I've seen hanging tomato plants offered by a local nursery for a couple of years. Last week they had them on sale for $9.99 marked down from $16.99 so I decided to give them a try. I've had about 25% success rate in the past with tomatoes so I haven't bought them in years. When I buy flowers in hanging planters we water daily until the water runs out the bottom. Is that the same thing with tomatoes in hanging planters? Normally our sundeck gets a lot of sun. But since I bought them on the weekend its been raining or cloudy with a few sunny breaks and quite cool. The tomatoes are beneath a roofed area of the sundeck so they're not getting rained on. I felt them awhile ago and the dirt is moist. Any suggestions on how I can beat the odds and get these plants to live long enough to bear tomatoes? They didn't come with care instructions. Tomatoes in hanging planters ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden ) Hanging tomato plant ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden )
Hi whistler, Do the baskets have variety labels in them somewhere? 1st) Try to determine if they are truly hanging basket varieties. Tumbling Tom or Tumbler hybrid are ones that come to mind readily. 2nd)IF they are, hang them in full sun 3rd)water regularly with a tomato or vegetable fertilizer.This should have a high middle number such as 10-20-10 or an even higher middle number is ok. they will need to be watered at least once every day if not twice, as they grow and are bearing fruit, they will use a lot of water. 4th) Check often for any suspect leaves that could be fungus or blight pick them off immediately and wash your hands, so you don't accidentally spread the disease. and/or spray for disease if you want.
Hi Carolyn, I double checked the plants - nothing inside or on the planters. I checked the website where I bought them. They're just called Tumbler Tomatoes. They're cherry tomato size, very productive. One of my plants has 3 tiny tomatoes starting. Yup we have fertilizer, just haven't put them on the tomatoes yet. Blight is the reason I don't have much luck with tomatoes! I'm hoping these hanging ones will escape. I don't have any disease spray but I do have insect spray for fruits and vegetables. I'll keep an eye on them. They're hanging on the 2nd floor sundeck. Hopefully that will eliminate a lot of ground insects.
Hi Whistler, tumbler tomatoes are a variety that I have in a basket also. They require a lot of water, I missed watering them this afternoon and they were very sad tonight, I hope they come back ok. We spray with a copper spray from Bonide after it rains, just to keep ahead of the blight or mildew on the plants. We can get a much better crop from our tomatoes by spraying. You can use the copper on all kinds of garden plants too. It is an excellent investment for the garden. Also use the fertilizer frequently, at least a couple times a week. I hope they do well for you. There is also a variety for the garden called Legend that is supposed to be more disease resistant than most other varieties. you might want to try it if you can find it anywhere near you.
I made my own upside down planter with a regular hanging basket, landscape material and soil. I drilled a 1 1/2 inch hole in the bottom of the basket to plant the tomato. On top, I planted some green peppers. One other thing I used to help keep the soil moist is a maxipad. Or a diaper would do the trick. I buried it in with the soil so the roots of both plants get it. Hopefully this will give you a tip.
We don't seem to be having a problem with the moisture. In fact I think our biggest concern is that the tomatos have stayed very moist even though we haven't watered them for a few days and we had a pretty sunny weekend. Husband is concerned too much water because some leaves turned yellow. No sign of wilting. One of them does feel a little dryer today so I'll probably water them tomorrow morning.
