Container Tomato Plant

Container Tomato Plant | Minnesota

Would you like to know how to grow a Container Tomato Plant | Minnesota? Read below to find out the best way to grow tomatoes during the ridiculously short growing season!

A little Background

Let’s start with a little bit of a background on Minnesota first. The weather doesn’t mess around in the state fo Minnesota. The evidence is a thunderstorm and wind in excess of 70mph which ripped through the state recently. Besides a freak December thunderstorm, the cold climate is the big hurdle for Minnesota gardeners. It isn’t just the ambient temperature which causes problems for gardeners—especially gardeners who love tomatoes. The soil temperature is the big problem child here. Even after the temperatures warm up in the spring time, the soil can still be frozen for many feet below the surface.

Tomatoes, peppers and other warm-temp plants don’t do much until the air temp exceeds 50F. They also need warm soil. Ever seen black plastic on the grounds of farms? They’re trying to warm the soil up to speed up the growth of their plants. Now, we’re not recommending you buy rolls of plastic to warm up the soil. There’s a much easier method.

Grow With A Bag!

The best method we’ve found for growing Container Tomato Plant | Minnesota is through the use of grow bags! These semi-permeable grow bags are the best because they allow the soil to warm up much faster than the native topsoil. Not only that, but the root zone of the container tomato plant is set up to have the best growing environment with access to maximum oxygen. We’ve used many different containers constructed with different materials and none perform like grow bags.

The major flaws with other containers are:

Roots begin to swirl the pot looking for nutrients: Ever let a plant grow too long in its plastic container pot and then try to transplant it? What did you see? You probably noticed a “swirl of spaghetti-looking roots” in the bottom of the pot.
Poor drainage: Plastic pots, clay pots or metal pots all have one problem. The don’t have very good drainage and can cause major problems within the rhizosphere. Without proper drainage, the roots get water logged which can lead to all sorts of fun problems.
Lack of oxygen availability: plants need oxygen for respiration. “But I thought they made oxygen”? Well they do, but they also need oxygen available to the root zone at night. In a container, this is more difficult if the sides of the container can’t breathe because of the material.

Psst. All of these problems don’t happen with a grow bag because of the semi-permeable membrane in the material used for the grow bags.

Where can aContainer Tomato Plant | Minnesota be grown?

The short answer to this question is anywhere in the state of Minnesota! It really doesn’t matter where you’re at because the grow bag works it’s magic no matter where you’re at. Sure, the temperatures may be a little warmer down on the Iowa border in June then they are in the arrow head, but you will still have success with the grow bag none the less.

You only have a few requirements for growing tomato plants in a grow bag:

You need to water them frequently. Check the grow bags for water first thing in the morning so they don’t suffer as the heat of the day comes. It’s an easy check that should be incorporated into a daily routine. Use the finger method for checking for moisture content. Simply place your finger in the grow bag soil. If the soil sticks to your finger, it has enough water. If it comes out dry, add water until it seeps out of the bottom of the bag. You’ll know the grow bag has enough water then.
Check for the position of the sun since your tomato plant enjoys full sunlight throughout the day. There’s no maximum amount of sun for your container tomato plants since they’re tropical and thrive with it. Our nursery gets sunlight from early morning until late night.
Check for obstruction to sunlight like buildings, tress, shrubs, etc. Look for a south-facing spot since this would ensure the most amount of light for your container tomato plant.

Specific Locations Which Work Great For Container Tomato Grow Bags

Container Tomato Plant | Minnesota are a great fit for someone who lives in an apartment, condo, townhome, single family home with no topsoil or a home with poor soil. They even work great for those who spend the summer at a RV park. There are plenty of other locations within the state of Minnesota which would work great for growing container tomatoes, but we can’t list all of them.

Let’s try to name a bunch more on second thought. Container tomato grow bags would work great: on a balcony overlooking a river, on a paddle boat on the river, you could easily bring the tomato plant to a picnic and eat right off the plant, they’d work great for a backyard barbecue, they work great for birthday gifts, anniversary gifts and other special occasions, they can be grown by a van down by the river (you probably don’t want to grow them inside the van due to the lack of light), they could be used at a potluck. We’re not done yet. You could use them for a silent auction fundraiser, cow chip bingo prize, door prizes, or raffle.

You want to know the best part of a container tomato plant though? Don’t sweat the cold in the state of Minnesota. If the temperature drops and we have a frost warning, simply pick up the bag and move it inside for the evening. Try doing that with a clay pot! Word of advice though, ‘make sure you stretch first”.