I think your tomatoes may well be too crowded, but it depends in part on the type of tomato. A patio hybrid, made for containers, won't need the space of a Big Boy. You can do most tomatoes in a 5 gallon bucket, so you'd think that 35 gallons would be fine for 5 plants. However, the top dimensions of the tote is going to determine how crowded they'll be. Over-crowding can lead to problems.

The lettuce will grow in much less than 35 gallons. They have shallow roots.

The cucumbers will do fine, that's more space than they need really. Are you giving them a trellis to climb?

Sounds like you are ready to make salads!

lol I love a good salad in the summer and thank you for the answers alys..

I plan on giving the cukes trellis to climb.

As for my tomatoes I have the 4th of july hybrid, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid and the lemon plum

I'm also planning on planting the following

Purple Basil
Sweet Corn Early Golden Bantam
Cantalope Hale's Best
Cucumber Burpfree Hybrid
Big Boston Lettuce
Hungarian Wax Peppers

Again I was thinking along the same lines of the totes..maybe not 35 gallons maybe something longer or smaller if I can get away with it (I believe I saw a 45 gallon tote at target that was about 5 feet long)..By the way I'm doing totes because I live in a 3rd floor apartment and my landlord is strictly against gardens so container gardening is where I am.

You must have one big balcony! I see corn being problematic. I assume you are planning on pollinating that by hand? If not, you usually need a good size patch of that to get it to make corn. Cantaloupe take up a lot of space too, but you can trellis it as well. Check out the square foot gardening forum - I think they can give you some pointers for necessary spacing for things.

Lettuce will grow in really shallow containers. I've seen leaf lettuce in underbed storage boxes.

Can I plant all the tomatoes in a 35 gallon rubbermaid brute tote?

No. You might get 3 toms in there if they are small varieties (you haven't specified the vars), but no more than that. You can do, say, 3 cherries and some lettuce underneath that should last until bolting and by then the toms will be big enough to shade. Not knowing what you're growing and thus guessing, I'd count on two per. Lettuce might be pushing it near the end too, as you'll want to have something going on all the time, else by July you'll have a tote sitting empty (lettuces will have bolted).

Why would you put river stones down on the bottom? For weight? The soil weight of 35 gals is enough. Otherwise, there is no reason for rocks, unless you want to have less soil and have it constantly wet on the bottom.

Dan

lol no balcony I actually have a spare room and since I live alone why waste it? I listed my plants in the last reply I put

I have the 4th of july hybrid, Super Sweet 100 Hybrid and the lemon plum tomatoes

I'm also planning on planting the following

Purple Basil
Sweet Corn Early Golden Bantam
Cantalope Hale's Best
Cucumber Burpfree Hybrid
Big Boston Lettuce
Hungarian Wax Peppers

I was thinking river stones on the bottom of the totes for drainage to prevent root rot..unless that isnt needed? but thank you for the advice and tips I'll do some more reading before I plant the rest of the seeds right now its just cukes and tomatoes growing

I was thinking river stones on the bottom of the totes for drainage to prevent root rot.

This won't improve drainage and may cause root rot, as it will worsen drainage.

You can maybe get a plum and a cherry tom in one and a basil if you prune up the lower tom leaves, maybe a lettuce early. It'll be tight, but fun to try.

Good luck,

Dan

Are you going to be growing under lights? Because even a bank of south facing windows are probably not going to do the trick for most veggies. And you will need to pollinate them by hand since they are indoors - no bugs to do it for you.

I agree with Dan on the tomatoes and the drainage. What you really need is a way to keep from overwatering. Maybe look into making the self-watering containers?

This site is a wealth of information! Read everything you think might apply!

yes alys I have shoplights with T8s..I'm reading up on self water containers now lucky these seeds are only 2-3 days old. and thanks for the info dan and alys

Heck, seeds last for YEARS! You have plenty of time! If you haven't already, check out the Growing Under Lights forum, and have a great time gardening!

I've grown in containers for years. You'll never go back and even tho you may always have plants in the ground, you'll find you want the advantages of containers. Have fun!

Dan

I've grown in containers for years. You'll never go back and even tho you may always have plants in the ground, you'll find you want the advantages of containers. Have fun!

I agree! I don't need a tiller and there is virtually NO weeding, just have to make a new batch of planting mix now and then and pay attention to watering needs more frequently, but that's also an opportunity to look for harmful critters....

Tom

Tom,

I used to have a house on a 1/4 acre, landscaping from castoffs from my landscaping business and propagating cuttings, I would have kids over 3-5x a summer for the telescope and a barbeque for the parents. Anyway, never fail the next year half those parents started their own containers, then their friends the next year, and so on and so on...

Once you see it work, you get it.

Dan

"Once you see it work, you get it.

So true Dan. Initially I did it here in Florida to overcome the nematode problems with tomatoes, but quickly converted to even growing the beans in them. Once the light bulb went off while reading Al's posts I quickly realized anything can be grown in a container if you pay attention to soil dynamics.

Tom