Mortgage Lifter Vs. Better Boy Vs. Early Girl

[Barmaley]

I have very limited space on my deck where I can get about 5 hours of sun (I got a lot of big trees around ) I have several cherry, black and purple tomatoes and some dwarfs and I also need to select one plant to compliment it with standard red tomatoes for salads. I have good size seedlings of Mortgage Lifter, Better Boy and Early Girl (I did not grow from seeds which year and got was was available at local home depot). I have a couple of seedlings of each about 12 inch which some flowers of buds (early girl has even small fruits on it already). I plan to grow one plant on the deck in a big pot and care about it to make it produce as much as possible and the rest I can put in a ground on the back. The problem with the ground is that it has not more then 3.5-4 hours direct sun light, on the deck it is close to 6 hours, at least more than 5. Which of those 3 would you advice to select as a prime plant or I may try to get locally another variety if you will suggest a better alternative.

[Sue_CT]

Mortgage lifter is the largest plant and will be a challenge to grow in a pot. Not sure how much fruit you will get from it with less than 4 hours sun, but you have it so you might as well try it. Have not grown Better Boy. Early Girl is a pretty good bet in a large pot. So I would go with Early Girl and put the others in the ground and see if you get anything from them.

[slugworth]

Sunlight is the issue.
Decked out I would go portable on a wagon you can wheel in and out.
Unless nobody is home all day.They do have low voltage led grow lights but I don't know if they are weather proof.
I have a clamp version with built-in timer that runs off 5v.
In a windowsill I have silver foil in back of the plants originally for sun bathers to reflect sunlight.
A quicky version would be the stuff people put in car windshields to keep the inside from roasting.
Or mirrors like I used with the indigo type blue tomatoes to go blue where the sun don't shine.

[slugworth]

I never had luck with early girl,they were always a joke and always a 90 day tomato vs 50 days as advertised.
There were years that they didn't get ripe until august here.

[Sue_CT]

Wow, I have consistently gotten Early Girl at 60-65 days, it used to be my "safe" back up tomato I would always plant. I knew if nothing did well, I could count on it. Anyway, those are the 3 plants they have so that is what you have to choose from.

[slugworth]

I always went with the 4th of july hybrid or bloody butcher.
This year it's the politically incorrect Moskvich.
OP last line mentioned open for suggestions.

[Sue_CT]

Your right, I missed that. I would suggest Early Girl.

[Rockoe10]

I always went with the 4th of july hybrid or bloody butcher.
This year it's the politically incorrect Moskvich.
OP last line mentioned open for suggestions.

My buddy lives and dies by 4th of July. He absolutely loves that tomato.

[Barmaley]

I just realized that I failed to mention Pink Brandywine as one of the contenders for the position of a work horse red salad plant in a large pot (12 gallons). I see that the majority suggest early girl as a more suitable for a pot. I was thinking about Mortgage lifter but I did not have experience with it yet and Sue suggested that ML is a too big for a pot. I have few options to consider: A) I have two 16 gallons pots B) I may use a 30 gallon bin if it helps (however it is least desirable option) or I want your advice on what to expect if I use a smaller 12 gallon pot for ML? What will happen to it in a small pot? It will not get its max potential and produce lesser fruit compare to been in the ground but still should produce more or the same amount as naturally smaller plants or it will not produce at all or lesser that lets say Early Girl? I am ready to fertilize and care for this single plant to optimize the result.
What about Pink Brandywine? How big is it? I read somewhere that is it not very productive. What about taste of those varieties? I would rather prefer 40% less fruit but better tasting ones than more fruit. However, since it is a single plant I need it to be reasonably productive.

[Sue_CT]

ML gets 5-6 ft tall. It will likely get pot bound, it will need watering multiple times per day, if it keeps drying out and then getting watered and drying out, etc., any fruit it produces will likely have BER (Blossom End Rot) which makes it not edible. Or it might not produce any fruit at all. I am not saying it is impossible. Some very experienced people with growing tomatoes in pots and drip irrigation systems, etc. would be able to do it well. I am not saying don't try if you really want to. I tried one year and grew multiple large plants in 20 gallon grow bags with the same results I told you above. I still work, though. If you are retired and willing to check on them multiple times a day and water multiple times a day before they dry out when it is hot, you could be successful. But it is much more difficult and time consuming.

Brandywine plants are huge. They are also temperamental and for most people produce the least amount, but for many people's taste the best tasting tomatoes. People here have reported only a few tomatoes sometimes, even when grown in the ground.

[Barmaley]

Sue, thank you for clarification! So - it is not lack of soil and nutrients but the lack of water. I am all day at home and watering several times per day is not a problem for me. If watering will be sufficient - can I assume that the plant can be fine in a pot? Is 12 gallons OK or I still need a larger container if I water multiple times per day in a hot day ?

[Rockoe10]

I've grown in 5 gallon buckets before. With similar results to Sue. The larger the pot you can muster, the better. Treat the situation as if it were a greenhouse tomato that is, give it frequent waterings with a diluted fertilizer. Those greenhouse tomatoes have hardly any medium, but they are watered using a timer and food.

[slugworth]

snip snip here,snip snip there.
Keep ML in a pot but shorter than you- height wise.
I never had ML 5-6ft tall in my life, even outdoors.

[Sue_CT]

Don't know which ML you grew, slugworth. I only grow Estler's, but never had one less than 4 feet, they usually get to 5 feet, in a good year with good placement in the garden, 6 feet. Some parts of my garden get more sun than others and one end has deeper soil with more compost.

[Sue_CT]

I would use the largest possible pot you have. Then you have to consider how you will stake or cage it since you won't be able to drive a stake into the ground or push a cage into the ground around it. If there are posts around the 4 corners of the deck, like a covered deck I would try tying it to that. You can cut down the spikes on the bottom of a cage and push it into a large pot but they are not as stable and you will do better attaching the cage to something more stable also. The soil in pots is much looser than the ground and so don't hold cages as well. If you can put it on the edge of the deck and drive a stake or two into the ground next to the deck you could also anchor to something like that. Just food for thought.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

On the subject of varieties that do/don't do well in containers, anyone tried that method with Sun Gold?

The Gotch