Quick Summary: Determinate tomatoes are easiest for containers because they stay compact (3-4 feet) and need minimal staking. Use at least a 5-gallon pot, though 12-18 gallons produces better yields. Sterile potting mix, consistent watering, and regular fertilizing are essential. Read time: 12 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate
Jump to: Best Varieties for Pots | Container Size | Growing Tips | FAQ
I grow most of my heirloom tomatoes in the ground at HeathGlen Organic Farm, but each year I trial varieties on the deck in containers so I know which ones work best for my urban customers at the St. Paul Farmers’ Market.
Any tomato can grow in a pot, but determinate varieties are easiest because they stay compact and need less staking. This guide covers the best varieties for containers, what size pot you need, and how to manage soil, watering, and fertilizing for a good harvest.
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Which Tomatoes Grow Best in Containers?
The most reliable way of growing tomatoes in pots, if you are a novice grower, is to start with “determinate” varieties.
Determinate varieties of tomatoes only grow to around 3-4 feet and often don’t require staking and trellising (whereas “Indeterminate” varieties are vining plants that will grow until frost and may get 7-8 feet).
The main difference between determinate and indeterminate varieties, in terms of fruiting, is the timing of the yield. Determinate varieties will produce all of their fruit over a 3-5 week period rather than continuing to produce lower yields throughout the growing season like an indeterminate tomato.
This doesn’t mean you get fewer tomatoes from a determinate, you just get the full crop in a shorter time frame.
Determinate tomatoes are considered easier primarily because they do not require trellising and have thicker stems. They tend to produce fruit earlier also.
Indeterminate tomatoes will require some sort of trellis or cage system as they continue to vine until frost, but that is really the only thing that makes them more difficult.
Best Determinate Varieties for Pots
At HeathGlen (our farm) I grow most of my heirloom tomatoes in the garden, but each year I trial some on the deck in pots so I know which ones work best for the urban customer at our farmers’ markets.
Popular “Heirloom” Determinate Varieties
- Nebraska Wedding (orange)
- Heinz or Burbank (red slicers)
- Black Sea Man (dark purple)
- Manitoba or Moskovich (early)
- New Yorker or Bush Beefsteak (beefsteak types)
- Italian Principe Borghese: (semi-determinate plum)
Popular “Hybrid’ Determinate Varieties
- Bush Champion: Low maintenance compact plant that grows about 2 feet high, with larger (8-12 oz) tomatoes than most early determinates. Stocky stems that don’t need trellising. This is the one I usually recommend to novice growers that just want to make sure they get tomatoes they can use on their BLTs.
- Patio: this is a hybrid, but is a reliable producer with sturdy stems and medium sized tomatoes.
- Totem: Smaller tomatoes and a fairly small plant, but a high yield. I would recommend this one for balconies and small spaces.
Best Indeterminate Varieties for Pots
Popular ”Heirloom” Indeterminate Varieties
- Japanese Black Trifele: ‘The fruit color makes this a nice ornamental as well, and the plants are fairly compact as well — one strong stake should support the plant well. Delicious complex, smoky flavor and beautiful bronze color.
- Green Zebra: While considered an indeterminate tomato, they are much less rangy and grow more compactly, reaching about 5-6 feet high depending on your climate. Very poplar for taste, with a tart, slightly lemon background balancing the sugar. A favorite of many for its unique looks
- Stupice: Perhaps the earliest heirloom, the plants are compact and the fruit is small, but it produces well all season. Overall, know that early tomatoes tend to not be as flavorful as main season tomatoes. For an early tomato, Stupice is one of the more flavorful ones
- Paul Robeson: Beautiful, dark purple 3-4″ tomato with intensely sweet and smoky flavor and a juicy, smooth texture. Needs staking, but well worth it.
- Druzba: This robust Czechoslovakian tomato was particularly successful for me in 2022, outperforming all the other heirlooms.
- Other good alternatives include: Eva’s Purple Ball, Gardener’s Delight (a cherry), Matts Wild Cherry (a cherry)
Popular “Hybrid” Indeterminate Varieties
- Carmello: Reliable and prolific, with intensely flavorful, 8 oz., juicy red fruits. Disease resistant and a great overall main-season tomato which produces good flavor even during the colder part of the season.
- Sungold: Sweet, prolific and very popular cherry tomato. Most cherry tomatoes will do well in containers, as they grow tall but their fruit is small and they don’t tend to sprawl as much.
- Big Beef: Always a reliable producer, with smooth perfect skin
- Grapple d’Inverno: This was a new one for me in 2022. It was an extremely prolific grape tomato that kept producing long after the others had died. The taste is not as robust, but I used them for drying.
Tip: More important than the variety, the key to successful growing in pots is really more about the size of pot, the soil and the light conditions (see below).
What Size Container Do You Need?
The bigger the container, the better. Keep in mind that tomatoes grow large root systems, and they need room to develop for best production.
A large container will also prevent the soil from drying out too quickly during the heat of summer.
A 5 gallon container is considered the minimum size by many tomato growers, but my tests have found this to be too small for a good harvest.
The larger indeterminate heirloom tomatoes will grow well in 12-18 gallon containers. A container 12 to 18 inches deep for all tomatoes is generally a good rule of thumb.
If you are using a container of your own creation, make sure and punch holes in the container bottom to allow excess water to drain properly.
How to Grow Tomatoes in Containers (Sun, Soil, Fertilizer, Water)
Sun
Requirements for Sunlight:
The first thing to consider is the tomato’s need for “full sun”, which at a minimum is six hours daily and preferably eight or more. Tomatoes will still grow in partial shade but the yield will be much less.
Full sun does not equate to “hot” weather however. If the tomato could design it’s perfect growing conditions it would be a place where the average temperature was around 75 degrees F and the leaves and plant were exposed to sunlight 8 hours a day.
Sunscald on Tomatoes
Intense, direct sunlight for extended periods during very hot weather is a problem for tomatoes, especially on ripening or green tomatoes.
Sunscald first appears as light patches on green or ripening fruit. As the patches grow they often blister and become grayish-white (see photo below).
If you do start to see sunscald you can harvest the tomatoes and let them finish ripening on a kitchen counter. The taste will not be as good because the sugars haven’t had a chance to develop, but they will still be worth salvaging.
If your location has the potential for sun-scald there are some preventative steps you can take:
- Choose heat-tolerant varieties;
- Don’t over-prune tomato plants; the leaf cover provides shade for the fruit;
- Determine the right trellis system for your site. They all have pros and cons but if your area has intense sun you may want to look at a cage which is less exposure than staking or trellising (Check out different types tomato trellis systems to find the right ones for you and your garden.)
- Keep plants healthy and treat signs of tomato disease as soon as possible. Tomato wilts, blights, and leaf spot cause plants to drop foliage, which expose fruit to excess sunlight.
- provide a lightweight shade cloth to protect fruit from over-exposure;
- Try a topsy-turvy type of system that grows tomato plants upside down.
Soil/Potting Mixes
Don’t use soil from your garden. Tomatoes grown in containers need a loose, well-drained medium with lots of organic matter. Use a good sterile potting mix rather than garden soil. Soil harvested straight from the garden can infested with fungi, weed seeds, and pests.
Compost: I am a believer in the benefits of good compost. It can add the micro-nutrients that potting soils might be missing and it can aid with drainage and moisture control. I use a ratio of 3:1 sterile potting mix to compost.
Fertilizer
- Organic fertilizers: Make a compost tea or manure tea and fertilize monthly during the growing season. Other good organic fertilizers are liquid fish emulsion and liquid seaweed, which can be applied weekly.
- Commercial fertilizers: When you buy your potting mix, you can get one containing slow-release fertilizers, which will help with the growth stages of the plant. Tomatoes grown in containers will usually demand more fertilizer than the initial timed-release fertilizers to carry them through the entire growing season. You may need to add liquid water-soluble fertilizer products to the irrigation water as the season progresses. Follow product directions for concentrations and timing.
- Time-release fertilizers: A popular product for containers is Osmocote Plus at planting time. This is a 15-9-12, time release granular product which is supposed to feed up to 6 months. A fellow gardener, experienced with container plants, recommends following up the Osmocote with Peters 20-20-20 water soluble every 10 days to two weeks.
Watering
- Water regularly. Containers dry out more quickly than regular garden beds, and tomatoes are more likely to develop issues such as blossom end rot if they get uneven watering.
- Under-watering: The best way to know if your plants need watering is to check the soil. Stick your finger in the soil and if it is dry an inch down into the soil it is time to water. Containers are above ground and dry out quickly. When the plants are small, water use won’t be as high, but when they are large and setting fruit you will need to water daily. Do not allow containers to dry completely or fine roots will die. Also, if allowed to dry excessively, the potting media will shrink away from the side of the container and will be harder to re-wet.
- Over-watering: As long as you are using a potting mix that drains well you shouldn’t be afraid to water heavily. Good drainage solves most over watering issues. Make sure your containers has drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Back off the watering a little during fruit set to prevent splitting fruit.
- Type of container: Plastic containers do not dry out as quickly as clay, especially unglazed clay pots. Even plastic containers may require daily watering however, as plants grow larger.
- Self-watering systems: There are a range of self-watering pot systems that can reduce watering maintenance. Probably the best known, and longest trialed of these is the EarthBox 1010039 Organic EarthBox, Terracotta Although I have never used one, the reports from my customers at the farmers’ markets are all positive. The EarthBox works by wicking moisture out of a reservoir in the bottom of the planter.
- Well Water: occasionally there can be problems from watering with well water. Water from wells is often high in salts or carbonates which can cause problems. One way to prevent excessive salt buildup is to water thoroughly enough to ensure that 10 percent of what is added drains out the bottom. Salt build-up is damaging to plants causing burned leaf edges, stunted growth, and fewer blooms. Along this line, if saucers are used to catch drained water, empty them to prevent salt buildup.
Bonus Tip: If growing indeterminates, place your stakes or cages in the pot early and train the plants to grow vertically. Secure the stakes or cages well…larger tomatoes can be very heavy.
Guides for successfully growing tomatoes
- For germinating seed indoors
- Hardening off tomato plants before planting outside
- Growing tomatoes in the city
- Best seed catalogs for tomatoes
- Best trellis systems for tomatoes
- Season extension for tomatoes
- Taste of heirloom tomatoes based on color
Video Tutorial with Q and A
FAQ
Five gallons minimum, but 12-18 gallons produces significantly better yields. Larger containers hold more moisture and give roots room to expand.
Determinate varieties stay compact (3-4 feet), need minimal staking, and produce all their fruit over 3-5 weeks. Indeterminate varieties vine continuously until frost, reaching 7-8 feet, and require trellising.
Determinate varieties like Bush Beefsteak, Bush Champion, Patio, and Principe Borghese. They’re compact and produce well without elaborate support systems.
Check daily. Stick your finger an inch into the soil; if dry, water thoroughly until it drains from the bottom. Large plants setting fruit need daily watering.
Inconsistent watering. The black spots on the bottom of tomatoes result from calcium uptake problems caused by uneven moisture. Water consistently to prevent it.
Check out this comprehensive guide to growing tomatoes for the best flavor. This guide is a must-have if you want to grow your own tomatoes, heirloom or hybrid.
Great info. Thanks. M Crocker
The clip is so nice.how can i access more of the same
Well if you are referring to the video, you can access the gardening tutorials here.
If you want to see more articles you can go here: https://farmtojar.com/category/heirloom-tomatoes/
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[…] tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes are also good choices for pots due to their small size and weight. Click here for details on the best varieties of tomatoes for container […]
Loved your video! Thanks for sharing. When Pepsi barked, my dogs heard it and started barking too! I just potted up all my tomatoes.
Haha, yes Pepsi likes to be involved in the videos. He’s 14 years old now so I guess I can let him photobomb the videos once in a while!
To be clear – there is no calcium in Epsom salts. Epson has Magnesium.
Thank you for bringing this to light. Some of my tomato posts are quite dated and I appreciate the comment allowing me to update them. It appears that Epsom salts for blossom end rot is indeed a myth (and also does not include calcium, but rather magnesium). Blossom end rot is all about water management.
With regards to the calcium issue, I like what plantvillage.psu.edu had to say….
“ While blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium to the developing fruits, it doesn’t mean there isn’t enough calcium in the soil. It is most often related to an inconsistent amount of water in the soil or being taken up by the plant. Calcium is brought to the fruit in the water the plant takes up from the soil so allowing the soil to dry out too much between waterings can cause blossom end rot. Pot-grown tomatoes are especially susceptible.”
Great video, And I love your dog ? I also enjoy gardening. I’m helping my son this year at his apartment with growing in containers. We built boxes at my cabinet shop today for his tomatoes. And I have always grown in the ground so this is new to us. So Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! He’s the best dog I’ve ever had! It’s a little harder to grow in containers because you have to fertilize and water more, but it certainly can work.
This is a comment/question that came in today that I thought I’d post for the communities responses:
“I rent and will be replanting these into a pot. I was trying to find the soil you have in your video Miracle Gro Organic Choice Moisture Control but I can’t. I either find Miracle Gro Organic Performance or Miracle Gro Moisture Control. Which would you recommend or is there another soil you recommend instead?
Regarding fertilizer, is there a brand you recommend? Also, do I mix the epsom salt with the fertilizer or do I do those each on separate days?
Do I spray the leaves or just the soil with the fertilizer and epsom salt?
I really appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks for showing everyone had to plant their own food. I think it’s really interesting!”
I am thinking of cutting the bottom off a 5 gal bucket, and placing it on top of another 5 gal bucket, thus a 10 gal capacity. Though most tomato plants are fine with a 12 to 18″ depths. Do you know of anyone who tried this?
Planting in a whole bag of soil set on end? To achieve a 10 gal or 12 to 18 gal capacity.
I have new seeds form Victory seeds for the deep south LA and FL.
I have not heard of that but it may work. I just know that planting in a 5-gallon bucket doesn’t give you as much of a harvest a a larger pot would, but I don’t know if width is a factor there or just depth. My first inclination would be that it needs to be wider to let the roots have more room to breathe and spread out, but I can’t say for sure. Let me know if it works.