vegies in pots

 I'm desperately trying to grow tomatoes and eggplants in large pots without
success.  The pots are those large ones called tomatoe pots and I use a good
quality potting mix.  The few tomatoes that emerged were as tasteless as the
store bought and only a small eggplant emerged.  This last result is typical
of several attempts so I'm wondering if there's a way to grow good quality
vegetables, not just the two mentioned, in a pot.  I'm not interested in
hydroponics.
thank you
John

 John wrote:


I don't know what size tomatoe pots are and I can't help with eggplants but
in Victoria I do successfully grow tomatoes in plastic garbage bins.

I use a mixture of garden soil and well rotted compost and plant two
climbing tomatoes per bin (usually Grosse Lisse). The bins are in full sun
and the tomatoes are staked until they are out of reach of my dogs and then
trained along a trellis nailed to the fence.

I don't need to fertilise the tomatoes but make sure I keep the water up to
them.


I often grow potatoes in bins or large pots and I plant broad beans in
large pots during March/April again using a mixture of garden soil and well
rotted compost.
--

Brett Greene

 

What was the typical temperature where you were trying to grow them?  Tomatos
like it warm, eggplants like it hot .

Were they in full sun or at least half a day of full sun and the rest bright
light?  How long was the day? Without enough sun they will be weak and spindly
and not fruit correctly.

Once established did you feed them with some fertilser every few weeks?  Veges
are mostly heavy feeders, even if the pot is a bit small you can grow them if
you prevent them from drying out by regular watering and feed them.  Small
pots do tend to dry out in the sun, this can be a problem if you don't water
often enough.

In general yes you can grow veges in pots if the conditions are right.

David

 I appreciate both responses and take all on board.   I like the sound of
plastic garbage bins for size, tomatoe pots take about 40litres of soil,
with lots of seasoned compost and keeping the water up.  Correct me if I'm
wrong but I assume a few holes need to be drilled through the bottom of the
bins.  Noone mentioned the quality of their vegetables, but they can't be
worse than what the greengrocers have on offer.
thank you
John

 

Noone mentioned the quality of their vegetables, but they can't be

Flavour is more related to the cultivar that you grow and picking at optimum
ripeness.  Supermarket veges are usually cultivars selected for any other
quality (durability, appearance, short bearing period etc) than flavour and
they are picked at optimum time for transport and storage.

David