How are my Cherokee Purple tomatoes doing in buckets

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[@mommabearmeg2417]

I'm in kingsport! I just bought some Cherokee purples today and planted them in pots!

[@SemiHomestead]

Awesome let me know how it goes. My husband bought a bunch of starts from Lowes, including the Cherokee Purple - mine needed more sun in these buckets and we found they did better in JC, in amended raised beds.

[@mommabearmeg2417]

@@SemiHomestead I will for sure ❤️

[@Auburn7543]

Some tiny pots. Have to be completely root bound in a month. I have Cherokee purple's in 15 gallon and 20 gallon bags. Both are big and giving out 1+pound tomatoes but the one in the 20 is probably 2ft taller. If you can keep up with watering it can be done in 5-7 gallon bags, but extremely difficult. Also, from my experience you wont to prune leaves only from bottom and when plenty of other leaves are on the plant. Tomatoes or nothing else can get the energy they beed without many leaves

[@SemiHomestead]

Thank you for your comment. I guess it was disappointing that the Cherokee Purple didn't grow since my neighbor about 5 miles away, had a random Cherokee Purple grow beautifully on the side of her house (not even a garden) because her 5 yr old ate a tomatoe and dropped some seeds on the grass - two plants popped up and bore fruit and I couldn't get one tomatoe!

[@jonbanks2794]

I think you can get 10 and 20 gallon cloth pots fairly inexpensive. You have more harvest. Have you noticed blossom end rot? Are the flowers not creating fruit or has the fruit rotted on the end and destroyed harvest? Go to a hydroponic store. They are in every state. Tell them you need organic or natural calcium and magnesium supplements. I think you will see a world of difference. Also if they don’t have the natural you can go on Amazon and just buy cal-mag. You just add it to your watering bucket. Look into Dr Earth tomato and veg. It’s on Amazon and look for down to earth products. They are both on Amazon. You should still be able to benefit a nice harvest in 5 gallon buckets. I’ve used them plenty of time. Tomatoes need a lot of nutrients and I forgot… down to earth azomite! It’s Trace minerals!!! You won’t regret it. Nice garden! Thanks for sharing.

[@SemiHomestead]

Thank you for the comment. I decided to direct sow into my raised beds the past two years and they did so much better; along with more amendments like azomite etc. I think it wasn't getting enough sun too - my raised beds are on the other side of our yard and it would get morning and afternoon sun vs just the afternoon sun. I also changed the type of tomatoes - and they did awesome. I have looked into grow bags but since we have the space I'm going to grow tomatoes in the raised beds and leave the buckets for other types of vegetables or flowers that won't need all the space and nutrients of the beds. I have also used Dr Earth tomato and veg - but the buckets and the varieties just didn't work that first two years - it was most likely the variety I had.

[@andrewtatchyn9893]

There is a lot of blight in the se. Cherokee purple are heirloom. So there is no resistance. Sorry!

[@SemiHomestead]

Yeah my husband said he's not going to grow that one again. But it's hard to see when a little girl spat out some Cherokee Purple seeds one year and it grew beautiful fruit right outside their front door lol

[@sheilagray3914]

your pots are too small and you are pruning them too much. They need the leaves for photosynthesis. You are killing them.

[@SemiHomestead]

You're right that I was killing them but I had seen others grow in buckets, maybe 5 gallons would have been better but for others it's worked. Right now and the past year, I put them in raised beds and they did much better, now the buckets are holding on to berry bushes til I find some space to grow them in the yard!