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Question by snowsurfer: Can you grow beefsteak tomato plants in 35 cm (13.8 inch) containers?
I am growing beefsteak tomatoes in 35cm (13.8) containers indoors. However when i went to pick up the clay container from the the clay saucer i notice that there are roots growing out of the drainage hole. Should I just transfer them to my community garden? I would rather not do that if I can help it since I like growing them indoors but I also don’t want them to die down the road.
Update: I have 4 tomato plants each in their own clay pot with a saucer to catch drained water. 2 are monsters, almost reaching up to the top of what looks like a 3.5 – 4 ft window. I like the idea with the five gallon buckets but I dunno if I have enough room for it and the clay pots were expensive; I feel weird not using them. I did grow them from seed using a grow light but they got way too big to keep them under it and grow my other plants. I am nervous about them developing root ball even though they are huge pots, it just seems weird that roots are already expanding out and into the clay saucers. Also for some reason the smallest plant is expanding the most outside the pot! I think if I do bring any of them community garden, it will be one big one and the small one with the big roots.
Best answer:
Answer by zuma
It really depends on how good the potting soil is….i wouldn’t change anything.. it needs the pan, and with water in it..
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The width of your pot is good for ONE PLANT, you say plants as in plural [“beefsteak tomato plants”]your container should be at least eight inches deep but twelve or sixteen inches would be much better. Maybe the best container for tomatoes and my personal choice is the five gallon plastic bucket with holes drilled into the bottom . Unless you have a location where your tomato plant(s) can receive direct sunlight most of the day so growing them indoors may require the use of grow lights to get at least twelve to 16 hours of combined sunlight and grow light. A grow light is not just simply household lights, use a fluorescent tube grow light or an LED grow panel.
EDIT:
I really detest it when someone who obviously knows nothing tries to contradict an answer only to give false information. YOU CAN GROW TOMATOES INDOORS EVEN IN THE WINTER. You can trim the run away runners down to manageable size in fact it is advised that you cut some of the runners (vines).
I have included some links on growing tomatoes INDOORS,including information from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service.
You don’t need a green thumb or a greenhouse to grow vine-ripened tomatoes indoors. “Window-sill” tomatoes will do well in pots filled with good potting soil. You’ll also need the right tomato seed, seed starter mix, fertilizer, and plant stakes. Presto! Tomato salad comin’ up!
You can grow one SMALL variety tomato plant in a 6-inch pot or two small variety of plants in larger pots. For a continuous winter supply, start one or two new plants from seed every two weeks. Recommended varieties are Pixie, Patio, Toy Boy, Small Fry or Tiny Tim. These varieties will produce small plants, but they still may need to be staked, especially when they begin to bear fruit. Quarter-inch dowels make good stakes.
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/VegFruit/tomatind.htm
Growing Tomatoes Indoors in Winter (or any other time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbLSTsDTm4
Be the bee!
How to pollinate plants when growing indoors including an Instructional Video
http://www.aerogarden.com/nigm-pollination
How to pollinate a tomato indoors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFWktThL4uQ
And lights do work in spite of what some people who know very little might say, including LED grow panels, you can raise the lights as the plants grow taller, I am not going to explain lighting to you though this answer is already getting to long.
Would you like me to come and grow them for you.☺
You can grow them in even smaller containers than that, but it kills the whole purpose of buying beefsteaks. A tomato has a long tap root and grows tall. Give it too little space and you over crowd the roots, and you might get 2-4 sad looking, puny tomatoes on that plant. Your size? You’d get slightly bigger if you’d grow outside. Tomatoes aren’t house plants. You will probably get sad branches with no fruit, especially since fruit needs pollinating.
Ever consider learning how to grow tomatoes before you but them?
row lights don’t work on tomatoes. Its that pollinate problem, unless you let bees in.