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Advice on growing tomatoes or jalapenos

Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:34 am
Posted by la_birdman
Lake Charles
Member since Feb 2005
30994 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:34 am
I have a pretty good sized flowerpot outside my door. I was thinking of growing a couple tomato plants or jalapenos. I know tomato plants have to be a certain distance apart-would it be easier to grow jalapenos?

I had a medium sized sago palm in this pot but I moved it. What would be easier on the plants?

Thanks for any advice.

Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90321 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:55 am to
i would say jalapenos are better for pots. theyre also extremely easy to grow. they can pretty much handle any amount of sun you can throw at them. i have quite a few in the ground and a few in pots. one thing i like about pots is that you can move them around to get sun.

tomato plants can get large and i would definitely put them in the ground with some support(trellis)


Posted by la_birdman
Lake Charles
Member since Feb 2005
30994 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 2:34 am to
Much appreciated! Thanks!
Posted by Sir Drinksalot
Member since Aug 2005
16740 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 6:39 am to
Cherry tomatoes do very well in porch pots. One plant makes a lot of tomatoes.

They are fabulous wrapped in bacon and grilled.

Depends on what you want to eat more!
Posted by Cajunate
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2012
3318 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 6:44 am to
quote:

I had a medium sized sago palm in this pot but I moved it. What would be easier on the plants?


A word of warning! If you have a dog get rid of that Sago altogether. It is extremely poisonous to dogs. Eating any part of the plant will shut down their kidney and liver and kill them.
We almost lost our beagle to sago palm ingestion about two years ago and it's rare that they can be saved. We were lucky! It seems to be a painful death for them and the vet bills aren't cheap.
Posted by Martini
Near Athens
Member since Mar 2005
48829 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 8:34 am to
This is true about the sago palm.


Either on or both do well in pots. I have a creole tomato in a pot and I give them as gifts as well. Plant one of each.
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 8:51 am to
Look for a "patio" variety of tomato--it will be thicker-stemmed, bushier, and adapted to container life. Just make sure the pot is in full sun; with partial shade (like under the eaves or too close to the house), you won't get much fruit, even if the plant itself grows.
Posted by brmach
Member since Aug 2012
768 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 10:53 am to
I have much better luck growing peppers in pots. Jalapenos do really well.
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
38616 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 10:55 am to
I have all my tomatoes in pots this year. I have watched my neighbor grow them in pots very successfully. Get a "determinant" variety like Early Girl or Champion. Determinant means it stays fairly small. Whats nice is in the heat of the summer I can move the pots to get afternoon shade. In the winter, I can take them inside during freezes. My neighbor had tomatoes coming in all last winter.
Posted by CreoleGumbo
Faubourg Bayou St. John
Member since Sep 2003
1829 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 11:01 am to
i grow a shitton of tomatoes. they'll grow regardless. ground, pots, raised beds, close together, apart, it don't matter. just make sure they get at least 8 hrs of sun...and water.

This post was edited on 5/9/13 at 11:37 am
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 11:15 am to
quote:

I have all my tomatoes in pots this year. I have watched my neighbor grow them in pots very successfully. Get a "determinant" variety like Early Girl or Champion. Determinant means it stays fairly small. Whats nice is in the heat of the summer I can move the pots to get afternoon shade. In the winter, I can take them inside during freezes. My neighbor had tomatoes coming in all last winter.

"Determinate" does not just mean the plant is compact; it means the plant will grow to a certain point, begin to flower and set fruit, then keel over. It will not continue to grow and produce fruit beyond a certain point. IOW, determinate plants won't keep going and going.

Indeterminate will spread and spread, which requires lots of room. On the other hand, it will produce for a much longer period of time, and you can get a "second wind" of late summer/early fall tomatoes out of an indeterminate plant.

It's important to understand that most tomato varieties won't set fruit when evening lows remain above 70 degrees. Depending on where you live in LA, this might be as early as late May (though probably not THIS year). So getting them into the ground early is important, unless you're planting heat-tolerant varieties.

Also, why would you ever want to put a tomato plant into the shade? They want full sun. They need full sun. You're reducing the plant's productivity by moving it into any shade. If it is wilting in full sun, then the soil is too dry and the pot is too small for the plant in question. Get a bigger pot and water more diligently, and leave it in the sun.
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
38616 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 11:32 am to
quote:

"Determinate" does not just mean the plant is compact;


Gotcha. And I just looked and Early Girl is an in-determinant and is the one my neighbor kept going all winter. I have one of those in a pot as well as Champion and then a Creole and Brandywine which are in 30 gallon containers as they get really big.
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:22 pm to
Have you planted brandywine before? I've tried it on multiple occasions, and it isn't very productive in my microclime (south of NOLA, almost in the swamp). I don't know if it's the fairly heavy clay soil or what, but I got around two-three tomatoes off of those plants. Waste of space, even if the tomato is tasty. Mr Stripey and Cherokee Purple are two more highly touted heirlooms that were complete duds in my garden.

I've lost almost all my better boys to late blight this year, thanks to the cool and rain. The FLA 91s are looking like champs, and the ol' reliable celebrities have heavy fruit set.
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
38616 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:36 pm to
quote:

Have you planted brandywine before?


No, but I grew it from seed this winter so I figured I'd try. I'm in Dallas so much more dry here but our soils suck. I have an 8'x4' raised bed filled with a soil mix I bought and several containers filled with the soil mix.

My Early Girl has set fruit and my Champion and Creole are flowering.
Posted by BayouBengal
Member since Nov 2003
28275 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:39 pm to
quote:

i would say jalapenos are better for pots. theyre also extremely easy to grow. they can pretty much handle any amount of sun you can throw at them. i have quite a few in the ground and a few in pots. one thing i like about pots is that you can move them around to get sun.


Mine wilted in the Houston sun last summer. Lots and lots of water to keep them fed. I actually don't think I gave them enough shade. Some sort of fungus came in and murdered them.
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
98778 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 1:42 pm to
quote:

Cherry tomatoes do very well in porch pots.


I was going to suggest this too. I have one on my porch in an old bourbon barrel planter and it grows like crazy.
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90321 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 2:01 pm to
quote:

Lots and lots of water to keep them fed. I actually don't think I gave them enough shade. Some sort of fungus came in and murdered them


you might have been overwatering them. excess moisture is a good producer of fungus
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 2:07 pm to
quote:

you might have been overwatering them. excess moisture is a good producer of fungus


Exactly--the overwatering encouraged the fungus, and moving it into the shade just exacerbated the fungal growth; full direct sun might have kept it at bay.

Container gardening can be tricky when it comes to watering. Too much is very bad; slightly drier is better than waterlogged. A plant's leaves will fold down in the worst heat of the day, but this isn't really the same as "wilting" due to dryness.

Tomatoes and peppers are full sun items. No two ways about it.
Posted by polizei11
Houston
Member since May 2009
1135 posts
Posted on 5/9/13 at 2:46 pm to
Once your tomato plants flower, cut off all of the limbs below the limb that has flowered. Limbs below the first flower will not produce anything and suck energy away from the good limbs.
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