My guess is too much water! Tomatoes like to dry out a bit between waterings. I grow mine in raised beds, not containers, but I usually only water 1-2x per week. You might also check into the container forum here. Nancy

Agree. You are way over-watering it. That causes roots to smother and die and the leaves to droop and wilt. Only water when the soil finger length deep feels dry. You are probably going to have to transplant it into a much bigger container too as it could quickly get root bound in that pot. What is the name of the variety on the tag?

Dave

It's a bush champion. I was thinking it wasn't supposed to get too big.

I had read somewhere to water it daily after first transplanting it. The sun does dry out my soil pretty well but I'll try watering every other day.

Bush Champion plants normally get to 4-5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter and for best production require at least a 7 gallon container (10 is better). In such a small container you will have BER (blossom end rot) problems on the fruit.

Watering is not done on a schedule. Container plants require consistent soil moisture levels. So every other day could still be over-watering and in the high heat of summer will be under-watering. You have to break the habit to water on a fixed schedule and that is much easier to do in a larger container.

Dave

digdirt2: Perhaps the circumference is small...but it is a taller container. It's more than 10 gal. I'll consider a larger pot though after a bit.

I'm a little confused. I'm seeing a few sources stating this will get to 24 inches:

"Bush Champion’ is the determinate form of the popular vine tomato ‘Champion’....While the compact plants grow only 24 inches tall, they yield plenty of big, meaty tomatoes that weigh in at 8 to 12 ounces. " (Homegrown-harvest)

Are you referring to the non-bush plant?

No. Bush Champion is one of my standards and has been for several years. We normally grow 10-12 of them each season, some in 15 gallon containers and some in ground. They consistently reach 4 feet + in both situations. In your container it may be somewhat smaller but 24" is vary misleading info. That would put it in the dwarf category and it is definitely not a dwarf.

Dave

I grow tomatoes in containers and your container looks like it can still be used to produce some good fruit. Try testing the soil moisture at the end of the day and the morning until you get used to how quickly it dries out. Once you have fruit it is good to keep more consistent moisture to reduce cracking. For now if it still moist in the evening and following morning you could skip a day of watering or use less water.

The instruction to "water every day" has to be taken with a BIG grain of salt. Well established seedlings don't need the surface of the soil to remain moist, and it's better if it didn't. Let it dry out. The water comes from the roots, and the roots are way down underneath. What you're seeing the sun do is dry out the surface. Every few days stick your finger in an inch down in the soil and see if it's moist (not soaking wet!) there. If not, add a little water.