Not enough drainage. And not enough oxygen, which plant roots need, too. Milk jug is much too small for tomato plant. Not enough space, the plant will get rootbound, produce poorly, and probably die sooner. You'd be better off mixing the potting soil in with the ground soil when you dig the hole for the plant.

Ants aren't a serious problem for a healthy tomato plant.

hmm ok then no milk jugs lol. The 'box' is 4 ft. tall 14 ft wide and 2 ft deep made of stone. Drainage is that water drains/evaporates quickly. Soil is in sad shape, it's black dirt but very dusty ( I believed the ants made it that way). Needs a ton of mulch. I'll just have to mix a bunch in. I thought the ants (black - not carpenter) would be a problem as there are more than I want to put up with. The plants are Celebrity. I wanted a patio variety but couldn't find the seeds at the time. Thanks for your inputs!

Mulch doesn't get mixed in, it covers the surface. Its job is to keep the sun from beating down on the soil and to keep the soil cooler and moister for longer. Good quality compost is a pretty safe bet to mix in. It'll improve the moisture-retaining capacity of the soil.

Ants like dry conditions, so perhaps a nice moist soil would send them packing.

Linda

I don't think oxygen is a problem any more than it is in any kind of container gardening. Plenty of oxygen coming in from the top, which is where you're removed the bottom of the jug. But I agree that for most tomatoes, a one-gallon milk jug is just too small.

Well, that is an adventure and not necessarily a conventional thing to yield a good result . But One thing is for sure, 1/4" hole in the cap is way too small. Why bother with the cap at all ?!?Throw it away !

Sey

"Needs a ton of mulch. I'll just have to mix a bunch in"

Agree that mulch isn't what you need. Lots of good finished compost, composted manures, peat, soil-less potting mixes, even some fresh topsoil, some bark fines, some slo-release fertilizer, etc. Check out all the discussions on container mixes over on the Container Gardening forum too. The 5-1-1 mix would work really good but you can also improve it gradually rather than having to dig out all the existing stuff.

Dave

Rick hmm ok then no milk jugs lol. The 'box' is 4 ft. tall 14 ft wide and 2 ft deep made of stone. ..... Soil is in sad shape, it's black dirt but very dusty

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Now this is another thing. ANY soil can be amended to work. It is just a MEDIUM to hold the right amount of moisture/water and nutrients.

You can condition/amend just top 12 - 18" on the top. That should be enough for tomato roots Also: JUST AMEND WHERE YOU WANT TO POUT THE PLANTS in ( planting hole ) AND FORGET SOME SPACE BETWEEN THEM. this should reduce your cost of buying this and that.

Sey