Planting Tomato Plants in Pots

 This is the second year in a row that I am planting my tomatoes in containers instead of the raised beds.  I first used this set up in 2019 and had awesome results.  I have showed you how I handle planting tomatoes in the beds, so I thought I would give you more detail on the container method.

The key to growing just about anything in containers is water reservoirs.  Before self-watering containers became popular and readily available, the answer was to add a reservoir to the containers you already had.  I use the reservoirs from Gardeners.com

I add part of the soil and push it down around the reservoirs and water it in so it will settle and not drop later after the plant is potted up.

The tomato ladders need to be secured to the fence with bungees because the potting mix does not hold them firmly like garden soil does.

I fill the pot about halfway and set the plant in to see how deep it will finish at.  I want just the leaves above the surface, and as much stem as possible buried beneath the surface so that all of those little hair-like structures along the stem will become new roots.

I add some starter fertilizer and settle the plant in.

Add the rest of the potting mix.  I use fresh potting mix for the tomatoes and then reuse it next year for perennial transplants or whatever.  I don't want to use it for tomatoes again in case it is harboring any foliar diseases.

Water the plant in well to remove air pockets.  From this point on I will only add water to the reservoir through the fill tube.  This will reduce the amount of water splashing soil up onto the plant which spreads disease to the plant.

When I add the soil I leave three or four inches of room for shredded leaf mulch.  This keeps the soil cool and preserves moisture as well as reducing soil splash up from rain. 

Elsewhere in the garden....

The potatoes are up.  These grow bags get the same treatment as the tomato containers.  I will add more soil when the potatoes would normally be hilled up.  Then finish up with a thick layer of shredded leaf mulch.

The sweet corn I seeded last Monday is coming up.  I learned my lesson last year.  To keep a tidy garden, be prepared to support your corn stalks.  Last year one bed of corn "lodged" during a rainstorm and had to be picked up off the ground.  So this year I've driven T-posts so I can make a grid of twine to support the corn stalks.

The first and second plantings of peas look great and I picked the first lettuce this morning.

I am using the tall expanding pea trellis for my pole beans again.

I planted Nasturtium along each side as "living mulch".

And finally, just look at this Sorbet peony.  In the past the best it has done is a dozen blooms or so.   Back in May 2019 we dug up the area it was planted in.  I stuck it in a fiber pot and put it in a corner out of the way and basically ignored it.  But despite having partial sun and nothing but rainwater, it survived.  Last June we relocated a whiskey barrel planter and I stuck the neglected peony where the planter and been and... voila!

It's HUGE!  And it has TWENTY buds on it!

I can't wait 😍.