If it works for you, great. I am growing two tomatoes in a 35 gallon fabric pot. 5 gallons is pretty small.

Yes. I know all about the indeterminate and roots.

I grew in 5 gallon starting in September and still have a couple of those kicking out fruit but I cut down most. I inspected a few when I pulled them (5 gallon plastic pots) and they looked *OK* but definitely one showed signs of being rootbound.

It might just be a byproduct of where I am (SWFL) but on a lot of days there is almost too much sun. I know that's a weird problem to have. So the shading might actually be an advantage.

Either way I've got some 5gallon / 10gallon solo ones I just wanted to get $0.02 on the multiple per pot situation because I was just trying to figure out if people had actually attempted this or just everyone keeps reading / repeating the 5 gallon rule.

20G just seems massive for a single plant. We are in a condo so space is a concern, just trying to max my available sqft!

The roots will fill any pot. They have a desire to spread outward and downward so they're all just going to keep hitting the sides / bottom.

You can certainly grow them in any size container you like. I am just reporting what I and a number of other container gardeners have found to be a more suitably sized container for large growing indeterminate tomato varieties.

I grow a lot of plants in containers - my primary means of gardening - and I can tell you firsthand what a too small container can do to plant growth. Congested root development stunts a plant. Growing something that wants to get quite large if planted in the ground in a container that limits full root development will result in a dwarfing process. The plant will not get as large nor be as full and productive if the roots are not allowed to spread freely. And then there is the shading and disease/pest issues you create and foster by cramming a lot of plants into too tight a space. But hey - it's your choice!

Ever dig up a 6-8' indeterminate tomato plant growing in the ground at the end of the season and examine it's root system? And you think 4 of those will fit in a 10G pot?? More power to ya!!

Oh yeah everything is rainbows for a few years and then diseases show up.

Have you grown anything before this particular run?

I ask because you've grown Fall and Winter...but perhaps not during the Summer?

In California, I don't go less than 10-gallon for a single indeterminate. In fact, I don't even do a container tomato anymore; I grow them all in-ground now.

Josh

Yes. I've grown in past seasons. I am in zone 10a, southwest Florida. Growing anything other than like, cucumber is next to impossible from June-August. There are a few alleged heat tolerant varieties but unless you've lived through a summer there's no real way to explain it. Aside from the 92+/- daytime temps and insane humidity, we get so much rain it's not even worth it.

Aside from it being a condo, growing in the ground where I am is also just not really worth it. swamp covered with sand with a very high water table.

I make it sound real nice here eh?

I'm just curious because I have read a lot of advice saying 5 gallon this 5 gallon that but my mother-in-law packs my leftover seedlings to what I thought should be wayyyy more than possible based on what I read and she's got some insane tomato trees happening.

the great experiment is on...

This is 1/2 the operation with the 1gal up front now in a single 5 gallon - 3x Cherokee purple which I agree is probably an awful idea but we'll see!

Re: pests - I have gotten pretty lucky thus far. Leaf miners and whitefly. I have some new spiders (real ones, not mites) that moved in and I've let them stay since they're catching tons of the whitefly for me.

downy mildew has popped up a few times but I was usually able to catch it and only destroyed one plant last season. I swear it's the damn bamboo stakes I was using. As you can see above I've since switched to the ultimato plastic cage things that I can mod as they grow

Well, keep notes of your operation, and see how everything does.

I've begun putting two pepper plants together in 5-gallon containers, and they do alright....although I've had some peppers become absolutely huge by themselves, and just wouldn't work. Smaller plants, like Hungarian Wax, do very well.

Josh

you, of course, can do whatever you want. but when people offer suggestions, when you asked for opinions, you vehemently deny the wisdom they offer. ten gallon grow bags tend to offer minimal root space for most indeterminates. perhaps you should consult the tomato growing forum as well … good luck to you ...

I am not denying any wisdom. Apologies if it comes off that way.

what I am trying to figure out is if anyone has actually tried multiples in a container and what the results were.

why does the 5 gallon rule exist? Everyone on this thread who has said they grow in containers say "I use xyz container" but they do not say if they have tried multiples in containers.

I've read plenty and everything I read is the same. No one has said why that is the case from experience, just passing along common wisdom.

So what I am trying to figure out is not what has been said here. I'm looking for experience in doing this. If it doesn't exist then that's that.

like if someone said hey yeah I tried 3 up in a 10 gal and it just didn't work well here is what happened....that would be useful.

So if all the posts zomg don't do it are just based on what you think because of what you read I am trying to challenge that, I suppose.

only one way to find out

I, and others, have grown single tomato plants in 5-gallon grow bags, and the production suffered, and the plants were limited by the availability of root space. It therefore stands to reason that adding additional plants (to the same container volume) would further limit the production and biomass.

Having that experience, it wouldn't make sense to say to myself, Well maybe I just didn't limit the plant enough!

Josh

Oh absolutely. For whatever reason (maybe it was the variety?) or my standards for production are lower but what I got out of my 5 gallons (which I still have a few cranking) I felt the opposite. That my yield per container could've been better served with more plant.

As as I said up above - being in 10A we sorta get two seasons so I guess I'm using my extra season to tinker.

so you think it was strictly the size of the planters that restricted your yield?

do you think it has something to do with my climate / your climate?

I'm sure I'm not the first fool to go down this rabbit hole with jamming containers I just can't find any info on it

My Summer season is excellent. Northern California, not too hot, but plenty hot for tomatoes to thrive. When the plant is really sucking up water, I put the container in a drip-tray to eliminate that variable (inconsistent moisture limiting growth). I also fertilize regularly, in addition to a slow-release added at mixing time.

Josh

I've been playing with plants in a pot each year.

I've done two in a ten. I got good production until mid August. They ran out of room and struggled after that. The next year I tried more spacing. I got more out of each plant and a longer season per plant. I had to hack them all down in October.

Cherries did the best. The beefsteak kind struggled. The middle size 2-6oz types did okay as well.

It was also a nightmare of pruning.

I use many 5-gallon buckets to grow pretty much anything in - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash - the squash plants get HUGE. I think mine do so well because I created DIY self-watering buckets (see: Global Buckets). Once the roots are done filling the potting mix, they migrate through the holes I've punched at the bottom of the upper bucket and tap straight into the water reservoir of the lower bucket - sort of a quasi hydroponic scenario. I have had outstanding results from pretty much anything planted in buckets - the failures I pretty much attribute to selecting incorrect varieties for my local growing conditions (i.e. growing tomatoes better suited for cooler locations). Because of our arid climate, pests and disease are rarely huge issues.

I will say I did not have great luck growing tomatoes or squash in 5-gallon buckets before turning them into self-watering vessels - peppers and cucumbers did okay. I just couldn't keep up with the watering, which was easily a twice a day affair, and the plants suffered as a result. A healthy full-grown tomato plant in full production can drink 2 gallons of water per day. My container garden is in full year-round sun on the south side of my house and in very close proximity (within 10' of the house), so mid-day mid-summer temperatures can easily reach 110 degrees. Nighttime temperatures almost always fall below 65, so the plants see wide ranges of temperatures almost every day. Keeping them properly watered by hand is futile by mid-June.

I love planting in plastic whiskey barrels because they are large enough for even the biggest tomato plants, they look nice and hold moisture longer. Set up a simple drip system on a timer and the water issue is non-existent. They work great for a varied herb garden, multiple pepper plants, tons of lettuce, two tomato plants, large squash plants, you name it. Plastic whiskey barrels are less than $20 at HD. I think I've amassed 19 now, though 4 are permanently designated for extra dwarf fruit trees that are thriving. I change up the other 15 each season for whatever I decide to plant. I think they hold about 20 gallons of growing medium, so that is plenty for most plants for one season. Just remember to feed them regularly, as nutrients are quickly utilized by the plant or washed out the drainage holes by watering. I stick to a schedule of fertilizing each week or two and the plants do well.

I saw John Kohler say once in a video that he doesn't care, I trust his knowledge!

nbm1981 - how do you account for salt buildup in your containers when using a drip system? I'm about to start some sungolds in 16 gallons of gritty mix on my 10b patio, and it's gonna get HOT this summer. Thinking about ways I might supplement my watering, but don't want to burn my roots/lock out nutrients with accumulated residue from tap water. Are you using rain water/RO?

I know I'm pretty ignorant, but I just hafta say there's a huge difference between southwest Florida and the Pacific Northwest, northern California, or Colorado, and that maybe the long sunny days at least partly make up for limitations on the root system's size.

I always wonder what people mean when they say that their indeterminates 'kicked butt' in small pots. How many pounds of tomatoes did you harvest? I used to average about 50 pounds per indeterminate tomato plant planted in the ground.

Here's a video of Brad Gates talking about planting multiples but pruning all the suckers off https://www.facebook.com/wildboarfarms/videos/1708060929231847/