Alright folks, I need some advice. Being a novice (and quite stubborn) I planted 6 little tiny tomato plants in a large planter, 5 gallon perhaps? Now my back deck is being over-run by rather healthy tomato plants that are full of little baby tomatos. They aren't staked up right now, so I think that may be why they aren't all dead yet.
My question is.......Should I sacrifice any of them in the hopes of the others performing well? Should I just hold my breath and pray that they don't eventually all die? Any help would be great!
Tomato Issues....
You planted 6 plants in a 5 gallon bucket? What type? If they are small types, you may be alright. If you planted some of the monsters, you might have a problem. ;) The biggest downfall is going to be keeping it watered. Did you use any water holding crystals?
Easy suggestions would be cutting three off and leaving three (you can root the cuttings). Or try to dump the pot, cut them apart and plant them singly. Set the whole container in a baby pool and add water. Cut out any suckers to thin down the foliage. Try to trellis some of them. Ummmm. Pray over them daily and water a lot.
Can you offer any more info? Do you have more 5 gallon pots or more places to plant?
I can attain more places to plant if need be. The plants are quite large right now (a sprawling three feet). How would I go about rooting a gigantic thing (for lack of better wordage)? I'm just feeling like I'm up a creek without a paddle. They have little baby tomatos on them right now. It's a larger tomato...I forget the name offhand, perhaps Big Beef (does that sound like a type?)
Hello!
Umm yes, big beef is a big tomato and on a good sized plant. You wouldn't want to root a whole plant but could root smaller parts. They root pretty quick in water. You might be better off to snip off three of them and leave the other three. I think you are going to be watering like a maniac!
Yes I certainly have been. I have been watering around 3 or 4 times a day because that's all I can do between work and other stuff. So perhaps tonight I ought to choose and sacrifice.....I will be sad to see them go, but I definately watn tomatos this year, haha.
Do you have drain holes in the 5 gallon container? If you have something larger, like a metal bucket or small baby pool, you could fill it until the water is above the drain holes and the water would suck into the holes rather than drain. My first thought is a larger bucket or a metal trough like you would use for a Christmas tree. You could even add Miracle Grow to the water and get the proverbial "two birds with one stone". I use that method to deep water several plants at once.
The ultimate insult is smelling those darn tomato plants and having no tomatoes to eat. LOL
I'd take all the tomatoes you have that are starting to ripen and let them ripen off the vine. Then I would take about 5 or 6 good 6-8 inch cuttings and plant them singly in other 5 gallon pots leaving one plant in the 5 gallon pot. Plant them in 50/50 potting mix and compost and a hand full of dolomite and 2 Jobes tomato stakes each burying them up to the top set of leaves. After about 3-5 days add a handful of tomato tone fertilizer to all pots. Give them an inch of water every other day (Even if it rains). By this time 6 weeks from now you should have all of your tomatoes ripened that you have now and at least 4 more viable plants.
This is what I did when I lost a whole tray of tomato plants a couple of months ago due to a family crisis that came about suddenly. I was left with 22 tomato plants in pots and 3 in hanging baskets. I now have 5 hanging baskets and about 50 plants that are starting to produce.
Thanks for the advice BS and Antionine. The other half and I wrestled the tomatos out of their container. (actually the other half did the wrestling of the plants - I watched) After much cursing and tantrum throwing we have divided them up and they're in new happy homes. I took some cuttings to try and root for fun and safety of my hopeful crop...
After this adventure in my amateur gardening I think the other half is going to start reading up and monitoring my "brilliant" ideas with vegetables. haha
Thanks
Shawn
LOL Never underestimate the size of a full grown happy tomato. :)
Just keep them nice and wet for a couple of days then they should be fine. It might not hurt to shade them for a couple of days too.
Tell Mrs. Pumpkin I said she is a keeper!
Yep Chele I think we'll keep em both :)
Yes, they who conquer the tomato jungle and win, must stay!
Oh I have yet to conquer them. They just got wrestled around and we'll see from there. But I'll be glad to stick around!
Cool! Next we will have to drag you to Ohio for a get together! WVdaisy (Lana) makes the trek here and last year kevarijn came from WV too.
I lived in Ohio briefly as a child. I have some friends in the Columbus area now. So, I could potentially and proverbially kill two birds with one stone this way, haha. Is there any planning going on for another get together?
Well if you're in Columbus, let me know!!
Next RU scheduled for this fall and I am so looking forward to it since I missed the spring one. If I come down from Cleveland then you HAVE to come up from WV :)
Looking forward to meeting you guys!
Toni