1) Don't go nuts and grow a hundred plants unless you need a hundred plants. The reasons for growing so many are food production, seed production or research and development such as breeding hybrids or dehybridizing.

2) Don't be afraid to prune your plants, or stake, cage, or let sprawl. It's your garden, grow and trim as you want and you like. You will learn as you go along what works and doesn't work for you. The occasional mistake isn't something to fret about, it's something to react positively too because it's a learning event.

3) Don't be intimidated by people who push down your throat their gospel of only heirlooms or only hybrids. Tomatoes don't know what they are and both heirlooms and hybrids have the same growth requirements. There are good and bad in both catagories.

Well said Trudi! I cannot come up with three right at this moment but one would definitely be:
Feed the soil and the soil will feed the plants.

Are you starting them inside or outside? My tips vary on these conditions. :)

Atta girl, Trudi! Good advice there!

Inside:

The Right Soil
The Right Amount of Light (not window sill)
A Fan constatly blowing a breeze on them.

Outside:
Don't plant less than 1-2 ft apart!
Protect garden from wild animals with a fence
Water, Water, Water

1. Prune all diseased leaves ruthlessly as soon as spots appear on them, or the disease will spread very fast. Spray the remaining healthy foliage with Daconil at regular intervals thereafter. New foliage will grow out soon enough.

2. If you let the plants sprawl on the ground, then mulch the ground heavily with straw or something similar, or soil-borne diseases may infect the fruits before they can ripen. Trellises, cages or similar above-ground supports will reduce this risk and slow the spead of any disease, but it's a good idea to mulch anyway.

3. Lots of sun for vigorous growth, consistent water to keep the fruits from either splitting or growing out with air pockets inside, go easy on the nitrogen fertilizer to avoid producing overly lush foliage at the expense of fruit setting.

My Roma Tomato plants will be grown outside and in containers. Do you have special advice for container-grown tomatoes?

What is the 'right' soil for growing tomatoes?

My first tip would be to never grow tomatoes in containers, but since you are predetermined to do it make sure they are 10 gal. or larger in size. Mix Gel Mix water retainer and coated slow release fertilizer in with a good soilless media and still plan on watering 2-3 times per week (that means no vacations).

Often when people grow in pots it is due to lack of garden space and what space is available is usually shaded partially. Tomatoes prefer full sun. You will still pick a few but the plant potential will be limited and diseases that thrive on moist plants (from shade) will be more of a problem.

Staking is also more of a problem with pots. Don't rely on the weight of the pot to keep plants supported. A tripod support straddling the pot would be better. You could use the tripod legs or drop a stringline from the point where the three legs join and clip the plant stem to that line.

1 dont over love (dont over-fertilize, learn how to water correctly with soaker hoses and definitely mulch)

2 wait till after frost to plant

3 dont fall for the hybrid vs heirlooms BS

I Just meant use seed starting soil, not garden soil or potting soil when starting seeds. The strength of it will be too much for the youngens.

1) use lots of compost, especially if you have to plant in the same place year after year.

2) Don't plant all the plants at once; in case a freeze comes along.

3) Grow a variety of types, hybrids and heirlooms; some will always do better than others. I plant six to nine types a year.

Container tomatoes can need extra waterings, especially on hot and/or windy days. Do yourself a favor, add a y spigot to your faucet and on one spout designate a hose for your tomatoes, put on an easy to use nozzle. If you can, leave it out extended by the containers. Pick it up, turn the nozzle attachement onto "soak" and give the plants a drink as needed. By having the water source right where you containers are it's easier to take care of them. You get home at the end of the day and your beat...you don't need to hook up a hose and do the watering as a chore, it should be something easy that you're not likely to skip only because you're weary at the end of the day.

You can't change the weather.

Three tips for growing tomatoes in containers successfully:

1. Use at least a third compost, the rest can be soilless mix but don't use garden soil.

2. Be prepared to water frequently--often daily, and consistently--any misses in your routine can cause Blossom End Rot, especially with paste types like Roma. See the FAQ's page, the link is on the Tomato Forum homepage.

3. Fertilize regularly--that means weekly or even daily in smaller amounts--for example, 1/4th the recommended amount every other day. Containers often drain away any nutrients and they need replenishing for bountiful harvests. If you're trying to be organic, I can't help much, but if open to suggestions and want great results, start with a high phosphorous fertilizer (P, the second number) like 10-52-8 which will help provide strong roots and promote flowering; then switch later to a balanced fertilizer or something higher in potash (K, the third number.)

These recommendations are from my own experiences. Hope this helps.

Mark
who has grown just about everything in containers...

1. Full sun. For me, that meant learning not to get by with growing them under trees or on the side of the house that blocks the sun.

2. Grow at least one variety that's supposed to be a good producer, whatever it is. That way, when the sexy sounding heirloom turns out to be a dud, you'll at least have something to show for your effort. (The same can be said for other vegetables as well!)

3. Buy plants, don't start seeds. That would be my tip for anybody that isn't bitten by the seed-starting bug. It's fascinating and I love seed-starting and will continue to do it, but tomato plants are so cheap and easy to buy on the net or at a gardening center, it's hard to justify to a beginner they should put 90% of their efforts into just getting the plant started.

bitten by the seed-starting bug

This is the one affliction that you won't find covered in Pests and Diseases.

Eat what you reap.

Make salsa a thousand times with ten different recipees, live on tomatoes soaked in olive oil and fresh basil you grew, can them, freeze them, make sauce, but USE them..don't make them a hobby to grow, but rather a delicacy you can't wait to EAT..

ruth

LOL, I feel bad for the originator of this post because they thought they would get 3 Tips or similar 3 tips from people. Instead they're getting like 20 different ones.. LOL. I love it.

I won't add anymore tips for now.

Doof got one thang right so far that ya all missed. Just me 6 stated that this was a first attempt at growing Toms. So lets treat it as such...Buy Plants! I can remember when I first started, and so can these other folks.....so heres my top three does-n-donts.

1) Dirt. Make it lush, well drained, and very deep. It all begins here with the home your babys will live in. Dont plant in clay without ammending it, dont plant in sand without adding some black compost of some kind, and Add some peat moss if Ya can get it. How well your Toms grow depends on how well Ya mixed up their home.

2) Company. Toms can get lonely and some pest sence this. So plant some companion helpers to get them over theyre lonliness, like Marigolds, aaahh my favorite Basil, and the Toms favorite.....Beans. By adding some of these little helpers, some pest, well...find some where else to nibble.

3) Food. We all love to eat, and Toms do too. After all thats why we grow them, to eat? right? So feed your toms every 2 weeks and DONT skip your rutine. Mirical grow spray on the base of the plant will work, but fish emulsion does better and more natural, choice is up to you.

I would add 4 and 5 but sunlight and water, should be a given.....This is a very educating post for a first time Tom grower and Im sure many will learn a trick or two. Having said much....Good Gardening To Ya!!!!!

Top 3 tips fer maters in containers...use the largest containers available..18 gal +, but smaller ones might work but not recommended...some use 5 gal..but not me.plus make sure to drill holes into the bottom for drainage.some add rocks or what not..I use weed stop..water gets out bugs dun get in.

1. Soil..I use a popular potting mix (MG) 2.5 cu ft. and add 2 cups of Dolomite to the top 5 inches and mix it up ya can use hydrated lime too but aint sure about the ratio. I also add 2 cups of Osmocote 12-12-12

2. Watering..Containers dry out a lot quicker than the in ground plants. Expect to water every other day..then every day as the weather turns hot. The Brutal summers in TX I put some insulation around the containers to shade them from the sun in the afternoon hours..(use the lighter colored containers if heat is an issue)

3. Mulch to keep the moisture in..I used to use Cedar chips on my older containers..but have built some other EB type..so now mulch isnt an issue.
The Older type containers I fed a lil Seaweed fertilizer every other day because they do leach out nutrients quite quickly.

I'll add a 4th...drive 2 T-posts into the ground on either end of the container and run a lattice net or string to support the plants..in high wind when the plants gets big they could tip over.

1) Don't go nuts and grow a hundred plants unless you need a hundred plants. The reasons for growing so many are food production, seed production or research and development such as breeding hybrids or dehybridizing.

Oops. I messed up. the last time I planted I didn't do so well. so this time I planted to many. :)

1. Soil - Keep it light for containers.
2. Sun - Plants won't fruit without it. Min 5 hours
3. Water - Don't let 'em dehydrate, don't drown 'em, and be consistent so you help prevent Blossom End Rot.

I want to thank everyone for the great advice! I am a tomato newbie too and there are awesome tips here.

Alexa

I am the originator of this post and I'm not at all overwhelmed by the number of tips I'm getting. As a matter of fact I'm very happy! I have started studiously taking notes on all the great tips here so please keep them coming.

If it helps at all, here is a little more info on my particular situation:

1. I'm having a home built and it won't be done until late June so that's why I'm forced to grow my first tomatoes in containers.

2. I bought 4 roma tomato plants at my local nursery and they are sitting outside my temporary home waiting on me to plant them somewhere.

3. The whole reason I bought tomato plants is so I could make fresh salsa this summer.

4. I also bought 2 cilantro plants and 2 Jalapeno plants at the same nursery. Again, these plants are also waiting on a container home and will be used for said salsa.

5. If anything, I tend to overwater plants. How will I know how damp or dry to keep the soil?

6. Can my Cilantro or Jalapeno be a companion plant for the tomatoes? If not, what other companion plants are good for tomatoes?

7. How much of a problem are deer around tomatoes? (I may have deer visitors at my new home)

Thanks again, everyone. I love GardenWeb!

Assuming you have selected your plants already:

1. Take the time to prepare your soil before you plant.
2. If soaker hoses are impractical, try burying 2-liter bottles with holes punched along the side toward the plant for watering.
3. Check your plants daily for pests like the tomato hornworm and take appropriate measures immediately.

hmmm... I think the biggest thing to help my container plants is to mulch them -- that's one of the main things to help keep the moisture level consistent, so it doesn't dry out too much. I use loose straw or hay, but you can use lots of things.

Also, as far as containers go, do they have to be pretty? (hehe...) I say that because one of my favorite things for tomatoes is a #2 washtub -- that's the big tub. I have two and each of them have a big tomato, one or two peppers, and a couple of onions. Drill lots of holes on the bottom and lower sides.

Both cilantro and peppers would be good companion plants.

I also have some earthboxes and of course, plants do wonderfully in those. You can find out in other forum topics how you can make your own home version of the earthbox, or you can go to earthbox.com and see for yourself what they are. I love mine! They usually do slightly better than my garden plants, and I think it's because of the watering consistency.

And a big AMEN to what Mike said above about the tomato hornworm! Those suckers can strip a plant in a couple of days if you aren't careful. They're big ugly monsters -- google it and look at the pics. Yikes!!! Our garden is right by our pond, and I can tell you this -- when you throw a hornworm on the water, the fish'll come up and grab it in no time.

Lots of luck and keep us posted on how it's going!

1. Find out what diseases and pests are common in your area, and create a plan of action for dealing with them BEFORE they strike. See link, however, I am posting it as a reference on diseases more than as a problem-solver (of the chemical kind!). You should be ready to identify and treat problems as soon as they occur.

2. Investigate good cultural practices to avoid problems in the first place. For example, if you need irrigation in your climate, water in the morning so the leaves will be dry before nightfall, and try to avoid wetting the leaves, to avoid giving fungus spores a nice wet leaf to stick to. Practice crop rotation to reduce disease, and include legumes and other nitrogen-fixers to avoid exhausting soil.

3. Come up with an effective and economical means of supporting them. Don't waste time and money on flimsy store-bought cages, stakes, and other shoddy implements. Support systems that fail are a very common complaint among tomato growers. If the fruit touches the ground it will probably rot (especially in my climate--soil disease heaven).

Have fun and I wish you an abundant harvest of beautiful tomatoes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ortho Home Problem Solver

1. Spacing - grow as many plants as you want -
AS LONG AS THEY ARE SPACED 1 1/2 - 2ft APART

2. Nutrition - don't over fertilize, but make sure you've amended your soil for the season and the plants are "well fed" all summer ...

3. Sun - give em lots of sun and water well when they are thirsty ...

4. (I know you asked for 3, but ...)
Be aware of whats going on in your garden - try to fix "tomato problems" early ...

~ Tom

Last year was my first major year trying my hand at tomatoes.
My biggest problems (and therefore my tips) are:
1. Adequate Spacing - they get a lot wider than you think they will.
2. Adequate Support - they get a lot taller and heavier than you think they will. I bought a variety of stakes, and they outgrew them in a month.
Those were my main 2 problems last summer, hopefully I will create new ones this year!

Just a bit of a detour here, but your cilantro will have long bolted and gone to seed before you see a ripe tomato. Even the newer cilantros that say "slow to bolt" still will go at the slightest warm weather.

I am also growing peppers (jaapenos, habaneros and bell) as companions to the tomatoes, I've heard they are very happy together.

Good luck!

Okay, my tips are for the gardeners that don't have allot of
time to maintain their garden and/or are just lazy like me.

1. cover your garden with cardboard, cut a hole for
your plant and cover cardboard with straw. You will
never have to weed and you won't need to water as much.

2 This is solely my opinion but tying your tomato plants
to stakes is a huge pain in the butt, use a different system.

3 If you do nothing else, make sure you water your garden
consistently.

Assuming you already have seedlings by this time:

1. Good soil (add plenty of compost)
2. Cages (make sure they are tall and sturdy)
3. Pick them ripe (don't let the fruits sit on the vines)

container alternative: bag of soil flat on the ground with a six-inch square planting hole cut out smack dab in the middle of the flat bag. This really works well. Not pretty, but in my opinion, works better than any container I ever tried, unless the container is very large, such as a half whiskey barrel.
good luck with your first year of tom growing....you will learn a lot!

1. After you've planted, and once soil gets warmer (e.g. 70 degrees plus), place straw around plant , about 3 feet diameter. This prevents soil from popping up during rains/watering and starting to disease the plant leaves with soil bacteria. After season, turn over into soil, and let it rot there....your earthworms will increase and get significantly fatter. And of course their droppings will increase....you won't believe how many more worms you end up with after a few years.

2. Use good old compost as your #1 fertilizer....we buy cheaply from county each year.....it's made only from ground up leaves and grass cuttings. Hard to beat.

3. Vary which varieties you grow each year....there are literally THOUSANDS of heirloom/open pollinated types to choose from. It's kinda like EXCITING to try varied shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors...and unlike hybrids (which are nearly all BLAND), you can easily save your own seeds to repeat identically in the future.

Amen

My 3 tips for container growing:
1. Use a large container.
2. Water as needed, perhaps twice a day in hot, dry, and/or windy weather.
3. Fertilize often.

"5. If anything, I tend to overwater plants. How will I know how damp or dry to keep the soil? "
Try to refrain from overwatering. Use the lift test. Try to lift the container a bit, dry soil is much lighter than wet soil. So if the container is real heavy you don't need to water.

"6. Can my Cilantro or Jalapeno be a companion plant for the tomatoes? If not, what other companion plants are good for tomatoes?"
Good companion plants are basil, pepper, and marigold. However I don't and wouldn't grow them in the same container.

"7. How much of a problem are deer around tomatoes? (I may have deer visitors at my new home)"
Deer can be a serious problem.

Good luck fellow West Virginian!

Randy

1. Grow in a raised bed, not a container.

2. Build a great soil over time with lots of compost.

3. Plant in full sun no matter what.

I only have a roof garden, so all my fruit & veg are grown in containers.

I had good success with cherry tomatoes in both hanging baskets and in 10L pots (but I water everything twice a day but watering can - can be labour intensive but sure beats a 2 hour queue at a supermarket every weekend and allows you to study each plants for early signs of pests.)

I also had great results from capsium, french beans, runner beans, lettuce, basil and a variety of other herbs. My brussels got munched overnight and I never saw who the culprit was!

This year I am upping my quanties as we were gutted when we ran out - it was great having a BBQ and everyone being able to pick there own salad straight from pots.

Great post.

1. Select excellent seeds of varieties known to do well in your area (check the forums) and start several seeds in good mix in at least 4" pots. Select for strongest seedling after about 3-4 weeks (snip the others with scissors, don't pull).

2. Plant deeply into well prepared, amended soil in raised bed or mounded row, including lots of organics (compost, natural mulches added additionally over the years), with additional bonemeal in the hole. Have it tested if it doesn't seem to be right. If you must fertilizer use organic pellets.

3. Lots of sun and good water. Water infrequently but deeply and slowly. Drip irrigation lets you water more often but even more slowly (best).

Notes: You really shouldn't have to fertilize your tomatoes once they're growing if your soil is right. But a foliar spray of liquid seaweed or other organic, micronutrient solutions produce amazing results quickly for ailing plants. Keep foliage dry if at all possible and spray them in the morning if necessary.

Also make sure to give each plant enough room for ventilation and root space. Neem oil works great for most pest probs but can sometimes burn young leaves. Organic mulches keep fruit off the ground (for sprawling), breakdown into good stuff, and keep soil from splashing up onto the plant when it rains (important). Cages allow for keeping fruit off the ground and protect them from sunscald.

Ok, one more for container growing. To maximize yield in a small space go with amended (compost and organic fert. pellets, bonemeal) soiless mix in five gallon containers. Make sure the mix has enough perlite so they drain well. Stick the containers right next to each other if you must but a small amount of space in between would be ideal.

For indeterminates and non-bush type varieties place a tall bamboo or wooden stake in each pot at planting time. Tie the plant as it grows to the stake with gardening tape and prune each plant to one major shoot. Once suckers form, remove them. Leave flower clusters alone as they form.

For determinates or bush type varieties you may not need to stake at all and pruning suckers will be reduced.

Water infrequently when plants are young. In the end, if you're outside you may be running water through the pots twice a day.

Don't expect tremendous yields from individual plants but collectively you'll harvest more tomatoes for the same amount of soil with this method over the large container/fewer plants method, while using less space and less water. Drawback is mucho tabajo. (labor intensive) And plants won't go long with only five gallons of soil.

Consider myself a newbie to tomatoes. Some newbie things that have worked for me.

1. Plant a couple different types. I planted nine kinds last year (unlimited garden space). Some rotted and some produced several dozen perfect fruits. Some little yellow ones came on first and lasted all season. Some only put out a few fruit but were tasty. Different types matured at different times so I had "new" tomatoes all season long. In the end I had a fair garden with all the tomatoes I could eat.

2. Bunny poop. For each plant I dig a hole about 8 inches deep and replace the dirt with a mixture of half bunny poop and half dirt. Don't know if this is best but I get some huge plants.

3. My container plants only produced a few tomatoes but they made the back deck attractive and a few are better then none. Hard to find a homegrown tomato that is not better then anything found in the grocery store.

At the end of the season for the last couple years I've brought in all the green unripe fruit and set it out on the table (I'm single). I'm still eating fresh ripe tomatoes at Christmas time. Some rot and some the cat knocks on the floor but well worth the effort.

Gotta thank Annie for the freezing them idea. As they ripen past my needs I freeze the extra in quart freezer bags. Easy as you go type thing.

1) Add lots of organic matter, including composted manure, to your soil. A time-release synthetic fertilizer with minerals for insurance doesn't hurt either.
2) Don't set out your plants too early.
3) Water deeply and infrequently after your tomatoes have established themselves.

These are great tips, people. I have a couple more questions for you:

1. If I grow Cilantro indoors will it be less likely to bolt (since it's not exposted to the hot weather)?

2. Should I continue to clip off the very lowest leaves of my tomato plants all season so as to keep them from touching the soil? Or is that something you do only when tomato plants are very young?

Thanks!

Here's my top three tips for growing tomatoes:

1) Build your soil
2) Build your soil
3) Build your soil

I know they're all the same, but it's so important to the long-term health of a garden and the people it feeds.

Now for a few more....

4) Compost, both in standard form and in the form of tea as a soil drench and foliar spray.
5) Heavy mulch. I use shredded leaves and straw peeled off the bale. Mulch reduces disease, regulates soil temps., practically eliminates weeding hassles, and most years I water very infrequently, if at all. (And the mulch builds the soil as it decomposes.)
6) Big, heavy duty cages. I use CRW cages 3' in diameter and most varieties fill them up. I don't prune back suckers either.