From your list I have grown the following in containers.

Brandywine OTV
Cherokee Purple
Earl's Faux
German Head
Golden Cherokee
Marianna's Peace
Rhodes Heirloom

The only one that did not perform well for me was Brandywine OTV. The rest performed very well with German Head and Rhoades Heirloom having the best production. Ami

What size container?

Depends on the size of your container. Can't really say without that info as any on the list can be grown in a container IF the container is big enough. ;)

I'll assume you are using 15-20 gallon containers since you mention planning to grow cherry varieties in them? Bloody Butcher or Stupice are the only ones on the list that I would consider for any 10 gallon container as they are a semi-indeterminate.

Dave

Sorry - I realized after I posted that I didn't say what size container. The container doesn't say how many gallons it holds (grrrr), but it's dimensions are 24"x17" and it is 15" deep.

Would that be big enough for a Marianna's Peace, or one of the others? The "640+ varieties spreadsheet" says that Marianna's Peace is 4'-6' in height, vs. the others are mostly 6'-8'.

I would like a mighty fine mater in this container since I have nightmares about deer mangling all my plants in the garden - my containers will be on our deck, so I don't think the deer will go up there! (This will probably inspire someone to post about how a deer came up on their deck.. :) )

Marianna's Peace, no I wouldn't. That isn't all that big a container and based on my experience I sure would revise the height on the MP upwards by 2-3 feet on that chart.

14 inch pot holds 12 Dry Quarts, a 16 inch pot holds about 20 dry quarts of soil, so if that is the largest container you have then I'd agree with jalirancher that the Bloody Butcher or Stupice (they are about the same size) are the best bet.

Dave

Cleo, Don't have nightmares - Do what I have done! Go to HarborFreight and when they are on sale, buy a couple "Driveway Alerts". They are two piece battery operated devices that detect any movement across its beam. They come in all different radio frequencies, (CH8, CH9, CH10, etc), so buy four of the same channel and you only need to put batteries in one receiver in the house. The sensors are mounted outside and the receivers are placed inside your house. If something crosses the beam, a chime goes off in your house alerting you that something is out there. Then you can wake up and chase them before they eat the whole garden. Yea, your wife won't like being waken up at first, she'll get use to it, but at least you'll have your garden. I have four of them, one aiming down each side of my garden. God help anything that goes near my garden. I shut them off during the day so that the chime doesn't keep going off if I am out there. My deer problem is after dark, usually around 1:30AM! Then I have other units (different channels) on each corner of my yard, aiming down the property line, and those units tell me when the ^&*+#@ deer, or anything for that matter, steps onto my property! Most of the time, I get them before they even get near my garden! Yea, I'm nuts, but you know what? I have nice shrubbery & a veggie garden in my yard, not lollypops, like everyone else!!! Paul

You can probably get a decent harvest from any tomato grown in a container on 5 gallons if there is good fertilizer and constant but careful watering. The watering may be the most difficult thing.

Grrrr....deer. I've always been a grower not a hunter, but I'm starting to think that a crossbow costs less than putting in more 7' fencing for my gardens.

Hey Paul.... time to adjust those meds! ROFL
Kris

Here we go again with this container size baloney again. All the ones I listed above were grown in 5-7gal containers. Larger containers are more forgiving if you can't care for your plants properly but if you are going to care for them on a daily basis or use automated watering system you can grow any tomato type, Indeterminate or Determinate in a 5 gal container. Ami

Sorry Ami. ;) It may be baloney to you but not to many of us as numerous discussions here - many with photos - show.

I've been there and done that and the claim that bigger pots grow better tomatoes is a proven fact. Before just tossing off the recommendation as "baloney" why not give a 10 gallon container a try some time and see the difference for yourself.

Dave

Ami

Gotta agree with Dave on this one. I've grown tomatoes in 5-gallon SW containers and then the same varieties in the ground, though not in larger containers. There's hardly a comparison. Those in the 5-gallon containers had pretty low production.

I think what you're seeing is that they WILL grow in 5-gallon containers if closely watched and kept fed and watered, a daily time-consuming task. I think others would say they don't grow as well or as productively, that's all.

Sorry to start a firestorm... but it sounds like this isn't a new debate... I'm going with the Bloody Butcher because I'm a newb and as much as I think I can do the "closely watched and kept fed and watered" thing, I'm not sure of anything. Boy, am I going to learn a lot this year.

Ami, I am going to put one of your Rhoades Heirlooms in the ground - it's my only bicolor and I'm very excited about it. I wish I had room for the other two varieties you sent, but that will have to wait for next year - I'm so overcommitted! Thanks again if you're still reading this thread. And thanks to everyone who chipped in their two cents - I learn something every time I go to this forum (which is at least once a day).

Cleo, good choice and you won't be disappointed. No firestorm, just like to poke them in the sides once in awhile. Hate to disappoint but last year I did grow Ludmilla's Red Plum in a 5 gallon container and a second plant in a Ten gallon container. Watered, fertilized and cared for the same with plant size, vigor and production showing no difference. I also grow in the ground at my surrogate garden at work. Come on over to the other website we can't talk about here and check out my threads in the Photo Gallery started by Amideutch. Also you don't have to join to peruse the site and only a couple forums need membership to view. Amideutch
I posted links to pictures of my plants in 5 gal containers and 26 Qt. styrofoam ice chests in other threads here at GW. No secret and when I did post it the non believers began believing. Had Stump of the World, Scabitha and Tom's yellow wonder topping out at 10 feet and no problems with production in 5 Gallon containers. Ami

I'm with Ami. I've not had any problems at all in my silly-looking and sounding baskets, and the results speak for themselves. They've even been slaughtered in Hail Alley storms to recover and thrive. All depends, but it is, indeed, successfully done by many, despite those who say it can't be done over and over and over again. My only limitations in choosing varieties are limited to season-length. My production has always been just as good as the neighbor who always used to plant in the ground for 50 yrs. until he decided it was too hard on his aging body to get down. He's now using the bushel baskets and the potting mixture I learned from Spudleafwillie. It IS a different mindset, but it CAN be done with great success and enjoyment.

No one has said that it CAN'T be done in a 5 gallon bucket. Of course it can. Shoot, it can probably be done in a 2 gallon container if you really want to work at it for some reason!

But it can be done better and easier (without a drip system, with greater production, with less fertilization, and with much less time spent attention to detail) in larger containers and that fact is tested and well documented.

And that distinction is especially important for those new to growing tomatoes and growing tomatoes in a container.

Dave

I had never grown tomatoes before and I started doing this over a decade ago when I had limited yard space. I was a newbie to tomatoes and containers who started doing it on a whim and a limited budget. I adopted spud's potting mix three years ago. Prior to that I used ... shock! Miracle Gro! There are any number of ways to grow tomatoes and everyone will find their own methods. No one way is absolutely the right way for everyone or every situation. And doing it without drip in semi-arid country is pert-near insanity provoking, even in the ground. Here again, don't fit everyone into a criteria of growing. I don't have the diseases many have to contend with, but even in the ground, the watering requirements are upped considerably. All depends where one is located geographically and climate-wise. One method or answer does not fit all, in the ground or in a container.

Cleo88,

If I understood your post correctly, you have a rectangular container, 24" long, 17" wide, and 15" deep. Is that correct? If so, that would be 6120 cubic inches. I think that converts to something like 22 gallons, certainly enough to grow any tomato you'd like. (Have I done something wrong with this calculation?) Anyway, Bloody Butcher and Stupice are definitely the smallest plants on your list. BTW, many cherry tomato plants get huge and sprawly, and can be hard to support properly in a container (especially one that's not sitting on dirt).

Yes, seeker11, I think your calculations are correct - I was going to guess that these containers are about 20 gallons. Dave, if you are out there, does that sound right to you - 24x17x15 would be about 20 gallons?

If that were the case, do you think I could get away with TWO Bloody Butchers in one of these? That would be cool.

The cherry I am planning for the other container of this size is Gold Nugget from Johnnys, which is a determinate, so I was actually planning on putting two of those in one of these containers.

I am also devising my own device out of some recycled materials to get water to the bottom of the container (pictures to be posted soon), so I hope to be doing some root-watering rather than always watering from above.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts.

Worth a try Cleo. I know Ray gets good results with 2 in his Rubbermaid containers that are only slightly larger.

Good luck.

Dave