Minimum size container? Are (5) gal. buckets too small?

[dmforcier]

Hmm? Why the pipe? Did you use one of the little cages?

[RomanX]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Hmm? Why the pipe? Did you use one of the little cages?

I used only a stake, since the plant (Cyril's Choice) was a dwarf determinate with a height of 4'; I estimated that its height would be aabout 3' since it would be grown in a container (it's height IS 3-3.5') (All stakes are sunk the 13 inches to the very bottom of the buckets)

I THINK you mean the staking pipe. Why? Because I had originally used a 6' half-inch diameter bamboo stake, which was sufficient until 1) the plant started fruiting ALOT (July) and 2) an overnight thunder- and wind storm (Aug). (An earlier overnight storm had picked up my 5-gal bucket of Mountain Merit and thrown it off the patio onto the lawn: 3' away!!) At my usual morning watering, I found the bamboo stake had broken completely in two at ground level and the plant had bent to lay on my patio! I had grabbed a left-over piece of PVC pipe (5' length of 1-in diameter PVC) to use as a more rigid stake and tied the plant to THAT!

However, the plant is so very productive that the sheer weight of all those tomatoes soon had the stake leaning!! After about 3 weeks, the stake's gradually approaching ~20 degrees.

Conclusion? A stouter stake (bigger diameter???) and/or a different staking system (perhaps the same PVC pipe inside a cage and tied to it, so the pipe would remain upright??)

[dmforcier]

I get some mighty wind here too, and have found the little cages to be sufficient, so long as the pot is heavy enough to stay upright. 'Course, I can't say that my plants have been loaded (long story) but IMO the cage would provide better support than a stake. (One plant I let go too long to get a cage over so I used two bamboo stakes, but I cheated by sandwiching it between two caged plants.)