Growing a 6ft long tomato vine in a 4 inch pot.
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2024 11:35 am
Six months ago, I have decided to root an indeterminate Rosella Cherry tomato cutting inside a 4 inch pot as an attempt to see if I can miniaturize the plant to fit within the constraints of my small living space. I have to say that I failed to make the plant small. Here are the images to show the progression
https://imgur.com/gallery/rosella-bonsa ... nt-FofnpcM
Conditions:
40,000 lux for 15 hours using two 2ft long LEDs rated at 24 watts each.
Homemade Coconut coir and perlite potting soil(70% coir hydrated a dilute MaxiGro, 30% perlite).
MaxiGro hydroponic fertilizer(Diluted 37.8g of powder to 5 gallons/19L of water).
76-82F(24-28C) ambient temperature.
When fertilizing with hydroponic nutrients, I measure the ppm of the water coming out of the pot to determine if it needs to be fertilized again(usually when it drops 200-400ppm). When the nutrient levels are high(800-1600), I use tap water. Once the plant has grown past the grow light, I winded up the vine using twine to that it would grow the opposite direction.
At a certain point, there wasn't enough water that the container could hold to meet the daily consumption of the plant itself. So, using a plastic saucer/aluminum food container, I decided to begin to over-water the plant so that it has enough water to last itself for a day. The root ball seems to be healthy after taking it out.
Fruit quality was pretty good. Flavor was as intense and sweet compared to the one I grew in a 6 inch pot. The fruit themselves seem to be about 50-75% the size, but quality was consistent. I also seem to learn that the fruits can crack despite being ripe when the soil moisture levels are very extreme(i.e. letting the soil dry out to the point that the plant is wilting, then flooding the pot). This may mean that for this variety, water still diffuses to the fruit despite the fact that it has been a month over the breaker stage.
I had to get rid of it once became too big to manage, but I'm sure I could have kept it alive for longer with more proper maintenance. It was almost 6ft long when unwound. In any case, I've learned a lot from this experiment. Nutrients are highly limited in smaller pots, but can be supplemented with regular applications of dilute hydroponic fertilizers. Pot size does stunt/slow tomato growth, but not by too much when given ample nutrients and light levels.
https://imgur.com/gallery/rosella-bonsa ... nt-FofnpcM
Conditions:
40,000 lux for 15 hours using two 2ft long LEDs rated at 24 watts each.
Homemade Coconut coir and perlite potting soil(70% coir hydrated a dilute MaxiGro, 30% perlite).
MaxiGro hydroponic fertilizer(Diluted 37.8g of powder to 5 gallons/19L of water).
76-82F(24-28C) ambient temperature.
When fertilizing with hydroponic nutrients, I measure the ppm of the water coming out of the pot to determine if it needs to be fertilized again(usually when it drops 200-400ppm). When the nutrient levels are high(800-1600), I use tap water. Once the plant has grown past the grow light, I winded up the vine using twine to that it would grow the opposite direction.
At a certain point, there wasn't enough water that the container could hold to meet the daily consumption of the plant itself. So, using a plastic saucer/aluminum food container, I decided to begin to over-water the plant so that it has enough water to last itself for a day. The root ball seems to be healthy after taking it out.
Fruit quality was pretty good. Flavor was as intense and sweet compared to the one I grew in a 6 inch pot. The fruit themselves seem to be about 50-75% the size, but quality was consistent. I also seem to learn that the fruits can crack despite being ripe when the soil moisture levels are very extreme(i.e. letting the soil dry out to the point that the plant is wilting, then flooding the pot). This may mean that for this variety, water still diffuses to the fruit despite the fact that it has been a month over the breaker stage.
I had to get rid of it once became too big to manage, but I'm sure I could have kept it alive for longer with more proper maintenance. It was almost 6ft long when unwound. In any case, I've learned a lot from this experiment. Nutrients are highly limited in smaller pots, but can be supplemented with regular applications of dilute hydroponic fertilizers. Pot size does stunt/slow tomato growth, but not by too much when given ample nutrients and light levels.