This is how I found my tomato plant the three times I checked on it Monday… and again this morning.
Early in the spring, after I’d failed at growing seedlings but before I committed to buying plants from a garden store, my co-worker brought in a few boxes of tomato plants her husband had started.
I took two: one made for containers, and one that is supposed to produce these fabulous cherry tomatoes that taste so sweet they’re almost candy.
I put them both in containers because I didn’t have any ground to call my own.
That was my first mistake.
Two months later, the tomato plant made for containers is about 18 inches tall –
2 feet, at best. The plant not bred for a 3-gallon pot? It’s taller than I am. And staking it up has become a nightmare.
When it lived in my apartment, I bought a few plant stakes at Lowe’s. I started with an 18-inch and a 24-inch stake, glancing at the 36-inch option and laughing to myself, “It’ll never get that tall.”
Less than a week later, it had. I went back for the 36-inch stake.
Less than a week after that, I’d MacGyvered a contraption involving twine and my curtain rod to support the growth that had easily surpassed the 36-inch mark. Then I couldn’t close my curtains.
When I got nervous my plant’s flowers had died quickly — and learned I’d need to paintbrush-pollinate each flower myself — I brought the container into work and set it outside on the patio.
Without a curtain rod to help support the plant, I needed a larger stake. My first purchase was a wooden dowel. It’s too short, of course, and far too flimsy. So I searched a bit more and found a taller, stronger plastic rod. It’s tall enough, perhaps, but not strong enough.
The casualty of a windy day, an improperly staked plant and the mistake of planting a normal-sized tomato plant in a 3-gallon pot. Oops.
And my poor tomato plant was no match for Monday’s winds. Throughout the day, I’d check on the plant and notice it was knocked over. I reset it each time, trying to prop it against the building or the shrubbery nearby, but I should’ve just left it alone — at the end of the day, I found the product of so many topsy-turvy moments: A good chunk of the plant had snapped off near the top.
It’s still taller than I am — never fear. But if I’d paid attention to which plants worked best in containers and been more realistic about what varieties I could support, I’d be a much happier gardener right now.
Next year, I’ll be planting container varieties only!
My mom has tomatoes plants on her deck in containers and she tied the stems to the railings of the deck. Do you have something you can tie them to thats a more permanent fixture?
I have an early girl plant in two stacked 5-gallon buckets. The buckets are designed like an earthbox. The whole thing is heavy enough to withstand the strong winds we get up on our hill. I have a few plants in the ground, but this bucket plant is doing just as well as those, with 30+ tomatoes at my last count (I’ve never had a successful container garden, so this is amazing to me). I also have two four-foot stakes for support which are working well so far, but I may be replacing them with taller ones soon. I highly recommend 5-gallon buckets for planting! Most of my buckets were free from a restaurant, but the ones I did buy cost less than $3.
Sam and Pam — great ideas. I don’t have anything to tie it to outside at work here, but I propped it up against an evergreen. I’m making do! It seems to help to keep the soil pretty wet (added weight), so maybe a bigger, 5-gallon bucket would have worked better. It sounds like you’ve had lots of success, Pam. Congrats!
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