind constitutes a 'disaster'. For some reason, I can't see the loads and loads of tomatoes, I see broken trusses and snipped stems. Like I said, I really should cut myself some slack, and apparently be pleased with what I have... but I've got the gardening bug bad now, and I've made so many stupid regrettable mistakes, I just want to start over. I thank you for your comment. I will be wiser in the future thanks to you. Thanks all for this forum as well, its been the best source of help I've found and everyone is welcoming and kind. Be well - Buck

Bellasky - IMO 2.5 gallon is too small and will restrict your Sweet 100's ability to grow and produce. I would think it will need at least a 10 gallon container. Sweet 100 is an indeterminate variety and requires support. I plant it every year in our GH but never grow Sweet 100 in a container. If you are looking for a tomato plant for your 2.5 gallon container - I would recommend a Micro Dwarf. http://heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product-category/dwarf-tomatoes/micro-dwarf-tomatoes/ Or Tiny Tim (yellow or red) Dwarf Tomato plants and Tumbling Tom Tomato. http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_tiny-tim.html I grow Dwarf varieties like New Big Dwarf and Dwarf Golden Gypsy in a 10 gallon container. They do well in our GH with supports but require water almost daily and more frequent fertilization.