dwarf plants in a container, need advice

[JRinPA]

I am looking to start some dwarf tomatoes for a couple of older people I know. One is in assisted living, the other has a house up in the woods on a rocky hilltop.

I have never done any container tomatoes, or any dwarfs. I'm thinking like a red, grape tomato size or bigger.

Not sure if anything is even feasible for the assisted living place. She keeps saying that some boyscouts were going to do a garden, and it may have happened this spring, but it did not happen the last two years. I don't know if they can open a window, or of they are locked shut?

A pot or SWC on a handtruck might work at the house. Will have deer problems there, overnight.

Have access to good dirt and good compost, but other than that, would likely have to buy anything peat/bark/coco.

The lady at the house has a raised bed, sounds like a 4x8 with a guard of some type around it, maybe 5 years, first year tomatoes were good, but since then they turn brown and the bottoms rot out. Sounds like the bed was protected from deer but wasn't refreshed with nutrients. Surgeries happened, less mobility. Sounds like now it has mushroom compost and chainsaw chips/dust in it/on it by wayward spouse. I haven't seen it. I may be able to fix that with a load of good compost instead of trying dwarfs in pots.

What all would it take for a good container setup for...maybe a driveway into garage on a hand truck?

[bower]

I wouldn't plan a hand truck scenario for anyone with limited mobility.
At least with my Mom, there are good days and bad days, I think that may be typical as you get very old. So you don't want a daily routine with a hand truck. Forget that.
IDK about the bed (could be disease?) but if you go with renourishing the bed (and that's what she prefers) put your dwarfs as a front border so she can pick easily. Mulch so she can get away with less watering or not watering on a bad day. And maybe go with microdwarves which are really self supporting. They won't need any staking or fall over shamelessly after a windy day. IDK that much about dwarves per se, but the one I grew needed support. The micros don't.

WRT the assisted living, there are microdwarves you can pot, they can live right in the room with her if need be. Given a sunny window. Or the same pots can be put out by the door or in a garden if it exists, when it's safe for them temperature wise.
Heavy mulch is a good idea to reduce watering issues, but in my experience container tomatoes do need regular watering especially when it gets hot. Micros will require the least.

[AKgardener]

I agree with the above micro dwarf would be a better fit since there really to know work to them

[wykvlvr]

This would be a perfect place to use a micro dwarf. Many can spend their whole lives in a 3/4 gallon to 1 gallon pot and are happy bloom and make tomatoes inside either in a sunny window as mentioned or a small grow lite bulb in a lamp. Pygmy is a prolific plant with red cherries with decent to great flavor. Groovy Tunes is a bit larger, has vibrant chartreuse foliage and purple striped tomatoes. And if just for curiosity a Micro Tom with its adorable heart shaped tomatoes can fill that bill. They start producing very early but sadly the tomatoes are only so so think grocery store flavor or rather lack of it.

[Labradors]

Red Robin and Birdie Jaune would be good as a micro dwarfs with ok flavour.

[Frosti]

one more vote for micros.

Heartbreaker has excellent flavor.

[GVGardens]

I agree with everyone else that an indoor micro dwarf seems like the best option. We did Rosy Finch with a senior citizens group where they each took a 1 gal container home. Seemed to work well.

For the raised bed, I have had decent success mixing blood meal (at least 1.5 lbs for a 4x8 bed) into the wood chips/saw dust/mushroom compost to compensate for the tied up nitrogen and then topping with good compost. If it's really woody, maybe also add composted chicken/turkey manure. Use a generous amount of a balanced organic, granular fertilizer in the planting holes, too. During covid, I got a bad batch of bulk "raised bed soil" which was mostly wood chips and this method turned things around.

Sounds like blossom end rot, which could be nutrients but could also be from too much love aka over watering. Perhaps setting up a soaker hose on a timer would help? Our elderly neighbor waters 4x a day (Out of boredom? Because she forgets she already did it? Because she really loves those plants and thinks more is better?).

[WoodSprite]

As a person that has trouble bending myself, I don’t think a microdwarf in a bed would be good for an elderly person. Maybe she could put it in a sunny window instead or on a taller cart so she doesn’t have to bend. Have them give the plants a little shake when they start flowering to aid in pollination.

[GVGardens]

Sorry I meant my suggestions as 2 separate options: 1) microdwarf on a windowsill indoors OR 2) If doing raised beds, just do your favorite tomatoes, not microdwarfs, for the reasons @WoodSprite said.

[JRinPA]

I feel bad, both of them were very active gardeners. The lady on the hill, she had a comm garden plot for a year or two, but had knee surgery so gave it up. And now I guess her shins hurt instead? So standing still wears on her. They don't have good soil up on the hill. She said she was not happy when the chainsaw leavings were dumped on her bed. I agree it was probably BER, I don't know the tomato type. She is more busy now with another interest, that she can do with her current legs, so I don't know how much help she wants.

The lady in the assisted living was a good friend of my mom, they just got old, started falling, had good insurance paid into for when they got old, and this was the plan. I feel so bad for her, I want to cry. She scoots around with walker, for now. A microdwarf might be good for her, or might be too much work, or stir up her husband.

So where do I buy a micro dwarf tomato. Or is better to start from seed? I don't know if they can have a plant or not. Open the window or not. Which way the window faces. There was supposed to be a garden built in the courtyard, and they had something, but she said the other people ruined it, just clueless gardeners. Picking everything before it was ripe, etc. So something for her alone, would be nice, but it would have to be acceptable for her room. I just can't imagine what that is, I've never been in there, and her husband is a real grump. He has lost all is his freedom. Neither of them has ever been on the internet...that age, had grown up kids long before dial up and home PCs.

[WoodSprite]

Sounds like it would be a good idea to talk to both of them and find out their interest in growing tomatoes indoors and/or outdoors and talk to the the assisted living place to find out if there are any regulations regarding it. If it's a "go" you could ask them each if they want cherry tomatoes or a bit bigger fruit (like maybe medium size) that could be used in salads and on sandwiches and omelettes, etc. The lady that was a gardener for a while may have some favorite tomatoes in mind.

As far as gardening with health issues, I couldn't garden if it wasn't for my 2 ft. tall stock tanks that I made into raised beds. They are pricey new but I bought a bunch of them used for a great price. So that makes me think that maybe a tall but stable pot, on a cart like you said, would would well so she wouldn't have to bend her legs. I have this cart that is great though I don't use it for gardening. It has a low flat bed then an upright handle at one end. It's really easy to move even when stacked with heavy things. Mine doesn't have a brake on it but they may come that way. Maybe you could post a "wanted" ad in your local Facebook buy/sell/trade groups, Craigslist, etc. and find one for cheap. I'll see if I can find a photo of what I mean and post it. Also, the larger pot would be easier to care for as far as not drying out as fast as a smaller pot.

[GVGardens]

Definitely check first, but most assisted living places allow/encourage plants in rooms (you usually see a bunch of orchids and African violets). The window doesn’t need to open. Microdwarf tomatoes aren’t any bigger than a potted orchid or Christmas cactus she’d get as a gift. Put it in a decorative pot, tie a bow around it, and you might even sidestep the grumpy husband.

Tomatoes obviously have higher light requirements so the suggestion of sticking a grow light bulb in a table lamp (get a timer, too) is a good idea. Or get a grow light lamp with built-in timer like "LORDEM Grow Light” on Amazon. You’re not aiming for perfection or a bountiful harvest here so a lamp + window should be totally fine. Just make sure the cord isn’t a trip hazard and use tape to secure the cord to the wall/floor. Get a lamp that looks like a lamp and not a grow light so as to not anger the husband.

But does it have to be a tomato at the assisted living place? What about something lower maintenance that doesn’t need a grow light, like a primrose? Or, we’d take seeds and cuttings and have my grandfather start them on his assisted living room's windowsill (avocado pits, cuttings from neighbors’ roses, sweet potato slips, chitting potatoes, the tops of pineapples, etc). Then, we’d pick up the seedlings and give him new things to start. It gave him something to do and a feeling of hope as he saw progress every day but was low-stakes. Or get bulbs to force (lily of the valley, narcissus, amaryllis).

For the lady on the hill, a potted microdwarf (indoors or outdoors) could be nice because she could set it on a table or ledge and tend to it while sitting. And 1 potted tomato doesn't interfere with other hobbies.

We started our microdwarf tomatoes from seed from Victory Seeds. Big box stores occasionally have Tiny Tim plants. I’m not a huge fan of Bonnie plants but they do have a 2-pack of Ponchi Mi tomato plants ready to ship for $26 on their website.

[WoodSprite]

See the link below for what I mean about the low cart: platform cart / hand truck.

I know you are in PA. If you ever make it to Centre County, check in at Lion Surplus. It's where Penn State sells their unneeded things like desks, chairs, file cabinet, shelves and lots more. Things are usually pretty cheap, definitely much less than new. That's where I bought my platform cart. I also bought some rolling shelves like are/were used for audio/visual equipment. They are metal and very sturdy and roll easily. The top of my two shelf one is around 28" or so high and would be good for small dwarfs or micros.

https://www.google.com/search?q=platfor ... s-wiz-serp

[Stitchingmom]

We have a sad little retirement home in our town. I have been planning to plant a bunch of microdwarfs and take them over there when I start planting my indoor winter plants. I never even thought of light, though. I'll have to think that through.