Tomato Plants Need a Bigger Home

My tomato plants often grow out of control under shop lights because I start them too early, I'm not ready to plant, or the weather isn't right. Some years I just deal with these gangly plants growing in too-small containers. Other years I manage to get off the couch and pot them up into larger containers. I'm always rewarded with better tomato crops.

Here are my 15"-18" plants in 3"X3" containers. You can see the dense root system crying out for more space. I mixed some fertilizer into the soilless mix before potting up into large yogurt containers and 5"X5"X5" pots.

The plants have been happily living on my porch except during the coldest nights, and can continue to grow where they are until I can get them in the ground. I'm thinking of using black plastic mulch this year because I'm tired of waiting so long for tomatoes!

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