Number of plants in an Earthtainer

[ArthurDent004]

After seeing how big my indoor tomato plant has become, a neighbor has offered to let me put a container or two in his backyard. I was thinking of building a earthtainer out of 14 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck containers. Would two determinate tomato plants like a Silvery Fir and an Early Wonder do well in the same container or should each plant have its own container? The Fir isn't supposed to be more than two feet tall and both list 55 days from seed to fruit. I thought the shorter growing time would be good if I'm trying to start this later in the year.

My other concern is that I'd only be able to check on the plants once or twice a week and I want to make it as easy as possible on him so my plants will survive. Hopefully if they do better than the tomatoes he has already planted in his backyard garden I can convince him to switch to container gardening and abandon his conventional backyard garden.

[Dewayne mater]

With that size container, I would only put one plant. Raybo's earthtainers are a 31 gallon container and two plants are tight in there once they get large. One concern, you say you can only check on them 1 or 2 time times a week. Can your neighbor at least make sure they have water? Once it gets hot (for us, that starts today) and the plants are larger, they can need water as often as daily, but certainly every couple of days. In this type of environment, when they run out of water, they droop fast and badly. Even if they recover when you get them water, the running out of water is not good because that is a contributing factor to blossom end rot. If you make sure to keep water in them vigilantly, your plan should work well. Good luck.

[Greatgardens]

An EarthBox has approximately an 18 gallon capacity. Growing two pretty large tom. plants in an EB is not a problem, assuming that you can support the vines/crop and keep it watered. 14 gal. is a little skimpy, I think, and especially if you are going to have any problem keeping it watered. I grow Early Wonder yearly, usually along with a Better Bush (in the same EB). But it takes lots of water -- sometimes morning and evening if it is really hot and breezy. You might try two plants, but if it creates a problem, you might have to do some "radical surgery."
-GG

[ArthurDent004]

I'm growing a Sophie's Choice determinate indoors in a 5 gallon SWC. I only have a 3' by 3' growing space and that one plant has grown much bigger than I expected. I've had to prune it three times so that it will fit my space. It goes through half-gallon of water every three days. Since the reservoir holds less than two gallons, I didn't think it would be suitable for an outdoor grow. Looks like it will be one plant in the Earthtainers.

[ArthurDent004]

Greatgardens - How big do the Early Wonders grow? I went overboard and bought seeds for Beaverlodge Slicer, Black Sea Man, Burbank Slicing, Better Boy, Tiny Tim, Manitoba, Patio Princess Hybrid, BushSteak Hybrid, and Health Kick Hybrid because they are all listed as determinate. Have you grow any of these? I'm trying to determine these best ones to try to grow indoors in my small space.

[Greatgardens]

Hi-

I've grown only Tiny Tim and EW of the varieties you mention. Tiny Tim for me gets about 18" to a bit less than two feet, but it probably varies some by the size of the container. Early Wonder gets fairly large in an EarthBox -- at least 3 ft' tall and quite bushy. I typically have to prune it a bit to keep it under control. Better Boy -- determinate? It's indeterminate and BIG.

I'm trying several dwarf varieties this summer. I think that the smallest of the bunch will be Czech Bush or Al Kufa. They aren't far enough along to make any judgement thus far. But I'll try to remember to post the results late this summer. BTW, for a smallish variety that produces pretty decent tomatoes, Patio is a good choice, and widely available. Smaller than EW, with a good harvest in an EarthBox.

-GG

Originally Posted by ArthurDent004

Greatgardens - How big do the Early Wonders grow? I went overboard and bought seeds for Beaverlodge Slicer, Black Sea Man, Burbank Slicing, Better Boy, Tiny Tim, Manitoba, Patio Princess Hybrid, BushSteak Hybrid, and Health Kick Hybrid because they are all listed as determinate. Have you grow any of these? I'm trying to determine these best ones to try to grow indoors in my small space.

[ArthurDent004]

I see I made a mistake on the variety name Better Boy, it should have been Bush Big Boy Hybrid. The packet says it's a vigorous determinate plant and produces a heavy crop of big, 10 - 11 oz. fruits in 72 days.