People grow tomatoes in any kind of container you can imagine, 5 gal bucket is pretty standard. Some will just cut a slit in a bag of compost, others use plastic storage tubs... There is a whole forum about just tomatoes where you will probably find many discussions about this very subject. You may also want to look on the container forum for more discussions about tomatoes in containers.

Yeah, tomatoes are the weeds of the vegetable world. Yield will be progressively decreased the smaller the container, but any tomato is better than no tomato, so...go ahead!

Some people recommend only 10 gallon containers or greater. In the heat of summer, container tomatoes need to be watered and fertilized pretty often. Do a search for "earthtainers" on the web or in the tomato growing forum. These self-watering containers work good.

thanks everyone!

5 gallon buckets will do fine or 30/55 gallon plastic drums cut in half do well too.
You need a drip system, if you can not water every day.
You can use it to feed the plants too.
I have a friend who used 5-8 gallon containers & drip system on tomatoes,pepper,summer squash,onions,beans & egg plant.
The egg plant was 5 feet tall from the top of the container & mult-branched. The plant was covered with flowers & fruit, this was in August in Ga. zone 8.

Oh, yes. Tomatoes do well in containers, with GOOD CARE. I have grown them for years in containers, even the ten years I took off from vegetable gardening. I would say that you need to think about the size of the tomato too. If you buy transplants that have "bush" in the name: Better Bush, Bush Goliath, etc. you can get by with a somewhat smaller container. The plants are bred specifically for this purpose. The plants are smaller. The fruit is smaller, though very tasty. This same rule seems to apply to "determinates" like Celebrity and Rutgers. They do fine in a somewhat smaller container (no less than 5 gallons, though.)

On the other hand, some Cherry tomatoes can get very large, and need the largest container you can give them. I grew Sungold this year for the first time in a ten gallon nursery bucket. It has done well, but the last six to eight weeks it has needed ALOT of water. I suspect its roots are crowded and I will give it a bigger pot next year. DELICIOUS tomatoes. I picked a nice handfull today. Next year, THREE plants for us!

And then there are the indeterminates, the monsters of the family. These are the plants that will really need a half barrel size (and a good sturdy cage or trellis). Honestly, I think these are best in the ground, but that's just me.

Just a thought, but I have had such great luck with eggplants and peppers in pots, that I use what used to be their bed space for the big tomato plants.

You can definitely grow tomatoes extremely well in containers. Make certain the soil is rich in compost and also give them shots of compost tea during the entire season to keep them growing like mad. You can even grow them successfully in containers inside during the winter. It's fun and easy as heck. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Youtube channel