**HELP**Bucket tomatoes

[ecu1984]

Splitting tomatoes are caused by watering inconsistencies.
Tomatoes split open when the skin can't keep pace with the growth of the insides—especially when that growth is sudden and rapid, like right after a rain that falls heavily in a short period of time; and especially if the rain was preceded by a long dry stretch. Once a tomato is ripe, the outside is pretty much done growing, but the inside is still going to take in some of that water—and that causes the skin to give way.

[Hosscat]

This seems like a dumb question but I'll ask it any way. How do you water your bucket tomatoes and how do you know when you've watered enough?

Water them until the soil column is saturated. Avoid letting the soil become completely dry then watering to catch up. The easiest way to tell if water is needed is to feel the soil by sticking your finger all the way into the soil up to the joint. If it's moist, check the next day. You can also tell by picking up the bucket itself. It shouldn't be dripping water out of the drain holes but it should also not be light. The magic answer would be an inch of water per week.


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[murraywader]

I am growing nice Cherokee purples in 5 gallon buckets

been eating them for a month now

The one's in 3.5 gallon containers, are those a smaller variety?

Cherokee purples are my favorite.

[2thDoc]

Marions are one of the best out there. My favorite.

Splitting tomatoes isnt something you can help, per se. It means you are getting a lot of fruit formation but likely growing TOO fast with TOO much water....but again, unless you know when its gonna rain, you will struggle.

Growing in 5gal pots: obviously doable. Very important to fertilize well. Not enough nutrients in that little dirt to grow enough fruit. Watering is simple if you have enough drainage--just saturate the dirt. If it dries out and pulls away from the edges, water again. For me, its almost every day if they get a lot of direct sun. Some others I can move around but water every other day.