Single Planting: Planting one tomato plant per 5-gallon bucket is typically the simplest method. This ensures plants have enough space and nutrients to grow and are easier to manage. Double Planting: If you wish to increase yield in limited space, consider planting two tomato plants per 5-gallon bucket.
One plant per bucket. A 5-gallon bucket really isn't big enough to hold a big, mature tomato plant, so be sure you keep up with the fertilizing schedule to help it along.
In a 5-gallon bucket you can grow: • 1 tomato, pepper or zucchini, or • 3-4 lettuce, or • 1 cabbage or broccoli (with 15 radishes or 8 spinach), or • 15 carrots or beets, or • 6 bulbing onions, garlic or leeks, or • 8 mustards or turnips for greens.
Several tomato varieties that grow well for me in 5-gallon buckets include Tumbling Tom Red, Tumbling Tom Yellow, Red Robin, Orange Pixie and Yellow Canary. All of them are small plants... very small plants...so they produce just fine in 5-gallon buckets.
Tomato plants prefer to have part of their stem buried in the soil, so plant the roots deep enough so that at least 1 inch of the stem is covered.
Tomatoes should stay in consistently moist soil, but the soil should not get soggy. You will likely need to water every day, but if it has rained heavily in the past 24 hours, it may not be necessary. A good idea is to plan to water every day but to do a visual check first.
Here's a quick note on how to prepare the 5 gallon buckets to be tomato planters. Using a 3/4″ drill bit, I drilled 5 drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets: one in the middle, and then 4 equally spaced around the bottom. Next I drilled 4 more holes in the sides of the buckets about 1″ to 2″ from the bottom.
Tomatoes love the sunshine. A position in full sun (that means an average of at least eight hours a day) gives the best results in most areas, though if you're in a hot climate you can get away with dappled shade.
Some growers prefer to use a high-phosphorus fertilizer, indicated by a larger middle number. You can also keep things simple with a fertilizer especially formulated for tomatoes – usually with a ratio like 3-4-6 or 4-7-10. Most importantly, don't over-fertilize. Too little fertilizer is always better than too much.
This pruning of the root tips at the wall of the container forces branching of thousands of fibrous feeder roots throughout the plant container. GeoPots are also convenient because they are light weight and able to be folded for storage. A 20 gallon container will hold only one plant.
Never use buckets that previously housed chemicals, paint, or other unsavory or unknown materials near edible plants. Instead, use buckets made of food-safe plastic and clean them out thoroughly before planting. Standard 5-gallon buckets can hold about 2 potato plants, while 10-gallon buckets can hold 4 potato plants.
That means a conservative estimate for the total number of tomatoes harvested during the season would be over 400 tomatoes, or roughly 100 tomatoes per plant. If you grow tomatoes the way I do, it's safe to bet on getting at least 100 tomatoes off your plants within four to five weeks during your peak season.
Tomatoes planted too closely together may be more likely to develop problems, such as: Disease – A lot of plant diseases flourish on moist leaves. If tomatoes are planted so closely together that sunlight and air can't dry out the leaves, the plants will be more likely to develop harmful diseases.
Aim to plant 10-12 tomato plants per person. The more sauce that you use, the more tomatoes you need to plant.
In general, determinate tomatoes tend to do better in pots, so look for those. It's also possible to grow indeterminate tomatoes in containers, of course, as long as you provide enough support and soil volume.
Quick Guide to Growing Cucumbers
Space cucumbers 36 to 60 inches apart (12 inches apart for trellised plants) in an area with abundant sun and fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8.
Water correctly: Do not overwater. The first week tomato plants are in the ground, they need water every day, but back off watering after the first week, slowly weaning the plants down to 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week.
Water tomato plants in pots regularly.
Tomatoes are thirsty plants, especially when they begin to gain size. Add in hot or windy conditions, and you may have to water your potted tomatoes twice a day.
5-gallon Homer buckets can be used to grow some edibles like tomatoes and peppers. Fill with good quality organic potting mix. Be mindful of excessive heat and wind.
Perlite is a lightweight granular material that's white in colour. It looks and feels like little bits of polystyrene but is actually made from expanded volcanic glass, heated to 1000°C until it 'pops' (like popcorn) to many times its original size. It's lightweight, sterile, and easy to handle, and is long-lasting.
If you're planning a 12-inch deep raised bed, you'll need approximately 24 cubic feet of soil to fill a 4x8 bed. A depth of 18 inches will require approximately 36 cubic feet of soil. The type of soil you use will also affect the volume required to fill your raised bed.