A lot of people wonder about the best way to grow tomatoes in pots. There are two different ways you can go about doing this – organic or in a container garden. For many gardeners, container gardening is the best way to grow tomatoes because it offers several benefits. The biggest benefit is that your tomato plants will be healthier since they are not getting the attention and care that they would get in the garden. Plus, you don’t have to pick all your tomatoes every day.
One great thing about container gardening is that you can easily move your plants from one area of your garden to another. For example, if you plant tomatoes in a raised bed in the kitchen, you can easily move them when it’s time to replant your garden. Just remove the plants, dig a little bit of dirt (depending on the size of your plant) and place it in the bottom of the bed. Then you can easily remove the plant from the ground and transfer it to the new area.
If you’re worried about having to bring the soil up to the surface, fear not! All you need to do is simply moisten the soil a bit. You don’t even need to put any soil mix into the pot. Simply moisten a thin layer on top of the soil in the pot, put the plant in, water well, then cover the plant with the soil. Easy enough, right?
If you’re worried about getting the right amount of water for your tomatoes, container gardening is just perfect for this. Since you can easily move the plants around, you won’t need as much water. Just a simple watering can will do. You won’t even need to water the soil, just water the plant a couple times each week, no more! This is a great option for people with drought tolerant plants, since you can just water less when the need arises.
One thing you’ll want to keep in mind if you choose this method is that you’ll want to put some sort of lid on the container, or at least some sort of screen over the top. A screen that is wide enough will allow the water to drain, but a thin one will trap air and make watering difficult. Also, this type of container will dry out faster than other types, so you’ll want to water less when the plant shows signs of drying out. An inch or two of water added every couple days will provide adequate nutrition for your tomato plant.
Once you’ve decided which pots you’re going to use, you’re ready to set them in the ground. Since tomatoes have fairly short roots, they will need to be put in just deep enough to get their roots under the soil. Keep in mind that the shorter the roots, the more water they’ll need to survive. It’s also important to note that this process usually takes two weeks before the plant actually begins to look fuller and thicker.
To get the best way to grow tomatoes in pots, you’ll also need to take the time to train the plant. Just like any other plant, training your tomato plant to grow up into a nice healthy size should involve pruning. Keep an eye on how much extra soil is forming above the rim of the pot as you do this. This will allow you to prune down to just the roots, thus cutting back on the amount of soil you’ll need to water. You should prune about one third of the root system every two weeks or so to keep it healthy.
Just remember that this is a very labor-intensive way to get a good result out of your tomato plants. In addition, watering them on a regular basis is going to be something that you really have to focus on. While it’s not hard to go to the grocery store and grab some bottles of water, watering them manually isn’t always practical. For the most part, you should be able to get all of your watering requirements taken care of with drip trays. A drip tray is simply a large plastic container that holds water and spreads it out evenly for you.