Cherry Toms in 5 Gal?

[AlittleSalt]

Which cherry tomatoes would you plant in a 5 gallon bucket? I'm thinking 10 varieties. Shape, color, taste - whatever you like.

[Labradors2]

Blush would be a good candidate
2 x Maglia Rosa plants would fit

Linda

[Worth1]

Any one of them.
The only thing I wouldn't do is put in drain holes due to my success last year.

[mikemansker]

Worth,

Why wouldn't you put in drain holes? What was your experience?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by mikemansker

Worth,

Why wouldn't you put in drain holes? What was your experience?

Because it takes forever and all the time to water in containers in the heat of a Texas summer.
It wastes water and nutrients.
They dry out too fast.contrary to everything that has been told they dont need them if done correctly.
Here is a picture of what I did with feed tubs.


Ut has a water sight tube so you cane keep an ey on the level of the water.
If it floods for some reason just lower the tube ans let it drain.
I only had to do it one time during a tropical storm.
The rest of the summer I wouldn't water for several days.

[AlittleSalt]

I plan doing like your third picture shows. I have some half inch pvc that I have no other use for anymore.

[Koala Doug]

I'll also second Maglia Rosa... but I have no idea how it would fare in the Texas heat. Up here in Michigan, they produced all summer long and were very productive.

[edweather]

Black Cherry and Sungold

[Gardeneer]

IMO 5 gallon is about lower limit for just about any variety with some pruning.
Because cherry size small gruit, it does not mean that the plant is small too. Sungold , eg , can be as big as any beefstake indet.

[AlittleSalt]

In ground, I've had Porter, SS 100, and WOW grow 8' tall and 4' wide. But that only happened two years during a drought for the Porter and SS 100. WOW grew that tall but was vines instead of bush-like.

[SueCT]

Gardeneer, I have found that cherries are so productive, I can't keep up with picking and using them all. Because of that, even if the plant does not reach its maximum size or production in a smaller container, I get plenty for my use. Cherries are the ones I recommend for first timers a lot, because they tend to use too small containers (in spite of what I tell them, lol) and poor growing techniques, but are thrilled because they still get tomatoes. It might not match the production of an in ground tomato, or even come close, but it will very likely still produce. With someone experienced in growing tomatoes, who gives them the care most people here do, I am betting they do pretty well.

[AlittleSalt]

Sue, it's the same way here about cherry tomato production.

I really don't have a reason to grow any tomatoes larger than cherry tomatoes. I have been writing that since I joined in May of 2014. I have written about wanting to grow larger varieties, but I don't have a use for them.

[HudsonValley]

The only cherry tomato I've grown in a container is a Dwarf Project variety that's still in development, but Husky Cherry Red comes to mind because it tops out at under five feet and is productive. Of the cherries I've grown in-ground, Ron's Carbon Copy and Gardener's Sweetheart were the best-behaved, so I'd probably consider them for container growing, too.

[Clay Mountain]

You could look at in reverse. I had one variety that overwhelmed the nearby plants both places I tried it. Matt's Wild Cherry developed into an absolute monster. We couldn't keep up with the production either and lost many toms to the difficulty in picking through something that grew over itself so many times. If I grow it again, it will either get a huge fence all to itself or a container to encourage good behavior.

[greenthumbomaha]

Following this for a container cherry. I (rather my neighbor) grew an experimental that tasted good but not exceptionally sweet but was still too tall for her pot. I gave many away to others but got no feedback. May have some seed left that need work to continue myself next year.

I started Ivory Egg for her.

Was Husky Cherry Red a sweet one?

- Lisa

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