Anyone have any luck growing tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets?

I got one of these last year and did pretty well using their specific directions for type of soil, peat moss, and a few other organic materials to mix in.

[link to www.homedepot.com (secure)]

We grew tomatoes, basil and parsley. The casters made it easy to move around if we needed to follow the sun or get it into the shade when too hot. We even put a wire cage around the box to help support the plants.

That is really neat! Thank you!

Nope. Hardly any output on tomatoes. Have to water everyday too. And that's after using potting soil made for gardens that "feeds" them for so many months.

Now, grape tomatoes, if you get a heavy producing variety, will do ok in a bucket. You would at least have a few for your salad every night.

Why would you grow food you're going to eat in plastic? Plastic leaches into the soil, which in turn ruins your food. Just doesn't make sense to me.

works. upside down

Don't forget to drill several holes at the lowest point in the bucket. Else you may get root rot.

Tomatoes like slight acid soils. pH your water.

The #1 problem growing ANY plant in a 5 gallon bucket is that the plastic bucket must have a secondary shield around it to absorb/deflect the direct heat.
When your plants have been watered its worse. When the sun hits the sides of that bucket it turns the contents into steam lol. Roots do not like that at all.
I have been a gorilla farmer since the 90`s. When trying to grow in an area where the natural "soil" is depleted of nourishments, you must adapt and a 5 gallon bucket is perfect because sometimes the site is off the beaten path.
Not to mention you can stack many buckets and they are still light.

I take the 5 gallon bucket and bury it in the site soil and then fill my bucket with imported good soil.

Burying the bucket keeps the roots outa the heat, it works great.

Yes, they hardly produced any tomatoes. I also did the potato thing too, I got a handful of little tiny potatoes.

Right now, I'm trying radishes and basil on windowsill pots. The seeds just germinated. We'll see what happens.

Try coco, it's an amazing growing media.

Your soil quality is the most important when it comes to gardening. Don't use any of that pre-mix miracle gro crap. Its full of fertilizers that you don't want in your veggies.
Buy separate soil components and mix yourself, (topsoil, peat moss, manure, etc..)

I use Zoom organic fertilizer and fish emulsion and have 5 ft tomatoes within 5 weeks of planting.

Last Edited by Maddrummerboy on 04/04/2019 05:25 PM

you know that is a good Idea, I had to bring mine in over 800 times last year and it makes a mess in the living room

No, Hollandese. NO!

No, but they sure are easier to bring in!

i dont think 5 gallon pots are big enough maybe for some strains but not most

Top tip...if you can get hold of some fish heads chuck a couple in the bottom of the bucket or hole you plant in and also a couple of aspirin...cover with a bit of soil and then plant your tomatoes. As the fish heads begin to deteriorate they'll provide nutrients that tomatoes love...the aspirin helps boost their immunity to any soil borne diseases.

Works great for me



Flush well before use, and use good nutrients. It's essentially hydro though so if you're looking to go organic, it's not the way.

works great for cloning to

Yes it does make tomatoes in or out easier

Thanks everyone!

Grow them upside down.

Here's a tip I learned :
Plant your tomato plants as deep as you can. This not only encourages growth but blossoms. You need it to blossom to have tomatos

Yes, but I've only had luck with smaller varieties of tomato that also have heat/drought resistance --( because of Albuquerque weather).

Last Edited by The Occupant on 04/04/2019 07:08 PM

They do great if you make a good draining dirt and feed em.

I found out that if you get great seeds from burpee you can put them in a five gallon pot then over some dirt. The roots will grow down through bottom of the pot but the plants are so strong pots do not really matter. I have not been able to grow them on concrete patio. However I know Burpee makes certain seeds that will grow in pots well. I would go on Facebook to Burpee and ask which tomato plants will be able to be rolled in and out as GLP puts out warnings. Anytime you see tomatoes in you can roll them in and then when the all clear is given you can roll them back out.

With things heating up in SK and the Ukraine and a possible alien invasion and trouble at the border of Texas and Mexico you may also want to pair those tomato plants with some nasturtium or marigolds in case of an alien infestation.

Get big plastic planters and use mushroom compost with potting soil. Cherokee Purples are great heirloom tomatoes to plant.

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... we live in nw wisconsin ...
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... our daughter is growing two kinds of tomato plants in our living room in hydroponics ...
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... over the years she has developed what to feed the tomatoes to get YUMMY results for fresh eating! ...
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... we could grow tomatoes in our garden but that is only when we want them for canning/dehydrating ...
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Grow in straw bales.

It is...got double plus yield on our 'other tomatoes' from it. As far as OP's question goes. Yes, I have grown in 5 gallon buckets (due to space limitations) and had a fine time. With a decent harvest. I used a basic fish fertilizer (I forget the ratio) and then urine watered down 10-1 every second watering. They were nice and healthy. MY meeker then normal harvest was due to massive forest fires making the bees go to sleep. And turning the sky a golden colour.

The roots don't like to get hot.

So put the bucket up on wood blocks or bricks...and shade the bucket with a piece of cardboard or something so the bucket is not taking direct sunlight.

The plant likes it hot & sunny...the roots like it cool & dark.

Or place them surrounded by smaller pots full of basil and chives and herbs...oh my! To shield the 5 gallons themselves...win-win I would think...