just bought Patio tomato plant in a small pot. (3 inch).....?

Question

How much bigger do I go? Do I need to fertilize right away? (its gonna grow on my patio)

Answer 1

I grew some heirloom patio tomatoes last year, for the first time, in containers, and learned a lot. Firstly, tomatoes, even patio tomatoes, need as large a container as you can get. I suggest a half oaken barrel size, although you could go smaller. One plant per container, too, so that they have plenty of room for the extensive root system that they need to develop. Make sure they get loads of sun every day, and keep them well watered, but not too much. A moisture meter, at an investment of less than $10.00 at Lowe's will help you on that. Plant them fairly deep, and pinch the first flowers you get off( to let the plant send energy to roots and stem first before any fruit). I used an organic fertilizer once a week as well, to make sure they had enough nutrients in the soil. Oh, and even though you are growing them on your patio, they can still be susceptible to tomato hornworms, so keep a lookout for caterpillar like creatures with little antennae. If you see one, pick it off and kill it-no mercy! Good luck and happy gardening! :)

Answer 2

Plant it in the biggest pot you have room for to let it max out. Most of the tomatoes will ripen at the same time - not spread out over the season, so be prepared to process them into relish, salsa, etc. Most patio tomatoes are pretty hardy. A squirt of a general veggie fertilizer should be sufficient for now, and again in about a month. Be sure to put it in a sunny location.

Great luck!

Answer 3

If I pot tomatoes, I usually use a 16 inch clay pot. I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 12 inch pot. They need lots of room for both root grow and water retention. It will also need to be a big enough pot to hold a stake or cage for the plant that's at least 3 feet tall.

Answer 4

I would put it in an 8" or 10" pot now. You don't need move it up slowly. Every time you transplant you could damage the plant.

You may be best off buying something like Miracle Grow potting soil to put into your new pot. Then you don't have to worry about fertilizing it, since the miracle grow soil already has fertilizer mixed in.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Answer 5

Depends on how much room you have for the pot. My tomato plant is in a large pot and surrounded with parsley plants. Also, used a decorative plant support. The parsley has filled in all around the tomato and really looks pretty.
I like using fresh parsley, but any low growing herb would work, too.

Answer 6

I have 4 plants in pots (2 cherry and 2 better boy). bought them in tiny pots and immediately put them all in 10in pots and i have used some miracle grow slow release pellets. sprinkle around 20 pellets(they are tiny) per pot every month. started them all around april 15th and now they are about 3 1/2 feet tall and cherry tomato plants have 10-15 green tomatoes and better boy plants have 2-5 green tomatoes already. water early in a.m. and plenty of sunlight is needed. everything is going good with this method. zone 7-8.

Answer 7

general rule of thumb when repotting plants is to go up only an inch at a time, so if it is in a 3 inch pot, go to a 4 inch. feed it tomatoe plant food once a month, keep it watered and it should do just fine.

Answer 8

Any fruit or vegetable can be grown in a pot. The key is to make sure you water fruits often, and give adequate space for root growth. For vegetables water from under the soil, keeping the top most soil almost dry.

Answer 9

Mine is in a 9 inch and it is flowering....but I do have a stick in it to tie up the vines when they get heavy....I bought garden wire at a dollar store..have fun eating your tomatos

Answer 10

go way larger the better they grow...no fertilizer