Jeepers - when I plugged tomatoes into the search box, I came up with more than 25 pages of hits. Try that for some good reading on everything from fertilizer strategies to BER control.

Powdery mildew is an airborne pathogen. It gets a hold in areas with high humidity and low air flow. Various fungicides, both organic and chemical, work well when used prophylactically, but nothing I know of works well as a fixative or remedially.

Al

I looked through my notes and these are the small tomato varieties I've grown over the years: Micro Tom we did in a small pot, not hanging basket (most of these aren't micros, but might work in a hanging basket):

Basket Pak, Container Choice, Gardener's Delight, Husky Gold, Husky Red, Lunch Box, Micro Tom, Patio VF, Pixie, Red Cherry, Saladette, Small Fry VFN, Spring Giant, Sundrop, Sweet 100, Tiny Tim, Toy Boy, Tumbling Tom, Yellow Canary, Yellow Pear, Whippersnapper

Here is a link that might be useful: HarvestToTable.com

Thanks for everyone's input! I'll be more careful about the mildew. Low air flow isn't a problem on my balcony, so perhaps the problem was over fertilizing. I'll check out all those varieties of small tomatoes too.

Msaunt

Sorry, but over-fertilizing doesn't cause PM either ...... unless you make the leap that more fertilizer = more foliage = less air flow = more mildew troubles.

Al

To bad the Tomato Forum did except you better.

I've grown them for a couple of years in the upside down containers...with great success. They're actually really cool.

There's some info on tomato container gardening varieties on this page of the website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Varieites

Does anyone use mulch in their container tomatoes or other veggies?

I have Red Robins and Totems fruiting indoors in South Facing windows. The Totems are 18-24" tall and the Red Robins range from 6-10" and are very cute little plants. I have just gotten seeds for the matching Yellow Canary and for Tiny Tim, but have not planted eithe of them.

If you want to see other feedback and recommendations, try posting in these threads from the Tomato forum. Folks there have been very helpful to this newbie. They have also been generous about sharing seeds.

Jan

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/exch012239471309.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0819444822002.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0920293217458.html

sophies choice would be good choice.I grow them in 3 gallon containers,they get about 2ft tall and get some decent size toms.

kirk

Greenwood85, I have used mulch in my containers for the last 2-3 years (I have to use it in my condo garden and I usually have extra), but I don't think I'm going to anymore. It seems to have bugs in it. I don't think they're harming the plants, they are tiny black flies that don't seem to be eating anything, but I just don't like them! I'd like to use something, as my balcony is very windy and I need some kind of protector so the soil doesn't blow away. I may try, I dunno, landscape fabric/plastic, even though I think you're supposed to cover that with mulch. My tomato box came with a red plastic film that was helpful, but I had to add extra stakes to keep it down.

Pam

Thanks for all the links everyone, that is very helpful. I may have to look for that Red Robin one. Anyone tasted Florida Basket? Wow, can't believe I'm dreaming about tomatoes when it's 10 degrees out and the snow plows are driving by. Of course, I'm still going out to brave the drifts and buy V8 Juice to mix with my frozen Healthy Kick tomatoes, to make some marvelous tomato soup! That was a great little bush last year.

msaunt:
Was Health Kick the determinate you had go bush in you container? I got some commercial bumper crops out of them in the field.
Their moderate height makes me plan on trying them in containers & I don't think they will need elaborate cage design.
Anyone curious - the H.K. are oversized plum toms, seed cavity cleans out easily for processing, skin can be peeled off without blanching, holds up to
shipping/handling, consistency is meaty, texture uniform & taste is definitely perfectly agreeable for fresh salad use; hybrid bred for resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus.

Sorry gringojay, I just saw your question. No, Health Kick was in the garden. In the box I had Patio (which was a nice tidy bush in the garden in 2007) and Celebrity. The vines were about 5-6 feet I'd say. This year I will do a little careful node pinching here and there if it appears it will help things bush up off the main stem more.

Pam