Ernie,

Unless I've done something wrong, that's like 115 gallons. Yeah, that should do it for sure!

Actually, you could grow 3 or 4 of even the biggest tomato plants in there.

Next year, I'm going to try growing Neves Azorean Red in a homemade e-box made from 18-gallon containers. I grew some pretty big varieties in those boxes this year, and it worked out okay.

Best of luck with it.

Paula

Bigger than you need. 2'x2'xdeeper would be better I think. Tomatoes are tap root plants.

Half a 55 gallon plastic barrel or half whiskey barrels work great for indeterminate varieties - they still require extra watering and feeding vs. in ground plants - but would be a lot easier to fill and dump between seasons. And a good staking arrangement is vital too.

As big as yours are, how and with what are you going to fill them? Containers require a good drainage mix.

Dave

good points my friends.i will fill with planting soil for veggies with some other organics. ive found in my garden of past in rhode island with a loose soil of horse bedding and gareden earth that tomato roots can travel pretty far from stem but i didnt notice the depth to be extreme thou i didnt persue the matter to any extreme ethier.im not maximiseing container toms yet; i feel i can in less time than trial and error with a lot of input. thanks for the input friends any good advice is welcome
container yet i could be with some help

Containers do much better with a soiless potting mix rather than soil. Something you may wish to research further. There have been many discussions here this past spring about the problems many were having trying to grow tomatoes in containers filled with "planting soils" or "garden soils", etc. They generally do not provide adequate drainage or oxygen for the roots due to too much compaction.

Many, myself included, report good success with one of the many soilless container mixes such as MetroMix 360, Pro-Mix or similar that has been amended with additional quality compost.

Several recipes for making your own container mix are also to be found either here in past discussions or over on the Container Gardening forum. Some of them are discussed in the current thread linked below. It's about building a raised bed so not really applicable to containers but does have some container mix recipes in it.

Hopes this helps.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Correct soil...discussion

You'll need something bigger than 2x2's for the framing...maybe 4x4's or minimum 2x3's, and even the 2x3's are iffy. When you start loading the boxes, they put a great deal of pressure on the walls & joints, especially when the soilmix starts to settle.

As for container size, that's over 97 gallons dry, 113 wet. If you're in Surprise, they will warm up earlier too. And you'd probably not have much luck like I do here using 4 gallon buckets, but if you can afford the soilless mix, it's entirely up to you. You can probably get away with 24x24x24'' or 36x36x12'' or 18'' to save some costs.

Mark

sounds like the way to go i used miracle grow potting soil last spring now ive looked up other soilless mixes i think thats it. thanks Dave

friend of mine up in Maine grows roses in 30 gallon garbage cans cut down by about a third (there's a rib at that point as a rule). He cuts holes in the sides near the bottom for drainage and mounts them on dollies that Rubbermaid makes for the purpose. Makes a fairly good looking (green)container which he fills with potting mix. In late fall he rolls them (he has a bunch) into his garage for winter protection. You might consider this instead of bulding a container - they are very durable.

what kind of can and dolly does he use. Here are some pictures of cans and dolly.

does he own one dolly and several cans. or does he have a dolly for every can.

Here is a link that might be useful: can and dolly

Ernie - did you find the stuff on the homemade earthboxes ok? If not let me know and I'll dig it up for you.

Also - any recycle businesses near? Ours often gets 55 gal. plastic barrels that have held non-toxic stuff (like apple juice) - cut in half they are perfect. 2 containers for $5.00

Dave

ahh dave found a local company that has just that 55 gal and 30 gal.i like the 55 cause its 23 inch die as 19 for 30 . was very pleased with location they want 15 bucks ithought that was cheap till i heard from u lol maybe i can find another source before i need these food containers . ithink my camery will have a hard time swollowing these drums but i find a way. we are looking good can wait to put to use. thanks dave for all the info

I know this post is 9 months old, but anyone that states that a container will change volume based on the moisture level of the dirt should not be considered too seriously. Volume does not change, no matter how wet or dry the product in the container may be...the density will change and the weight will change, but the volume is a constant. Please take whatever Korney19 says with a grain of salt as this poster knows very little, if anything, about science.

~~~ Please take whatever Korney19 says with a grain of salt as this poster knows very little, if anything, about science. ~~~

Please learn to read between the lines a little.

Do you think adding water to a dry mix might make it a little more dense per same volumetric unit?