Greg,

I have grown many tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets, although they grow better/bigger/produce more fruit if grown in 10 gallon or larger containers. Here are some that have worked for me.

Cherry/Grape Types:

Snow White
Sungold
Yellow Pear
Red Pear
Porter and Porter Improved
Window Box Roma
Sweet Baby Girl
Supersweet 100
Jelly Bean
Juliet
Red Currant

Medium to Large Fruit Types:

Cherokee Purple
Red Brandywine
Brandywine OTV
Nebraska Wedding
Celebrity
Champion and Bush Champion
Early Girl and Bush Early Girl
Better Bush
Lime Green Salad
Rosalita
Fourth of July
Bloody Butcher
Lemon Boy
Persimmon

Here's some tomatoes that people I know have grown in 5 gallon buckets, but I haven't grown them in buckets myself:

Orange Pixie
Golden Dwarf Champion
Husky Red
Husky Gold
Patio
Tiny Tim
Tumbler
Red Robin
Yellow Canary

Here's what I have planted in containers so far:

1 Kimberly (25 gallon container)
2 New Big Dwarf (5 gallon containers)
1 Little Lucky (25 gallon container)
1 Lucky Cross (25 gallon container)
1 Nebraska Wedding (25 gallon container)
2 Better Bush (5 gallon containers)
2 Principe Borghese (5 gallon containers)
1 Ultimate Opener (5 gallon container)
1 Red Star (5 gallon container)
1 Galina's Yellow (25 gallon container)

Almost any tomato can be grown successfully in containers provided they have good drainage and are well watered (sometimes twice a day in the worst summer weather). With 5 gallon containers, though, I stay away from huge indeterminate varieties like Big Boy, Better Boy, Brandy Boy or Sweet Million.

When selecting plants for 5 gallon buckets, you can't go wrong with any of the determinate varieties. Anything with "Dwarf" or "Bush" in its name will likely do quite well, as will any in the "Husky" line.

I always grow Better Bush for early tomatoes. Mine have been in their pots since February and have green tomatoes about the size of ping pong balls.

I haven't grown Bush Goliath, but have grown the regular Goliath in the ground, and it performed quite well.

I hope this info helps. If you have any other questions, let me know.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn. I just got into tomato growing last year and had decent success with the husky cherry red but my better boys didn't do so good. I'll probably try 1 bush goliath, 1 better bush, 1 sweet baby girl and finally a supersweet 100.

One more question....Will I need cages for any of the ones mentioned above? Thanks in advance, Greg

Will you need cages? I think they wouldn't hurt. I cage mine simply to keep the deer from nibbling at the foliage and fruit.

Better Bush doesn't absolutely need a cage as it stays fairly compact.

I'd cage Bush Goliath simply because the branches can be so heavily laden with large tomatoes that they need the support to keep from breaking.

Supersweet 100 absolutely needs a cage. It won't get as large in the pot as it would in the ground, but it can still get pretty good sized.

Sweet Baby Girl can get from 3' to 5' tall and spreads out to about 18" to 24" wide, so it needs a cage too.

And, on my list I included Rosalita on the medium/large list by mistake. It is a pink grape type tomato. Just setting the record straight. :)

With containers that I put in one location and never move, I stake the cages to the ground itself and not within the pot. This keeps the pots from falling over/blowing over once the plants are large.

With containers that I move around, I insert the cage into the container and stake it to the soil within the container.

Good luck with your tomatoes.

Dawn

GW is so cool! I came online to find out if the Bush Goliath I bought to grow in a 5 gallon bucket needs a cage, and here you all are!
Thank you all for posting & I hope your tomatoes yield bushels & bushels!
Back out to put that cage in the bucket, marea

It's so nice to see folks from other states visit our forum, Marea!!! Glad you found what you needed. Dawn is very much a tomatoe "specialist", so if you have any questions, she's the one to ask!

Susan

Hi im new to the whole gardening experience and have found it to be quite addictive. I live in a apartment complex near the NC Mountains and currently have 6 diffrent varities growing. 2 Better Boy Hybrids - Lemon Boy Hybrid - Patio - Bush Goliath - Early Girl Bush - Jelly Bean.

and all are in buckets or some sort of tub. I pruned the better boy and staked it and im not sure if i did it right or not or if i should just cage it. Since I havent figured out how to post pics yet i will add a link to my garden The better boy im asking about is labeled Better Boy B.

p.s all my buckets have got to be mobile just in case* please all ideas will be helpful!! Thanks in advance

Here is a link that might be useful: My first Container Garden

Hi Panfan1121,

Your containers look great.

Unless you are going to prune very heavily, though, the plants need cages or stakes. I don't prune at all because our summers are long and hot and the plants produce much more heavily if I let them keep all their leaves, and the leaves shade the fruit so I don't have issues with sun scald.

Even in a container, Better Boy gets pretty large for me--large enough that a hard wind during a thunderstorm can blow it over. You may not have those kinds of winds there--or maybe you do? Anyway, think about their need for cages or staking and see what you come up with. My plants mostly don't have to be mobile, so I sometimes put a very large wire cage completely around the exterior of the container and stake it to the ground which keeps that one from blowing other. Other tomatoes have cages inserted into the soil in the container itself. Sometimes I'll leave determinates uncaged, but even they do better with a cage.

One suggestion--keep the soil in the containers mulched and it will help reduce soil splash and the incidence of foliar diseases--and I know lots of gardeners in the Carolinas have a lot of trouble with foliar diseases on their tomato plants because of the high humidity there. It is always easier to prevent disease up-front, if possible, than to have to deal with it later on.

Good luck,

Dawn