Determining Factors Of How Many Tomato Plants To Put In A Tomato Planter

Updated on April 3, 2019

You will get tomato planters of different sizes in the market but for best yield you must know how many tomato plants to put in each container. You may know that plants need adequate space, air, light and nutrients from the soil to grow into a healthy and ‘fruitful’ plant. It is therefore necessary to know the maximum number of plants to put in a container so that you can space them well and help them get proper nutrients to be healthy.

Well, the good news is that tomatoes grown in a container do not take up much space. That means it will allow you to make the maximum utilization of the small space you have in your backyard or even your patio and enjoy garden fresh tomatoes. 

If you want to maximize your growing area along with the production of tomatoes you must begin with determining the number of plants you can put in each container. However, this number will largely depend on the size of your container as well as the variety of tomato that you want to grow in your potted garden.

Apart from the size of the tomato planter, there are other things that you should consider as well.  

Seedlings

If you start tomato seedlings indoors it will help you to extend its growing season. Apart from that it will:

  • Allows the plants to reach their productive stage very early in the summer
  • Tomato seedlings grow best when you grow it in separate seedling pots of 3 inch size
  • Since all tomato seeds will not germinate it is therefore best to sow two seeds in each pot and 
  • After a few days you must thin the sprouted seedlings so that there is only one remaining.

You must thin the seedlings after the first true leaves are produced which is ideally the second set of leaves formed. Separating seedlings from one container is important as it will prevent your tomato plants to have tangled roots. In such a case, both seedlings will suffer.

Variety 

The tomato variety you want to grow is another thing you need to consider before you buy a tomato planter

  • If you choose a tomato variety labeled dwarf, patio or pixie it will produce very small plants and fruits. These dwarf varieties are most suitable in smaller containers. You may also plant several plants in one large container. 
  • However on the other hand the standard varieties of tomato plants will grow only up to 4 feet in height. These types will need a separate container. 
  • As for the heirloom indeterminate variety you can grow these in containers but these plants grow too tall and are top heavy resulting in the container toppling over.

One last thing to consider when you buy a tomato planter is that you will need to follow the instructions that may come with the container. This is important as in a few cases these tomato plants may also require some form of additional support such as a cage or a stake installed in the container.

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