The weather has been gorgeous off and on recently. I forced myself to weed the front garden and get rid of as many dandelions as I could from the lawn so our yard isn’t a complete embarrassment. Devon has been mowing the lawn which is wonderful. Last year I did most of the mowing- not my favourite chore! Last year I also grew some amazing Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes in a pot on my back deck. They grew from a tiny seed kit that my mom gave me, into a giant 4-5 foot bush. I’ve never grown anything from seeds before (other than some sunflowers with the kids) so it was really exciting. The crop wasn’t huge, but I didn’t know anything about fertilizing. I just planted them (in a pot that was much too small) and watered them.

This year I decided to try growing proper tomatoes in containers. I saw an infomercial about an upside-down tomato planter kit. It looked like a great idea. No staking, no worries about pests, no huge deck planters to step around. I started by doing a google search and found some how-to videos on YouTube. Yesterday, I made one out of a 5-gallon plastic Home Depot bucket. It’s not the prettiest planter, but the plastic is thick and the handle is metal and will hold a lot of weight. I also found pictures of planters made from regular hanging-basket type planters, but it didn’t look like enough soil for a tomato plant. I think you could grow tiny cherry tomatoes in those. Here is a pretty one with herbs planted on the top.

So, first you cut a hole into the bottom of the bucket. I would suggest making the smallest hole that will fit the plant through. Two inches in diameter. I made a hole nearly 4 inches and I had to rig something to prevent the root ball falling back through.

After the hole is cut out, take a small tomato plant wrap it gently around the stem with a coffee filter or piece of landscape fabric. This will hold the dirt back and prevent it coming out of the hole. I chose a tomato variety labelled ‘Patio’ because they grow a smaller fruit than something like a Beefsteak.

Then place the stem through the hole. Hang the bucket on something low so you can then fill the bucket with potting soil, packing it gently around the root ball first, then filling the whole bucket.  I also mixed in some compost from the bottom of our compost bin. I think I will put the lid on the bucket and open it when watering, so it doesn’t get flooded with run-off from the deck roof when it rains. You could plant flowers or herbs in the top instead, but I don’t think I will this time.

Hang the planter somewhere so it will get sunshine at least 50% of the time. Water it well from the top of the open bucket until it seeps through the bottom.

The soil needs to be kept evenly moist and container tomatoes need regular feeding. I did a bit of research and there are several options suggested. I’m going to try using compost tea made from my own compost. That is- soaking a bucket full of compost in water for a week, and then using the drained liquid diluted in water to feed the plant at  each watering. Apparently, tomatoes need lots of nutrients and your crop will be small  if you don’t feed them. Someone suggested mixing crushed egg shells into the soil to add more calcium. I also read that you should water tomato plants at the roots, rather than sprinkling the tops getting the leaves wet, so this should be a great way to water them.

I also planted some regular right-side-up tomatoes, so we’ll see how the crops compare. In the pots, I’ve got one called Super Fantastic which grows large beefsteak-like fruit.

The smaller one is a Roma which grows good tomatoes for making sauce. It will be fun to watch them grow and exciting to taste the fruit. Wish me luck. I will post updates as they (hopefully) grow:-) Would love to hear suggestions from anyone with experience. I’m a total gardening newbie!