Tomatoes don't do much until the soil temperature warms up. I traditionally plant them on Mother's Day (I'm in Sonoma County).

I will be planting out a 'Juliet' this week but for most tomato varieties it is too early unless you plan on covering the plant with agrabon at night. My garden is in a community garden not near my home so it's difficult to get there and cover my tomato when the weather changes. I have found that Juliet doesn't mind temp changes and the nursery had them for sale so I think it is a safe risk.

edt I'm in the SF Bay area

If you are intending to continue to grow the toms in a container, then soil pH is inconsequential. If you plan to move them into the ground at a later date, then yes, I would want to know what the pH is.

And if you continue to grow in containers, you may want to visit the Container Gardening forum for some very helpful input, Growing in containers is very different from growing the same plant in the ground and very different methods and soils are necessary for success.

Thank you gardengal, valuable comments for a beginner like me. In fact i was considering purchase of a good quality soil test kit; La' Motte is about $70 and i know they are a good brand with quality. Others that i find in Home depot or Amazon are not reliable quality. Basically, i want to grow in a pot for about 2 months, and transfer them to raised bed, only if i am successful for this season. I do not know if tomatoes will withstand the winter cold and grow again next year, but i have indeterminate cherry in this little plant

Considering the lack of growth, and the flowers drying out, i was thinking perhaps they lack Phosphorus, and was about to buy Phosphorus rich fertilizer (6-18-6), and see if that helps. But from earlier comments, i am guessing that i need to weather out April, and see if the plant survives until May before i can expect growth. For now, i am bringing in the plant pot an night, if night time temperature drops below 55 in my area.

Other than for pH, any home soil test is worthless. If you need a soil test get one done by a professional testing lab. And is your raised bed already filled? If not, any bulk raised bed or garden planting soil will work fine and with no need for additional testing either.

Tomatoes are tropical perennials unable to withstand freezing temperatures so unless you have a greenhouse, you need to replace each year.

Meanwhile, i found out (by looking Alameda water quality report) that my home tap water averages a pH of 8.1 and tomatoes like pH of 6 to 6.5. So, i am considering getting a pH lowering liquid from home depot and bringing my tap water to 6 before i do next watering. For past 1 week i have been using tap water mixed with the fish fertilizer (1-1-1) mentioned in first post. Pete moss would have lowered my soil pH but not to 7 or lower.

The raised bed are going to be done only if i am successful in May. I am not sure if i will have the time and energy to do all this during the very first year of my gardening attempt. This 5 gallon pot has about 1.5 feet depth for the root to grow in, and i guess that will happen in about a month if the plant survives.

Tomatoes will usually only set fruit when nighttime temps are above 55 degrees and daytime temps are below 85 degrees. I wouldn't expect your plants to be setting fruit yet even if they're blooming.

You do not need to buy a "pH lowering liquid"......you probably already have what you need in your kitchen cupboard :-) Just use plain old table vinegar.....any flavor. 1-2Tbsp to a gallon of water.

Thank you gardengal. I only have to water it half gallon at a time. Using your suggestion and the Article here on pH lowering with vinegar i can guess that i will have to add about 1 Tbsp to my half gallon to bring it from 8.1 to pH of about 6.0. If anyone has a pH meter they can confirm this accuracy using baking soda added to water and vinegar to neutralize that water.

My 2 cents from 35+ years of veggie gardening. (Mostly tomatos of every type). Get a NEW plant, start over. Get 2 plants!!! You have the room in that 5 gallon bucket. The drooping leaves sound like you are over watering it. Big time, and feeding it to much. Or there is not enough drainage either. Start over.

Buy a TOP GRADE bag of premixed indoor potting soil, like 'Miracle-Gro' Soil-less Potting Mix. Or another 'soil-less' mix. (Yes it is expensive, and tomatos will grow in just about any kind of soil, except clay, but this will help you with not over watering or under-watering, unless you totally ignore it). Make sure you have a lot of holes in the bottom.

You will get a TON of tomatos this way! Buy tomato fert. in a small box. OR buy 10/10/10 or 8/8/8 in a small box or bag. Easy to use, and if you give up, use it on your lawn. A little goes a long way. You don't feed it daily, or every 3 days. More like once every two week.

It sounds like you don't have enough drainage, and it is over-watered, if it has not grown much, if at all in this time. It can be a little transplant shock if it was root-bound when you planted it. Did you rough up the roots a bit, so they would not keep going in circles from the pot it was in??

Tomatos are VERY easy, very simple, and very forgiving. But don't bring it in at night, unless you have animals that eat plants at night?? They need sun most all day. Tomatos grow fast, bloom fast, and well are very easy. And fun to grow the hundreds of types there are. In Calif. you can grow just about any of them. From the tiny cherry ones, to the huge Beef-Stakes!! Lucky You!! The initial investment will give you the learning curve you are looking for.

Don't over think it. Its better to under water than over water. Under fert. than over fert. and well, just watch for tomato horn-worms, they can make the plants go bald in two days! It is the beginning of a great hobby and you get food along the way! Hope this helps.

1) No Miracle Gro soil product is considered top grade!! In fact, most container gardeners - doesn't make a whit of difference with the plant type - consider Miracle Gro soils extremely inferior. Excessively water retentive, slow to drain and prone to collapse/compaction

2) A 5G container is only good for starting an indeterminate tomato variety. A single plant will develop a root system that will outgrow that size container in a 4-6 weeks of active growth. Most recommend at least a 10-15G pot, but larger is better.

I dont know what you are growing but ALL of my cactus/hoyas/veggies/African Violets are all in various types of 'Miracle-Gro soils', specifically for those plants. And all are doing great! For YEARS.

And a 5 gallon bucket can handle 2 'patio' tomato, or 'dwarfs' or 1 'Beefstake' easily. Bigger is always better, but clean sterile 'soil less' mix is also the best. You know of a different brand at Lowes or Home Depot? Easy for 'Sam N' to buy?

Soil-less mixes control the watering, and it can have the water retaining gels in it, or not. It is NOT like that black muck in bags for $.99. Thats just black clay. Instant death. Trying to give him the easiest and best way to get success. And the seedling plants are grown in....soil-less mixes, but WE cant buy that,...it is only at big nurseries. so the only one I know of is. Miricle Gro. If you have another one, tell him.

Try visiting the Container Gardening forum, the Houseplant Forum and the Cacti and Succulents forum and see what they have to say about Miracle Gro soils. The reviews and experiences have been uniformly dismal!

Virtually any soil mix intended for container gardening is soil-less (and for a very good reason) so I have no idea what that comment is about. And commercial bagged mixes far superior to Miracle Gro are not all that hard to find - Fafard's, Pro-Mix and Kellogg's are all much better.

Since the OP is in California, I'd suggest he get some Kellogg's Gardner & Bloom Blue Ribbon potting mix or their Master Nursery label Gardener's Gold. Both are infinitely superior to any MG product!!

Thanks for the comments. It is quite possible that i am over-watering it - but drainage is not a problem. There are several holes at the bottom and the half gallon or less that i pour (once every 3 days) drains within 1 hour. It is also possible that i have over fertilized it, since it gets that liquid fert every 3 days.

I looked at the bags i used for soil mix. Here is what i started in the 5 gallon bucket.....

1. 25 % Miracle-Gro Potting soil (from last year that was in garage)
2. 25 % Miracle Gro Sphagnum Pete Moss (unopened bag from 1 year ago)
3. 25 % Steer Manure From HDepot
4. 15 % Topsoil from lush backyard that was clean, stone free, loosened up (no grass)
5. 10 % Mulch on top that has grass clippings (fresh) mixed with dry leaves / barks

Some flowers came up before 5 days or so (after couple of days in sun), but they have turned from yellow to brown now. Leaves are drooping as "PoohBear" mentioned. So i will stop watering for a few more days. I read/heard that the soil needs to stay moist, and watering once in 3 days is the norm - so i followed it. I also read that Phosphorus is needed for flowering, and i thought maybe that was lacking. Not sure if the potting soil would have retained nutrients over 1 year in garage. Today i have supplied 1/4 gallon of water at pH level 6.

I just remembered that i did not crush the original pot like structure that the plant came in. The roots are all probably caught up in that little thing ( like PoohBear said ). Tomorrow, I am planning to dig up the plant (after 7 days in that pot ) and loosen up the roots and replant it to see what happens. Please comment if this will do more harm than good to that 2 footer. I am pretty much leaving the plant in sun from morning till night, and bring it in, only when it is completely dark outside (and put it inside my dark garage again). Only because some nights are still falling below 50 degrees here and garage will stay around 55 degrees.

I recommend reading this book "The $64 Tomato"

You might want to up that 5 gallon pot to something more like 15-20 gallon depending on what kind of indeterminate cherry tomato you have. Some cherries can get rather large and heavily laden with fruit and can become a bit top-heavy to be stable in a 5 gallon pot. Make sure your caging/trellising is sturdy too.

And depending on where you got it, you might need to stabilize the whole thing to something solid- it's tragic when you get a lovely pot toppled over in a good wind storm.

Awesome thread that has many useful tips for beginners. So, i wanted to add some of my findings here....

Fertilizer Related :

San francisco Gate article on Tomato ferts

Something about Phosphate

You can find Phosphate-potassium ferts on amazon search, if one wants to monitor and add those two components separately. I ordered Fox Farm Tiger Bloom Liquid Concentrate Fertilizer which has 2-8-4 NPK, to supplement my fish fert (1-1-1).

Initial potting tip:

I may have found the real problem, based on an earlier comment here. I was watching the Bonnie video on planting it. One has to remove the sheathing that is around the
store bought plant (but i only removed the plastic that was around it ). The video shows this step around 1 min 5 seconds. Having no space to grow, the roots are probably stuck in that brown pot sheathing (even though they seem bio-degradable). I will dig it out tomorrow when my 25 gallon fabirc grow pots arrive from Amazon. Since this is an experiment for me in gardening, no point in getting a new plant until this dies. The new grow pot will give me a 20" diameter and more than needed volume. I can not plant 2 plants within it, because the instructions that came with the plant say that a minimum of 3 feet needed for next plant.

I also found out this information about the type of tomato i have for my first experiment.....

" The “Husky Cherry Red” is a dwarf indeterminate tomato continuously producing 1-inch fruit on a 3 to 4 foot plant until frost occurs. The fruits are sweet and have a mature rate of 65 days. This cherry tomato plant tolerates heat and is resistant fusarium and verticillium wilt. "

So, my roots will not grow more than 1.5 feet (if that at all). I decided to get the 25 gallon pots because that gave me the 16.5 inch height. I can use the other pots in this 5 pack for some other veg plants for this year or more tomato plants. It is hard to find a fabric bag that has more than 16 inch height - this would be a good product to sell on amazon if anyone here is a seller. I was actually looking for a depth of atleast 2 feet, but could not find them in even 30 gallon fabric grow pots.

Sam - are you in Alameda? If yes, your biggest challenge in growing tomatoes is cool temperatures - essentially, no summer heat.

I lived in Alameda for several years and had some modest success with tomatoes -

I waited until late May to plant, and even then found that plants did better if I encased pots with clear plastic (with the top open) well into June. I had the pots right by the house to try and catch any radiated heat. After a few seasons, I made a small raised bed and the tomatoes did better. Nothing planted in the ground grew well.

I bought the biggest plants I could find so that the plants had a good head start. I grew mostly cherry tomatoes and Early Girl (no big tomatoes and only those with the shortest time to maturity). Bonnie’s Plants did the best - by far - for me.

I used potting soil (Miracle Gro, which was much better in quality than it is now or a much cheaper soil now no longer available) mixed with steer manure, a little (very little) chicken manure and compost. For one season, the soil was fine. For the raised bed, I used a vegetable blend from an independent garden store and added amendments every year.

I fertilized a few times in the season with Miracle Gro.

Hope this helps.

Jo

My two cents - Don't overthink it. Tomatoes can sprout from seeds dropped by birds and grow happily outside all by themselves. Water based on temperature and humidity and what you observe, not on a rigid schedule. Give the tomato time. Their growth is influenced a lot by temperature. Too much nitrogen (manure) will give you lots of green leaves but not many tomatoes. Be on the lookout for insects and take care of them before they become a problem. Usually a good squirt of water is all you will need. Cherry tomatoes are easy because you don't have to be concerned about blossom end rot. Most of all, be patient. When you first transplant something, it needs to extend its roots before you see much growth on top.

The tomato below was a volunteer and grew with very little attention except occasional water. No fertilizer.

You have a Master Gardener organization where you live that can also offer advice. http://mg.ucanr.edu/FindUs/

Growing tomatoes

The bio-degradable pots never degraded for me even after a few years. I always remove the plant from the pot before planting.

I grow Husky Red every year. My absolute favorite was Sweet 100 and I have been very disappointed with its replacement Super Sweet 100.

Thanks for the suggestions, i will also try the sweet100 (if i can find it in HD or local nursery) since i have 5 big fabric pots now, wondering what is easy to plant in those, as a beginner. Wife says she wants some vegetables !!

Dug it out today, and took some pictures of the root and the state of the supposedly "biodegradable outer pot" that it came in. You can see in the pictures enclosed that the roots are trying to get through that pot, but could not. I found plenty of roots bunched up inside the pot. After tearing out the outer pot, When i tried to loosen up the soil around roots, i could feel how much they are bunched up together inside that. Soil has been fully wet for over a week, but that did not decompose the outer pot.

Also enclosed are the pictures of the dying flowers, and the full plant, as seen inside the 5 gallon bucket. I don't know what the yellow spot is on the leaf. Please comment if you understand it using the picture. (NOTE: I see the full picture only when i click on them individually. Only partial view in the post itself).

You should have the soil right up to a couple of inches from the top of the bucket.

If you are going to eventually plant in the ground, go ahead and do it now! Add a bit of root enhancer and get a strong tomato cage!

East bay should start heating up soon.

Let them dry out a bit before watering again (in the North bay, I would do a deep watering 1x per week unless REALLY hot) You'll learn your plants needs.

I started a new garden in a new neighborhood last year, not expecting much. I didn't fertilize or even add compost my first year. Just mixed in some root enhancer and watered and had a wonderful harvest!

As others have said....you are over thinking this!

As for the other grow bags.....what do you like to eat? Peppers, eggplant (I suggest the thin asian style for grilling and for smaller families), Bush cukes/beans/zuk? Relax and have fun! If it happens, it happens!

Hi Sam, I am apparently posting on all your threads.

Those "biodegradable outer pot" never degrade fast enough. Always break them apart. Your plant looks healthy to me. When you repot it, plant it lower in the soil. Anywhere the stem touches soil it will grow more root (which is good at this stage as strong roots means bigger plant). Also, it is too young for flowers. I break all of my flower off until my plant is a good size. You want the plant putting all its energy into growing when it is young. Breaking off the flowers helps with that.

Since you are on Alameda, your climate is pretty similar to mine (I am in the upper peninsula around Burlingame) with cool summers even though I rarely get fog. If you are in the fog, you may have different results.

Tomatoes are super easy to grow. It is hard to mess up here. I actually always plant mine in March. I even planted them in February a few years. They just don't take off until it warms up... it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for me. No need to bring them inside. (it is probably bad for the plant). This year due to redoing the landscape, I just planted mine last week.

Here is how I get 100s of tomatoes every year: I mostly use 30 gallon fabric pots (one per tomato) with a raised bed mix like Kelloggs although I've put a few in the ground. I fertilize about 3-4 times a season with Espoma Tomato Tone (just follow the instructions) and throw on a little slow release osmocote just in case. I put them on a drip system where they get about 15 minutes of water ever other morning. I put them in giant cages (I made my own out of wire mesh, but you can get texas tomato cages if you don't want to make them). With our cool summers, I don't worry about mulching... it doesn't get hot enough to bother.

Once you have the drip system and the cages, you mostly just leave them alone... I used the same containers for years without ever changing the soil. After the first year, the work is minimal. Your biggest problem will be the rats and the squirrels. Netting helps a little, but makes them hard to pick. The best solution is to grow a lot more than you can eat.

Varieties are very important. I have experimented with a lot of varieties every year as I normally plant 10-14 plants a year. With my particular microclimate, I have trouble with a lot of the common beefsteaks like Better Boy and Paste/Roma tomatoes like Juliet or San Marzano. I think those need more heat. Also, tomatoes that are supposed to be specially suited for cool foggy summers like Stupice or SF Fog have never given me many tomatoes (maybe they need the fog). Brandywines do fantastic . And some less common beefsteaks like Berkeley Tie Die, Mr Stripey, and Cherokee Purple do well. However, cherries and grape tomatoes do the best.

If I could only plant one vegetable/tomato, it would be a Sun Gold. IMO they are far superior to the sweet 100s and sweet million cherries. I always plant two every year. They are like candy and each plant will give you 100s.

To the person who was saying you can grow a tomato in a 5 gallon bucket... or even 2... that sounds nuts to me. When I tried putting 2 tomato plants in a 30 gallon pot, I got way less tomatoes total than when I did one per pot. My tomatoes get 5-7 feet tall and 3' wide. Cherries get even bigger. I even had a cherry tomato grow 13' up the roof of my house one year. They are like trees. My 5' tall cages really don't work well for them.

Wonderful comments Robin. Useful to me. I am in Fremont area, and it is hotter than Alameda, which is good for tomatoes. I am going to follow your suggestions and methods. Found some mini-nuggets at local Lowes called GardenTime bark mulch, which i plan to mix to get closer to Al's mix. Thanks to your suggestions, i do not have to buy the peat moss (which i was planning on). I searched online, and found varying opinions on which is the sweetest heirloom tomato.

I have 5 fabric bags of 25 gallons capacity. I want to try couple of tomato that i can use for cooking, pasta sauce etc. I will try the asian eggplant and green beans in the others. If you have suggestions for the best tasting for these, please share.

My current plant has leaves that are very green. My only concern is the drooping of leaves since i expected them to be perky young ones :-) Unknowingly, i used a soil that i made myself with a mix of sphagnum moss, miracle potting mix, steer manure, backyard clay soil (loosened up) in the ratio of 1-1-2-2 and topped it with dead leaf/grass-clipping mulch. Given my current knowledge, i drilled a 1/16" hole all around the bucket, just to see if i can make this plant survive. This one is more of a science experiment for me to make it survive. I supplied liquid fertilizer to this plant every 3 days, but have stopped that now and watering is also temporarily stopped since the soil felt 50% more more saturated. I will log here what happened to this experiment. I do not know the pH of my mix since my pH meter will arrive only monday.

So many tomatoes, so many microclimates (Sam N, do you know your Sunset zone?)), so many good ideas!

FWIW, I grow dwarf project tomatoes in Earthboxes with ProMix HP from Home Depot or Lowe's (I think....last year husband bought up some when one of them said they would no longer be carrying it), with automated drip, in Sunset 14, and a combination of Tomato Tone at planting, followed by not organic liquid supplements.

Oh Fremont... you will need to mulch. You get a lot more heat than I do. I bet most tomatoes will do fantastic in your climate. You just have to try a bunch and figure out which ones you like best..

You seem committed to trying Al's mix although i don't think that is a great idea in Fremont.. With the heat you get in summer, your soil will dry out quickly. If you make a really fast draining mix, the roots will dry out unless you are constantly watering... Consider adding Diatomaceous Earth instead or in addition as it allows for good aeration and holds moisture and nutrients that the plants can use slowly but won't let the roots sit in water and rot. I still think tomatoes and veggies prefer a 25-50% compost mix to these porous mixes.

Romano beans are my favorite beans to grow. I actually often plant them in with my tomatoes and trellis them up the cages. The tomatoes don't seem to mind and I inoculate the beans so that they produce their own nitrogen (soil inoculants and nitrogen fixers is another black hole of research you can fall into).

Found the cause of my leave curling down......It is mention in this blog with pictures....

http://blog.explosiveblooms.com/2014/05/tomato-leaves-curling-down/ . Took it out of the sun for today, and i have stopped watering it 3 days ago. Will need to give it some time in shade, for roots to catch up with top.

The 5-1-1 mix is not that fast draining....certainly not compared to something like the gritty mix. It drains well but is very adequately moisture retentive. I've grown tomatoes in containers using that mix for years wih great success and I live in a very dry summer climate.

If you do use diatomaceous earth, make sure it is food grade DE only and make sure it is in aggregate form and not the powder it is most commonly sold as. Powdered DE is useless in a container potting mix and will not offer any of the qualities Robin purports.

What are the 3 numbers that many people have attached to their names ? For example, Al has screen-name of tapla(Mid-MI z-5b-6a) . I looked up USDA zones and it only tells me that i am in zone 10a. Is there a way to find soil characteristics of my specific zone from USDA surveys ? Simple search yields "not-so-easy to read" results from USDA.

Those number are just the USDA hardiness zone designation which can be helpful when discussing plant or gardening issues. But since they have a very limited application, many add on a locational tag as well. For Al, that is mid-MI....for me, the PNW :-)

Soil characteristics have little to nothing to do with zone or location, as they can vary widely from place to place within the same general area, neighborhood or even within the same garden.

btw, if you live in CA, I doubt you are in a USDA 5a unless you live on top of a mountain :-) The vast majority of CA is USDA zone 8 and above. You might find more accurate listings if you search by zip code. And you should also know aboutSunset's gardening zones, which are even more applicable to west coast gardeners and far more site specific.

Thank you. It was a mistake that i corrected in previous post. Sunset zone 16 for me.

Potted tomato is showing purple coloring of trunk and branches. I am realizing that my yard clay+manure + sphagnum moss + potting mix is too compacted (and i have read that this defiency in potash can not be fertilizer fed unless the soil pH is under 7.0). Next step is to continue the experiment by taking out the soil and mixing it with either sand , or lava rock pebbles, or #2 chicken grit which i saw Al recommending elsewhere. As of now, there is 1/16 " holes all around the bucket to provide air holes. Want to bring this tomato up successfully within this pot and learn in the process. Whatever adjustments are needed, i have to make within the current setup. Already bought Epsoma bone meal and i have a liquid fertilizer (Fox Farms link given above) that is high in Potash. Watering has been stopped for 4 days now and the plant was indoors for 2 days to encourage root growth rather than leaf growth. It is showing signs of fresh flowers at top and more leaves at top, but the flowers are browning out as soon as they break out of bud.

So, took out the yard soil and performed the mason jar test and found the following in 3 different areas of my yard. The potted soil is similar to the large mason jar. Do you think it is all clay, or there is silt below the paper tape markings in the picture ? The straight edge of the paper tapes is where i see a bit of difference in texture (but not a whole lot of difference from the clay on top). It seems there is almost no sand (or my eyes are not trained enough to recognize them). The picture is high resolution, so that you can blow it up if needed. The top layer is just water (that has a bit of clay still in the settling process).

They always look purple in the cold. The flowers are also not setting fruit because it's too cold where you live. Stop moving the poor plant in and out and potting and repotting it. Just be patient.

The 2 prong pH meter from Amazon turned out to be a waste of time. And then i found [this thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/whats-the-most-accurate-way-to-measure-soil-ph-dsvw-vd~1621023), discussing how doing home measures of pH is pretty difficult, as we don't know the buffering capacity of the soil being tested. I tested a variety of things with the meter that arrived today (2 different soils, distilled water, vinegar pure, vinegar dissolving my yard soil, sphagnum moss) and all results were within pH 7.5 and 5.5 range. It was almost like the pH meter was designed to function only within that short range even though it shows a range of 3 to 8. Then i realized the truth, by reading that thread. Going to return the meter and forget about pH and treat the symptoms as they come along.

Sam you should break off the flowers. The plant shouldn't be allowed to flower until it is good sized. You want it to put energy into roots and growing up.

I was late planting this year as I am re-landscaping and putting all my tomatoes in the ground for the first time. I planted them Thursday.... This first week, they don't look that great. A lot of drooping, purpling, and yellow leaves. It is transplant shock.... plants don't like to be moved. I have no doubt that in another week they will perk up and start to take off. You have to be patient and let them adjust. If you keep moving the plant, it will never adjust.

Robin, night time lows are still hovering around 49 in bay area. I don't know if soil temperatures run lower or higher than air (at night). I read that tomatoes need soil temps above 55 to live healthy.

Thanks for the suggestion about pruning the flowers. Today morning, i noticed one of the flowers is opening (rather than shriveling up). In another set of flowers (seen in second picture above), which was shriveling up before, i saw a tiny tomato quarter inch big. (This is happening 4 days of no water, and roots were liberated from the little Bonnie pot they came in (plus, holes were drilled on the plastic container for more aeration & reducing the water held by the clay soil). It seems like my soil needs water only once in 4 or 5 days, this early in the game.

I had 3 sets of flowers. All were pruned out this morning (including that littte tomato, though it was bit hard to let it go). . Learnt about pruning today, and so the plant got good pruning. Today is the 5th day without water, i wonder if i can feed some potash & phosphorus focused organic ferts tomorrow, with water, because i want to feed the roots (not nitrogen for leaves).

I am starting to harden mine off in the East Bay/ Sacto Valley.

My temp claimed to be in the 40's last night!

Soil temperature is definitely warmer than air temps. It is going to be warm tomorrow. Better water!

That is a lot of tomatoes nanelle_gw! I am limiting myself to 10 this year, but it is hard.

We're going to going to need a bigger boat!

My opinions:

Plant doesn't look all that bad, you may worry too much.

Roots look white and healthy, seem OK.

You need a lot more mineral content, I would suggest perlite, it is light and airy unlike gravel.

2 cu ft of perlite is $17 at Home Depot.

Using moisture meter is the way to go for 5 gal pots, cost about $10 and lasts forever.

Water settles at the base of pots and will not drain, sorta like a wet sponge holds water, this can rot roots. To encourage drainage, drill holes at bottom of side, run a strip of super shammy type of synthetic absorbent wipe under the soil, out the holes and drape below the pot. Retained water will follow the strips and drip out the excess water.

Thanks for the water drain using bottom drain holes. Water is being held back only at the center, due to the clay soil present in it. Drilled a lot of holes on 5 gallon pot, about 1/8" size. I have pushed several toothpicks into various holes, in an effort to drain out water from the center area.

Plant is now about 18" above top mulch level. I plucked out 4 or 5 flower bud areas that came up; so only have leaves that are healthy. Supported the main stem with 1/4" dowel. Will install cage system around it if this plant successfully doubles in size and starts flowering again. Feeding only liquid fertilizers about once a week and watering once every 3 or 4 days.

If i were to do this again, i would have started this in a 7 gallon Vigoro grow bag that i can get at HD which has more height than this 5 gallon HD bucket. Just want to see if this survives my first season, and produces at least 1 tomato :-)

I think this was the first thread i started in Gardening discussions. After 1 year of gardening, i wanted to post some of my findings here, to help anyone who may find this thread in future (using a google search). Last year, i planted tomatoes in 5 gallon pot as well as a 30 gallon fabric pot. The 5 gallon pot (described above, with clay soil) was dismal yield, but plant survived. The fabric pot yielded way more. Both had diseases and insects.

This year, the raised bed garden i prepared last year was ready, though i did not have much success with it last year ( planting strawberries). The organic matter was well incorporated into it, and the tomato planted in raised garden boomed to 4 times the height of same plant in the 30 gallon fabric pot. I did not have good soil in the pot, because i reused last year's potting mix along with some slow release fertilizer mixed in.

So, now i know soil preparation with organic matter (i had trench composted my kitchen waste under the raised bed) will give happy plant that can resist diseases and insects. I also know reusing previous year's potting mix requires a high dose of fertilizer (preferably compost included).

It's not just the soil, in my experience.
No vegetable is truly happy when the roots are the same temperature as the leaves. Sometimes you have no choice, and a pot is better than nothing, but in ground is best, and mulched in ground is even better.

@sam (SF bay, 10a / Sunset 16), Thanks for the update! So glad your tomatoes are doing well this year in your new beds. They really do love the ground over the fabric pots. Are you getting a lot of tomatoes right now or are most of yours still green?

Last year, my first year with all my tomatoes in the ground, I had an insane amount of tomatoes. All my plants were giant 8'+ monsters. It was a jungle of tomatoes. I had no diseases and nothing ate them accept the neighbors (we gave tomatoes to the whole neighborhood!).

This year I am having a lot of trouble with early blight and with rats eating my tomatoes. The plants are still huge (one even had a birds nest!), but everything is taking so long to ripen! Last year at this time, all my tomatoes were in full swing. This year, most of my tomato plants have yet to produce a ripe one. I just got my first Cherokee Purples. I am thankful I planted an Early Girl, or I would have almost no tomatoes. Lucky my Early Girl is a beast with over a 100 tomatoes... just enough for the rats and me. My poor neighbors will have to wait and be content with beans and cucumbers.

I think we had an unusually cool foggy July hence the blight and the slow ripening. Glad there is another heat wave on the way. My tomatoes aren't enjoying this cold spell!

"Glad there is another heat wave on the way." Hmmmmmm. Not sure about that. It got to 109 f here with the last one.

@Robin morris -

Yes, the plant i put straight away into the raised bed had lot of nutrition to feed on, from last year. Besides, i also added a bit of fertilizer to planting area. So, within a month, it grew from 1 ft to 4 ft, and currently at 5 ft, with broad foliage and plenty of tomatoes. Whereas, the one that grew in a fabric pot, without much to feed it gained only a foot in 2 months before i transplanted it to my raised bed area, and is starting to thrive there. Before season is over one plant would go over 6 ft where i have to crop that indeterminate.

Conclusion - fertilized soil is better than potting mix of high grade + compost.