My Container Tomatoes - Big Boy and Big Beef

11 years ago

At the beginning of the summer I posted a couple of photos of these two container plants, asking why the leaves were outlined in black and was the week or so of steady rain killing my plants. They looked dreadful to me but was told to add some fertilizer and think about maybe separating them, as there were two in each container.

Well a month and a half later, they are doing extremely well, in fact, they are growing by leaps and bounds, to the point where the container is having a very hard time holding them up. I have a lot of different shoots tied up with think twine, so they do not hit the ground. Now I am afraid that the tomatoes underneath, will not grow due to all the foliage blocking the sun and the fact that they are tied pretty tight to the center pole. Will this harm them?

I'm sure that as time goes one, I will have to tie more or the side shoots that are getting bigger everyday, is this okay to do? This is the first time, out of 3 years of attempts to grow tomatoes, that they have looked this healthy. In the past, I would just about always end up having blossom end rot on more of the tomatoes, but as of now, not one of my tomatoes has BER. I am thrilled will this, I just want to make sure that I bring these two plants to full term and get to harvest most of the tomatoes.

Can anyone give me any ideas of a good way to tie these vines up or is the way I'm doing it okay? Any other suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thanks to Carolyn and a couple of others, my plants are doing awesome!

Linda

It's hard to tell in this photo but there are a lot of toms on these plants.

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
11 years ago
I'd rig up a Florida weave for them. A single stake never works unless you drastically prune the plants.

Now I am afraid that the tomatoes underneath, will not grow due to all the foliage blocking the sun

That isn't a concern. Having the foliage shading the fruit is a GOOD thing. Fruit exposed to the sun is a bad thing. The plants use the sun, not the fruit.

Dave
LindaMA
Original Author
11 years ago
I don't think a Florida Weave will work on container plants, do you? I've looked at all the photos in the link that you provided and all those plants appear to be grown in the ground.

I've learned my lesson regarding a single stake, not sure what I was thinking, actually; I believe that I didn't think my plants would end up making it as far as they have. I usually don't have very good luck with tomatoes grown in containers. The fact that they appear to be growing so well and look healthy is a total surprise to me, especially due to one of the containers have two (Big Beef) plants in it.

If there is a way to use a Florida weave for a container plant, will you let me know, I would really appreciate it. These containers are getting very heavy and I'd hate to loose the plants now.

Thanks for your reply.

Linda
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digdirt2
11 years ago
Sure you can use FW on containers. It is no different than with in ground plants. You just drive 2 5-6' tall fence stakes or poles into the ground, one on either side of the container or containers and weave between the 2 poles catching the branches as you go. Looks like you have plenty of room on the sides of the containers. You can even put a pole in between them if you want.

Dave
tomatotomata
11 years ago
Listen to Dave. If your plants are growing so well now, pretty soon you won't be able to reach the stake. And pat yourself on the back for bringing them back from the brink!
macbettz
11 years ago
Plants look really healthy. containers appear to be small.
LindaMA
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes, they are small containers for the size of the plants that are in them....there are 2 Big Beef in one and one Big Boy in the other. They came with 2 plants in each pot, I wish I have taken one of the Big Beef out also. I planted the other Big Boy in my perennial bed and it's doing pretty well, doesn't get as much sun but there's not too much I can do about that, it was the only space I had and I wanted to see if my soil was good enough to start growing more tomatoes in that garden.

I will try the Florida Weave, the plants are now tied to my deck but are getting larger every day. Thank you all for the input, I really appreciate it.

Linda