Chef's Choice Orange in a container?

Greatgardens · December 7, 2022

CC Orange has been around for several years now. I've grown it in soil, but never in a container. Has anyone grown it in a large container or an EarthBox? I find it is quite similar to Burpee's Orange Wellington, but I tried OW last summer in an EarthBox, and I had terrible BER -- lost about half my tomatoes. So I'm looking for a medium-large replacement. I grow Coastal Pride Orange (dwarf), and it does great in an EB, but I like something a little larger.

Barb_FL · December 14, 2022

I've grown Chef Choice Orange a lot, and always in a container; one year even in a coir slab. It is very productive, no BER.

This year we got hit with 2 hurricanes, one from the west coast, Ian, we got the tail end as it exited the east coast. - Plants were all brought inside so no loss. Had a hard time adapting to humidity when going back outside.

The other one, Nicole made landfall just south of us so we got the North end which lasted forever. Plants were huge by then. We still brought as many as possible in the garage, and under the porch. 15 were left to fend for themselves, and 5 I wrapped in shade cloth and they fared the best as far as not losing blooms.

The ones that went into the garage, were there for 4 days and lost all blooms for about 3 weeks afterwards. I guess because of lack of light. I left the garage lights on. All have recovered, but the ones with the shade cloth kept their blooms.

All this to say, that I don't have any Chef Choice Orange this year, but am growing Amalfi (Fred Hempel) and it is very impressive. 1 is in an EB, the other 2 are in grow bags.

Greatgardens · December 15, 2022

Thanks, Barb! And I'll also check out Amalfi. It's interesting to me that one year I grew your Orange Slice F4, and it had no BER.

I'll go ahead and try CCO. FWIW, the Burpee horticulturist also cautioned against using liquid fertilizer if one had trouble with BER. I had not heard that before, but think I will adhere to that at least through the first part of the season when BER always seems worst.

December 7, 2022	#1
Greatgardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,124	Chef's Choice Orange in a container? CC Orange has been around for several years now. I've grown it in soil, but never in a container. Has anyone grown it in a large container or an EarthBox? I find it is quite similar to Burpee's Orange Wellington, but I tried OW last summer in an EarthBox, and I had terrible BER -- lost about half my tomatoes. So I'm looking for a medium-large replacement. I grow Coastal Pride Orange (dwarf), and it does great in an EB, but I like something a little larger.

December 14, 2022	#2
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	I've grown Chef Choice Orange a lot, and always in a container; one year even in a coir slab. It is very productive, no BER. This year we got hit with 2 hurricanes, one from the west coast, Ian, we got the tail end as it exited the east coast. - Plants were all brought inside so no loss. Had a hard time adapting to humidity when going back outside. The other one, Nicole made landfall just south of us so we got the North end which lasted forever. Plants were huge by then. We still brought as many as possible in the garage, and under the porch. 15 were left to fend for themselves, and 5 I wrapped in shade cloth and they fared the best as far as not losing blooms. The ones that went into the garage, were there for 4 days and lost all blooms for about 3 weeks afterwards. I guess because of lack of light. I left the garage lights on. All have recovered, but the ones with the shade cloth kept their blooms. All this to say, that I don't have any Chef Choice Orange this year, but am growing Amalfi (Fred Hempel) and it is very impressive. 1 is in an EB, the other 2 are in grow bags.

December 15, 2022	#3
Greatgardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,124	Thanks, Barb! And I'll also check out Amalfi. It's interesting to me that one year I grew your Orange Slice F4, and it had no BER. I'll go ahead and try CCO. FWIW, the Burpee horticulturist also cautioned against using liquid fertilizer if one had trouble with BER. I had not heard that before, but think I will adhere to that at least through the first part of the season when BER always seems worst.