Only one of any tomato plant is that small of a container. Honestly, that is way too small of a container for a tomato plant IMO. Keep very close tabs on the container gardening threads for their advise on keeping them growing and producing. Good luck.

Agreed, one per container. If you were to plant two per container, you would be pruning their branches back down to a one plant size anyway. Crowded/overlapped plants will not remain healthy for long as their leaves take longer to dry after a rainstorm. Overcrowded roots and nutrition are other concerns.

Steve

And for the 2 varieties you list that size container will not be big enough for even 1 plant.

Sun Gold is very likely the single largest tomato plant commonly grown and you will find several discussions here recommending a minimum of 20 gallon containers for it. Brandywine Red doesn't get as big but will be heavily stressed in anything less than 12-15 gallons so in your container it will need lots of extra care and attention to work.

Sorry but your containers are relatively small for many indeterminate varieties but would work ok for determinate varieties or some of the smaller indeterminates.

Dave

I can't speak for brandywine, but Sungold plants get absolutely huge. I think even a 9 gallon container isn't really big enough, but I would not put more than one plant in each container.

I'm hopeless at maths, but I think that something is wrong if JRH thinks he has 9 gallon containers. Perhaps that is why he thought it was fine to put more than one tomato in each container?

It is my understanding that those "buckets" that are sold by the hardware stores hold 5 gallons and one of those would work in a pinch but, as others have indicated, would be on the small side for either Sungold or BW.

Hopefully, it's not too late to buy some much larger containers for these plants, or even to grow each plant in a large bag of potting mix.

Good luck!

Linda

Hi Labs!

My read of the OP's:

"14 inches square by 12 inches deep (iniside). If filled to depth of 11 inches this will be a little over 9 gallons (1.5 cu. ft.). "

Sounds to me like they have built their own inner container and have 14" X 14" X 11" of actual soil/medium. That sounds right since the math is ok (except for the part about 1.5 cubic feet, that's a typo and should be 1.25 cubic feet). 1.25 cubic feet is 9.2 gallons, and in nursery pot-speak, is 7.25 gallons (dry wt., nursery jargon).

I think you can get away with that. I have a Sungold myself in a 9 gallon (water measure) mix by coincidence at the moment and I have left the option open to add extra and can add a third more if I decide to do that. The Sungold roots are already permeating everywhere, so the cautions are all good ones. I don't plan on having the plant for a long growing season so it suits me well. I'll be sorry though, when the root mass becomes restrictive in the summer heat ... because unfortunately that is when most space is needed.

Spacing you should give each plant a minimum of 4-5 square feet depending on how and where you train it, but for Sungold 10 square feet would be quite nice. Be sure you get reasonable Sun exposure for all plants. If they are in a line, I would prefer 3.5 feet minimum spacing between stems. If you do 2.0 feet you will need to culture vigorous indeterminates like Sungold with just one main stem and be pretty militant about that for Sungold. Similarly 2.5 feet spacing and you can get two main stems trained well. As mentioned their is a lot of variety in spacing the needs of different varieties ;-) Hopefully you have the vertical dimension covered ... that's the hardest part. Most of us prefer around 7 feet above ground supported distance but we take what we can get! Some of my plants are already over 7 feet tall.

PC

I have 3 plants in a raised bed 3x6 ft. Even that is a very tight fit for big tomato plants.

My calculations are based on inside dimensions of 14" square by 12" deep with media filled to within 1" of top so 11" deep. Volume is therefore 14x14x11/1728=1.247 cu. ft. or 1.247x7.48=9.32 gallons. I should have said a little over 1.2 cu. ft., not 1.5. PupillaCharites is right on with respect to dimensions. Anyway, I thought this would be okay since it is more than the 5 gallon pails that seemed to be so popular for growing tomatoes. Thanks to one and all for the help.

Thanks for coming to the rescue PC! (Carefully extracting foot from mouth).

My line of thought was that the dwarfs are designed to grow in a minimum of 5 gallons, but regular tomatoes need huge pots!

Linda

<Anyway, I thought this would be okay since it is more than the 5 gallon pails that seemed to be so popular for growing tomatoes.>

Popular with inexperienced growers but they usually quickly learn that it isn't what it has been cracked up to be for most tomatoes. And, as we have said, the variety makes a BIG difference. Sun Gold is one that that could easily use a whole garden, much less a container, all on its own. :) I had a left over last year that I put in a 25 gallon barrel planter. It did okay for awhile with some fair production early but just couldn't make it through the heat of summer even when watered 3 or 4 times a day.

Dave

Well, a 14"x14"x12 is about 8 gallons. That is on the borderline for a full size plant (det or indet). I could grow 2 miniature dwarfs in it too.
Other than the soil volume there is a big issue managing all the foliage on an about ONE square foot area.. To me bigger container offer a lot of convenience to the grower in terms of supporting, watering and fertilizing.
I can grow a tomato in 3 gallon pot but I have to stand by it to attend to its needs. haha . I don't have time for that.

Sey

jrh, I think your plants will be fine in your containers. A lot of people may be missing the fact that they're self-watering. That allows you to get away with a smaller container. Just one plant per container... and have fun!