12 Easy Tips for Growing Tomato Plants in Pots

Tomatoes come in various shapes and sizes, making them a classic choice for a vegetable garden. However, they can also be grown successfully in containers. Here are some benefits:

• It’s easier to protect the plants from pests like deer and rabbits.
• Growing tomatoes in containers keeps the roots safe from soil-borne pests and diseases.
• Potted tomatoes allow you to control how much water they receive, which is helpful if your garden soil is too soggy or too sandy.
• Pots are ideal if your gardening space is limited to a patio or balcony.
• Having them nearby makes harvesting more convenient.

Here are some tips specifically for growing tomatoes in containers.

1. Choose Healthy Plants Suited for Pots

Although any tomato variety can be grown in a pot, some are better suited for this. Check out our list of recommended varieties below.

2. Use a Large Container — the Bigger, the Better

Container soil heats up and dries out faster than garden soil. To give the plant's roots more room, use a large container. You can grow any type of tomato in a container, but it's essential to match the pot size to the plant size. Compact or dwarf varieties can thrive in 8- to 12-inch pots or hanging baskets. Determinate (bush-type) tomatoes can grow well in 5-gallon pots, but 8- or 10-gallon pots are better. Indeterminate (vining) varieties like ‘Brandywine’ slicing tomatoes or ‘Sweet 100’ cherry tomatoes do best in 15- to 20-gallon containers to support their extensive root systems and heavy fruit production.

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12 Easy Tips for Growing Tomato Plants in Pots

3. Choose Lightweight Pots With Good Drainage

Stay away from terra cotta pots, which retain heat and are heavy, as well as half whiskey barrels, which can attract wood roaches. Instead, opt for lightweight plastic pots with drainage holes.

4. Position Containers in Full Sun

Tomatoes need six to eight hours of sunlight per day to thrive.

5. Use Potting Soil Rich in Organic Matter

Improve your potting soil by replacing about 25 percent of it with equal parts perlite, sphagnum peat moss, and compost to enhance drainage and add nutrients. A 1- to 2-inch layer of pebbles at the bottom of the pot can also aid drainage. Avoid using regular garden soil, which is too compact for containers.

6. Mix Slow-Release Fertilizers Into the Soil

Ensure the soil doesn’t already contain fertilizer. If not, use tomato-specific fertilizers like Espoma, although all-purpose ones work well too.

7. Plant the Tomato Deeply

Fill one-third of the pot with soil, plant the tomato, and then add more soil, packing it around the stem until it's about halfway covered. Remove any leaves as you go.

8. Keep the Soil Evenly Moist

The soil should stay moist, but not waterlogged. Rather than watering on a set schedule, consider the weather and how the plants look. In hot and windy conditions, you might need to water once or twice a day. During rainy periods, avoid watering and make sure pots aren't sitting in water trays, which can lead to root rot.

9. Support Growing Tomato Plants

Use stakes or a tomato cage (or make one from concrete reinforcing wire) to help support the plant and its fruit.

10. Feed Plants Weekly Starting Around Week Six

Use a water-soluble fertilizer as instructed and keep an eye out for pests like aphids.

11. Add Companion Plants if There's Space

Ornamental annuals such as marigolds and zinnias can be beautiful additions to your tomato container garden, but remember that additional plants will compete for water. Add them only if your pot is large enough.

12. Harvest Tomatoes When They're Almost Completely Red

This ensures you get the freshest and tastiest fruit. If your variety of tomato is yellow, green, or brown, harvest when it reaches its intended color.

Best Tomato Varieties for Containers

Ready to try growing tomatoes on your patio? Here are some dwarf and compact varieties that thrive in pots:

‘Bush Early Girl’: This classic slicing tomato yields flavorful, 3- to 4-inch red fruits on 3-foot-tall plants. It ripens quickly, making it a great choice for an early summer harvest.

‘Little Napoli’: A determinate Roma variety bred for pots, it grows 12-18 inches tall and ripens all its fruit at once, perfect for canning and preserving.

‘Red Robin’: This popular cherry tomato produces upright plants that reach 12-18 inches in height, yielding plenty of sweet, round red fruits.

‘Silvery Fir Tree’: With its lacy, grayish-green leaves, this heirloom variety looks unique. It produces 3-inch round red fruits on bushy, 2- to 3-foot-tall plants.

‘Super Bush’: Growing 3 to 4 feet tall, this variety gives an early harvest of meaty, 3- to 4-inch red fruits on sturdy, upright plants.

‘Sweet Pea’: Although tiny, 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch red fruits burst with flavor, great for fresh eating or drying. The plants have tiny leaves and long stems that can trail or be supported upright.

‘Sweet ‘n’ Neat Yellow’: Known for its long harvest of yellow cherry tomatoes, the plants typically grow about 1 foot tall, small enough for indoor growing. For variety, try ‘Sweet ‘n’ Neat Red’ and ‘Sweet ‘n’ Neat Scarlet’ too.

‘Tumbler’: This cherry tomato produces red fruits on branched stems that can cascade 3 to 6 feet from hanging baskets or grow upright in a supported pot.

‘Tumbling Tom Red’: Trailing stems reach 18 to 24 inches, producing 1- to 2-inch red fruits about 60 days after transplanting. ‘Tumbling Tom Yellow’ produces sweet fruits, and a combination of both colors makes for a beautiful display.