I bought a Tiny Tim tomato plant to set on my patio. It is in a 6 inch pot right now. The plant is looking good and has flowers starting. My question is, should I re-pot it now or wait a few more weeks. The woman at the garden center said that I would not have to pot it up yet. I am just concerned where it is starting to flower. Also, when I do pot it up what size of container should I use? Thanks, Chris
Others with experience growing tomatoes in containers may tell you differently (so listen to them!) but from my experiences in transplanting volunteer tomatoes to the trellis area, the smaller/younger the plant, the better it takes the move. I'd get the Tiny Tim into at least a 5 gal. pot (the plant above ground may be small, but you wouldn't believe the roots a tomato can put out!) as soon as possible. Transplanting when it has set fruit will be much harder on the plant.
Thanks for your input,marlingardener. I have a gallon container so now it is a trip to the garden center for more soil. I will have to wait until the first of the week though so I am hoping a few more days will be okay to leave it as is. I wonder, should I add some fertilizer at he same time? I almost killed all of my regular tomato seedlings by adding fertilizer when I potted them up.(I had time to replant and those are coming along nicely now.) Don't want to kill off Tiny Tim!
Have you checked online to see how big these Plants get? Even though the name is Tiny Tim,, it may refer to the tomato size and not the plant itself. I personally would let the plant settle in the new pot a week or so before fertilizing. Too much fertilizer and too little soil can kill a plant quickly. So take care in what you use when growing in containers. Compost tea can be used at any time without damage and it will feed the tomato plant. Or some Miracle Grow or other liquid plant food.
Chrisle, how WARM is it up there in Canada where you are ? Is it even spring yet? It could be too soon to put it outdoors where you are. Tomatoes like warm weather. There are things you can get to keep them warm at night, if you need to. I have never heard of this variety of tomato, so I do not know how much room it needs to grow. http://bonnieplants.com/library/plant-t ... deep-deep/ http://www.seedaholic.com/tomato-cherry-tiny-tim.html these should help you out.
You know, Chrisle--one option would be to plant that tom plant in a bought bag of garden soil with fertilizer mixed through it. I did this on two occasions (on my balcony at home), and the plants produced like crazy. Personally, I feel that tom plants ought to be in the ground (or in your case, a larger container) by the time that the first blooms open. At any rate, whatever container you choose to use I would make it as large as you have room for because tom plants are very heavy feeders and can produce an extensive root system. If you choose to use a garden soil bag, and would like to talk about technique or anything I will be able to give you some comments based upon my experience. I have written a piece on here about my soil bag experience. I can't tell you how to find it, but it is on here somewhere. Ahhh Here it is: http://www.gardenstew.com/about8753.html This article may or may not be helpful to you, but at the least, it ought to make interesting reading for someone who wants to grow things in a container.
I've grown 'Tiny Tim' in a tub on my deck. I planted a few in a 2ft tub in compost and they did great! I don't think they got any taller than 12 inches, but they put out a lot of tomatoes. I gave them some compost tea about once every couple weeks. I'm just looking for a picture, but I can't seem to find one ...
Thank you so very much everyone for your advice. So much appreciated. Mart, this plant should grow to be about 12- 18 inches high and about 14 inches width. I will try to get some soil from the garden center soon as I can to re-pot it. AAnightowl I live on the east coast. We are almost a month behind this year. Usually it is much warmer for this time a year. I am guarding my tomato plants carefully and they won't go out until I know it is warm enough for them. The Tiny Tim is the only one that I want to put into a pot. All my regular tomatoes will go into the garden around the second week of June. As for the Tiny Tim I will be lugging him in at night! Sjoerd, thank you for linking back to your article. What a wealth of information! I don't think that we have soil with fertilizer mixed through it. I will check it out though. Come to think of it, I know that some of it comes with something in it but I don't know if it would be enough. Like I mentioned, this little plant is the only one that I want to keep out of the ground. It is an experiment that I always wanted to do,plus have a nice plant for the patio. Netty, I don't have compost so I will go with a liquid fertilizer for tomatoes. I have a large pail so hopefully the first of the week "Tiny Tim" will be settled in his new home! Thanks again.
Hiya Chrisle--whatever fertilizer comes in the bag of soil...it will not be enough. Growing toms in containers lets you realize just how much "food" tom plants consume. It is almost unbelievable. You will have to give your plant food supplements at some point until the season ends. Most years after a certain point I have to feed the plants every day, or every other day. This is during the period when the plant is producing the fruits. BTW, I neglected to mention that our neighbours here over in the British Isles sometimes use a bag lying flat. They cut a hole in it and insert a plant plant in its pot down into the soil. The plant pot has the bottom removed. I feel that this would work well too. I have wanted to try it, but I honestly do not have extra time for experiments outside the lottie these days. --I have too many irons in the fire, as they say. Anyway, I wish you luck with your Tiny Tim Project. Personally, I would like to see piccies and read your comments throughout the season on this subject.
