Beginner here (zone 10b, SoCal), container gardening. Just transplanted one of my tomato plants to a 5gal grow bag. Will move other tomatoes in the pictures too when it’s not raining so much. Using this first year to learn with various tomatoes, peppers, peas, kale, spinach, herbs and simple flowers.
Question: Is a 5gal too small to add companion plants (tomato +basil/marigold) or similar combo? Should I keep the herbs and flowers separate instead of trying to companion plant them together? Recommendations?
Ignore the peas, it was my first attempt and didn’t realize those long containers are going yo be too small but the sugar snap peas are about 4/5ft tall and producing.
tomatocrazzie
Depending on the variety the tomato by itself is going to struggle in a bag this small, let alone have room for anything else. You can succeed, but you will really need to keep up with watering and fertilizing when the time comes.
BottleCoffee
Companion planting is hugely overrated and often not scientifically supported.
A 5 gallon is the minimum size for a single tomato and nothing else in there. Even with only a tomato it will be daily watering to keep the bag going in high summer.
Marigolds are especially overrated unless you have a specific reason for them, eg, the one nematode they work on.
Fridakale-0
5 gallon is tight for tomatoes unless they’re a compact variety. I’d suggest using those grow bags for peppers or other small/ container variety veggies you plan on growing. Tomatoes will take over anything you give them, but a 10 gal would be sufficient for 1 tomato plant, still with no companions.
4 Comments
Beginner here (zone 10b, SoCal), container gardening. Just transplanted one of my tomato plants to a 5gal grow bag. Will move other tomatoes in the pictures too when it’s not raining so much. Using this first year to learn with various tomatoes, peppers, peas, kale, spinach, herbs and simple flowers.
Question: Is a 5gal too small to add companion plants (tomato +basil/marigold) or similar combo? Should I keep the herbs and flowers separate instead of trying to companion plant them together? Recommendations?
Ignore the peas, it was my first attempt and didn’t realize those long containers are going yo be too small but the sugar snap peas are about 4/5ft tall and producing.
Depending on the variety the tomato by itself is going to struggle in a bag this small, let alone have room for anything else. You can succeed, but you will really need to keep up with watering and fertilizing when the time comes.
Companion planting is hugely overrated and often not scientifically supported.
A 5 gallon is the minimum size for a single tomato and nothing else in there. Even with only a tomato it will be daily watering to keep the bag going in high summer.
Marigolds are especially overrated unless you have a specific reason for them, eg, the one nematode they work on.
5 gallon is tight for tomatoes unless they’re a compact variety. I’d suggest using those grow bags for peppers or other small/ container variety veggies you plan on growing. Tomatoes will take over anything you give them, but a 10 gal would be sufficient for 1 tomato plant, still with no companions.