Counted 47 cherry tomatoes from one plant last week

I started growing a Tiny Tim cherry tomato plant in a 5-gallon bucket on my balcony in March and last Tuesday I picked 47 ripe tomatoes off it. That's way more than I expected from such a small setup, especially since I only water it every other day. Anyone else get surprised by how many veggies a single container plant can produce?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nancy15d ago

But were those tomatoes actually ripe, or just orange-ish and you picked them early? I've been growing tomatoes for years and I find that people who brag about huge harvests from tiny containers usually don't let them fully ripen on the vine. A 5-gallon bucket is basically a prison cell for a tomato plant... the roots get all cramped and stressed out, and that stress makes the plant push out a ton of small, mediocre fruit instead of focusing on quality. Real vine-ripened tomatoes from a proper in-ground garden have way more flavor and size, no contest. All those little cherry tomatoes from a bucket might look impressive on a salad, but they're just watery little pops compared to the deep, rich taste you get from a plant with room to grow. Plus, watering every other day sounds like you're just barely keeping it alive, not giving it the steady moisture it needs for even development.

derekgibson15d ago

Man, I feel you on this. My first few years of gardening I was just stoked to get anything to grow in those little buckets, but looking back, the flavor was never really there. It's a bummer because you put in all that work watering and checking them, and you end up with something that's fine but not great. You just want to shake people and say, "give it some real dirt and watch what happens.

leeknight14d ago

The_nancy, you kinda reminded me of a buddy who grew tomatoes in a 5-gallon bucket one summer. He bragged about getting over 50 cherry tomatoes and was so proud, but when he brought a bowl to a BBQ, everyone politely ate a couple and then went silent. The skins were tough and they tasted more like water than tomato, just like you said about stressed plants. He finally admitted he'd been watering them with a hose every third day and picking them the second they turned any shade of pink.