Today’s the day to plant my garden tomatoes. I’m yearning for that home-grown taste! You say you have no room for a garden? No problem. With six hours of sunlight, you can grow tomatoes on a balcony or patio with ease.
Home-grown just makes sense:
It’s cheaper. One patio tomato plant produces dozens of fruit.
It’s safer. Commercially-grown tomatoes contain pesticides. When you grow your own, there are no mystery substances.
It’s convenient. A back door salad bar!
It’s good for you. Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant with proven cancer-fighting properties. They are also loaded with potassium and vitamin C.
It’s easy to freeze them. Wash them with water, freeze them raw, whole or cut-up, on a cookie sheet, then plop them in a freezer bag, no peeling or blanching necessary. Or freeze them as juice or a sauce. Imagine fresh tomatoes in the wintertime! They’re a little mushier once they’ve been frozen, but they taste as fresh as the day they were picked. (Check out http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/foodpres.shtml for great tips on freezing tomatoes).
The right plant. A few rules apply to growing container tomatoes. Choose a small, compact variety to fit your space; often the label will tell you if the plant is appropriate for container-growing. Determinate or dwarf tomato varieties are a better choice than indeterminate. Celebrity, Carnival, Daybreak, Mountain Fresh, Sun Leaper, and Sun Master are good hybrids for the Midwest. Cherry and grape tomatoes work especially well in small spaces. If you prefer old-fashioned, heirloom, and/or other organic patio varieties, your best bet is the World Wide Web: search under “heirloom patio tomatoes.”
The right container. No matter what the variety, all tomatoes need root-space. Choose a container that’s at least 10 gallons in size with drainage holes in the bottom. In late May, your plant might look tiny in such a big container, but in late August you’ll be glad you planted it in plenty of soil. Speaking of soil, use a potting mix, not regular garden soil; it’s too heavy to drain effectively. Any mix designated for flowers or vegetables will suffice.
There are many interesting tomato containers on the market. Add a bit of whimsy to your patio—plant your tomatoes in a barrel or basket (lined with plastic to keep the soil intact). What about an old washtub? Or add elegance with a beautiful terra cotta urn. Don’t forget that tomatoes need support, too—a small trellis, cage or stake will help prop up the plant when all that fruit comes along.
The right conditions. To do their best, container-grown tomatoes need a good amount of sun. Water them frequently; don’t soak them, but make sure they stay moist. Regular fertilizing, either granular or liquid, helps keep the plant nourished, but follow directions carefully. Over-fertilizing results in lots of leaves, but not many tomatoes. If the plant gets bushy, stake it, but don’t prune it. The leaves soak up energy from the sun to make more fruit and shield the fruit from sunscale.
Tomatoes aren’t the only plants that do well in containers. Herbs, greens, and peppers also thrive on a sunny porch or patio. These days, the newest trend in gardening is mixing ornamentals with edibles. Try under-planting your tomatoes with edible trailing nasturtiums or curly parsley.
Give container-gardening a try, and see how satisfying it is to grow (and eat!) your own food, even in a tiny space.
