Tomato Root Space

How much root space a tomato plant needs depends on the variety and the size of fruit it produces.

Bush Varieties

Tumbling Tom and Balconi Red are quite happy in a smaller area than Red Alert - all of which produce cherry tomatoes.

Oregon Spring, Siberian, Alaskan Fancy and New Yorker (these are medium and large fruited) will all require more root space than the cherry varieties or they will run out of energy before the tomatoes fully mature. They are also bigger plants.

So how much root space, or size of container should they be planted in?

There are two things to consider:

1. Size of Plant
2. Size of Fruit
   

Red Alert is a larger plant than Tumbling Tom even though the fruit are about the same size.

Larger plant = larger root system.

When dealing with plants that are about the same size but produce different size fruit, the larger fruiting variety requires more root space.

Larger Fruit = larger root area required to bring larger fruit to maturity.

Answer: A Tumbling Tom (small cherry plant) will be quite happy in a 5 Litre pot - around 9 inches diameter.

An Oregon Spring needs a 10 Litre container (at least) to perform to its full potential because both the plant and the tomatoes are large.

Tall Varieties (Also known as Cordon and Indeterminate).

The issue here is:

1. The size of fruit
2. The amount of trusses you intend to grow.

These plants are usually grown in grow bags so the question is - how many plants in a grow bag?

Answer: two medium or large size varieties, or, three medium to cherry size varieties in each grow bag. Most average size grow bags contain around 35 litres of soil/compost.

With regard to the amount of trusses ... you could grow two plants with six trusses each or three plants with four trusses each - you still end up with the same amount of trusses!
Usually it is four trusses outdoors and six trusses in the greenhouse.

Few! ... if you are still with me and haven't decided never to visit my blog again, well done!

How Much Room For Roots?

As we get to the time of the season when we plant our well cared for plants into pots and containers - as well as grow bags of course - my temptation is to over-crowd with too many plants.

For example, I always sow more seeds than I should (just in case) and end up with far too many plants and not enough containers and compost to go in them. Faced with the dilemma - should I give my extras away or put two in a large pot instead of one!

Experience tells me to not over-crowd but I sure would like to keep them and plant them now!

Well, this season I'm trying to be good and give each plant the root room it should have for the best results.

What is the best amount of space or soil amount for each variety? I'll let you know in my next post coming soon!

Watering Tomatoes In Containers

Watering can be a tricky business when it comes to tomatoes grown in containers. However, if done properly, correct watering can help avoid Blossom End Rot and create a healthy root structure to power the plant more effectively.

The first aim should be to keep the entire root area moist.
The reason is that roots are only able to feed from areas of soil that are moist.
If half the compost that your plant is growing in is dry, food uptake may also be reduced by half.

If you’ve ever tried to water a pot plant that has very dry soil, you will find that the water runs straight through and out the bottom of the pot, leaving the soil almost as dry as before the water went in!

This can happen to areas of soil in containers without the gardener realising what is happening beneath the soil surface.

If you water from above, give the soil a thorough watering once a week (depending on the weather), then allow to dry until just moist. Keep the soil like this by watering moderately until the next thorough watering.

The smaller your container, the more regularly you will need to water.