My interest on container gardening came about as so many things do; serendipitously or a happy accident. A good friend is an avid breeder and seed saver of tomatoes and other things weird and wonderful. One sunny spring morning she asked me what kind of tomatoes that I was growing as we both share a keen interest in heirloom tomatoes, among other things. As I had not decided what kinds that I wanted to grow that year, she asked me to baby-sit a large container of potato-leaved wonders. Any person obsessed with the red (or yellow) members of the Nightshade family knows that potato-leaved tomatoes cannot be grown near other tomatoes or they will cross-pollinate and produce hybrid verities and loose the particular trait, such as color, flavor, etc. that the tomato is known for. Thus was launched my adventure into container vegetable gardening. Containers have the particular advantage of allowing plants that require certain growing conditions to be moved around to suit the needs of the people or plants involved.

People that maintain greenhouses have almost every plant in one type of container or another and the tomato is no exception. It started life as a seedling in my friends’ greenhouse and was moved into the garden a year ago. Fall came and my pet tomato (which I named Stripe) was dug up and put in a large nursery tree pot to over-winter in my friends’ greenhouse. This particular tomato’s seed is very expensive to buy so we were experimenting with keeping this puppy alive as long as possible. As some of you out there may know, tomatoes, in tropical areas where they evolved, are perennial. These plants are capable of becoming behemoth sized vines if the temperature doesn’t go below 32 degrees.

Stripe ended up that summer living on my patio in isolated splendor, producing striped tomatoes in the lazy summer heat after lavish feedings of compost tea and worm compost followed by gallons of water. Stripe grew large and needed a bamboo trellis installed into the pot. And so the hot days of summer matured in to fall harvest. Around the middle of October I called my friend and asked of it was OK to bring Stripe home to her greenhouse with Stripes’ friend, the equally huge and rare Chili pepper plant that had come to visit to keep Stripe company.  My friend was already moving her tender perennials back under glass in anticipation of the first frost; all the while Stripe was dutifully producing red and green striped tomatoes with the enthusiasm that tomato plants are known.

Little did I realize that container tomato plants were a wave of the future! Many people really have a need for a homegrown tomato, but do not have the garden space to grow them. A recent article that I read featured a letter from a 90 year-old gentleman who lived in a retirement community, had no yard and had to grow his tomatoes in containers. My pet Stripe came to mind.

This summer at a garden conference the buzz was “can you grow this in a container?” Yes, you can and here is how it’s done. Tomatoes are heat loving critters so be aware that they will need to bask in full sun for minimum 4 hours per day and in my experience, more. The tomato plant will just sit there unless the soil temperature is 70 degree and the air temperature 50-70 degrees. If they are not warm enough they won’t do anything and will just sulk. The deal on containers is the size and the bigger, the better.  The idea here is to fool your plant into thinking that it is in the ground. I would say the smallest pot size to even consider (unless you want to water three times a day in hot weather) is 12 inches. My favorite size is a 10-gallon tree pot. Any larger and it is difficult to move the pot, although the plants really like it. What kind of soil does your container specimen require? The answer is pretty much the same as a garden-grown plant, with lots of organic material.  Layer a good potting soil with a compost of choice. Keep in mind what type of plant that you are trying to domesticate here and ask yourself are you growing a tomato, vegetable, perennial, herb, cactus or a tree. Add sand, vermiculite, peat, etc at this time. Paying attention to the soil mix insures a happy plant.

A tomato or pepper can be very productive if grown in a container and a trellis or staking will be necessary to keep your plant upright and productive. Bamboo stakes, small flower trellis and tomato cages all work. There is nothing more beautiful than a grape tomato plant bursting with small fruits on a patio or deck staked with a decorative trellis.

Tomatoes are, as tomato fans know, capable of producing a large amount of fruit on one vine. To do this they need lots of water and more in a container. Mulch, such as straw, leaves, pine needles, etc is a little secret to maintain moisture in a pot. Plastic pots actually work better than large clay or terra cotta pots as they contain pores and evaporate water more quickly. Clay or ceramic containers also need to be brought inside in the winter in areas of the US that go below freezing.  

Many of my plants, including everything from tomatoes, scented geraniums, herbs, and prairie plants seem to adapt well to growing in containers, including the long rooted natives. In fact one of the things I sell is “Prairie in a Pot” (containing a grass species and three perennial flowers) that can be planted later with a very healthy root system, guaranteed to grow.

Container Tomatoes: Excellent sources of tomatoes and chilies come from two nurseries. Chili Plants.com run by Janie Lamsen (see side bar) and Underwood Gardens. Both of these businesses use organic methods or are certified organic and use fish fertilizers and worm compost. Underwood Gardens recommends these kinds for containers:  Bloody Butcher (a really RED tomato), Illini Star, Nebraska Wedding, (an orange tomato), Oregon Spring (cold tolerant), Principe Borghese (a small egg-shaped Italian tomato), the familiar Roma Paste, and Sophie’s Choice (a large fruited orange-red moisture loving cooler season tomato). They are all determinate tomatoes. My personal favorite container tomato is the Red Cherry tomato but it defiantly needs the larger pot. Growing a container tomato only requires one tomato plant per pot as they turn into large plants. Janie recommends three chili plants per pot.

Be adventurous, expand your gardening horizons and try container gardening with unexpected plant species. It is worth the time and effort. GG

Caron Wenzel is an environmental science teacher and the owner of Blazing Star Inc. a Native seed nursery and consulting business based in Northern Illinois. She may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and you can visit her website at www.blazing-star.com .