Still confused about container size needed

[tulsanurse1]

Is a container size W20.5 X H12.0 overkill for a tomato plant? I purchased it to put 2 indeterminant plants in but now will only be planting 1 in it instead, due to overcrowding. What ideally is the smallest size container one could use for planting on BeefSteak tomato plant in. No sense spending all that money on the containers if I don't ultimately need it. Sorry for my confusion. I appreciate all the feedback but still a little a little confused and just want to do this right economically.

[Marko]

Your containers are just fine for one plant. Tomatoes grow even in 1 gal pot but you can't expect more than one or two fruits then. Not to mention constant watering.
I'm using 15 gal containers and there is hardly any difference between container and garden tomatoes.

[nctomatoman]

My containers for tomatoes range from 5 gallon (for dwarfs and determinates) to 15 gallon (for indeterminates). Both thrive....but the need for constant watering when the plants are mature and ripening fruit is amazing! We end up in our hot summer climate watering deeply (until it comes out of the bottom) morning and evening! But the performance of the plants (yield and flavor wise) is just fine.

Peppers and eggplant are both quite happy in even smaller pots - especially hot peppers, which I now grow in 1 gallon pots (or smaller!) to allow me to evaluate all sorts each year.

[riceke]

I have a hard time calculating or even guessing how many gallons a pot has. Most pots sold in Big Box stores, W-Mart or any of the garden centers don't have how many gallons of soil it will hold. Can anyone tell me how many gallons is a round pot that is 14" wide by 14" tall. Or maybe vice-versa: What size pot is a 5 gal, 10 gal or 15 gal? Any pic's would help? Otherwise I'll just go on guessing.

[nctomatoman]

Ken, think gallon jug of milk and do a visual estimate. I actually just kind of guess, but assume that a pot the size you describe is likely 15 gallons....I've really not been sufficiently precise about such things, I guess!

[Wi-sunflower]

Just hold it next to a 5 gallon bucket and guesstimate. Or you could put your soil in the bucket and see how many times you need to re-fill to fill the pot.

For economical growing containers, see if you can get some 5 gal buckets. Just be sure to drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Those are good enough for peppers and eggplant and dwarf tomato plants. Tho I would try to set up some kind of automatic watering on 1 of those water timers, especially for the tomatoes. When the plants are big and have fruit on them, I was watering 3 or 4 times / day for 15 minutes with my timer. About every 6 hours so they wouldn't dry out.

As long as the containers have decent drainage, any excess water will drain out. But if they dry out then you start having problems like blossom end rot and pots falling over and breaking the plants.

Carol

[recruiterg]

Roughly speaking, 231 cubic inches = 1 gallon

If your container is a cylinder, then:

pi x r squared x h = volume

3.14 x 10.25 squared x 12 = 3958.75 cubic inches

Divide by 231...your containers hold roughly 17 gallons

[riceke]

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

Ken, think gallon jug of milk and do a visual estimate. I actually just kind of guess, but assume that a pot the size you describe is likely 15 gallons....I've really not been sufficiently precise about such things, I guess!

Me too tomatoman...I keep a gallon nursery container (I think) on hand just for that purpose.

[riceke]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

Just hold it next to a 5 gallon bucket and guesstimate. Or you could put your soil in the bucket and see how many times you need to re-fill to fill the pot.

For economical growing containers, see if you can get some 5 gal buckets. Just be sure to drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Those are good enough for peppers and eggplant and dwarf tomato plants. Tho I would try to set up some kind of automatic watering on 1 of those water timers, especially for the tomatoes. When the plants are big and have fruit on them, I was watering 3 or 4 times / day for 15 minutes with my timer. About every 6 hours so they wouldn't dry out.

As long as the containers have decent drainage, any excess water will drain out. But if they dry out then you start having problems like blossom end rot and pots falling over and breaking the plants.

Carol

Thanks sunflower...but I just drag my garden hose around the yard instead of the automatic watering...less complicated and I won't be watering when it's raining out side.

[riceke]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Roughly speaking, 231 cubic inches = 1 gallon

If your container is a cylinder, then:

pi x r squared x h = volume

3.14 x 10.25 squared x 12 = 3958.75 cubic inches

Divide by 231...your containers hold roughly 17 gallons

Or if I buy a 64 quart bag of potting soil and it fills my pot then I know I have roughly a 15-16 gal pot. (64 quarts/4 qts per gal= 16 gal). But what if the bag is in ounces? (lol)

[Wi-sunflower]

Believe me, doing the hose twicw a day gets old FAST.

If you have to be away from the house for the better part of the day, it's not fun to come home to a lot of dry and/or tipped over plants.

One tip for the top-heavy plants in containers -- get a piece of rebar at least a foot or more longer than your pot. Longer if you want to use it for tying your plant. I drive a rebar stake down the inside edge of a pot straight thru into the ground to keep them from tipping over when windy or dry.

Carol

[PNW_D]

Found this chart - might help - now only have to deal with litres as opposed to quarts