What Size Grow Bag for Tomatoes?
What Size Grow Bag for Tomatoes
Grow bags come in lots of sizes: one, two, three, five and ten gallon fabric grow bags are the most popular choices for growing lots of vegetables, including tomatoes. These fabric bags come with and without handles, allow for great drainage and aeration.
What size grow bag for tomatoes, depends on the answer to three main questions:
- What variety of tomato are you growing?
- Is the grow bag going to be temporary or permanent?
- How many tomato plants do you plan to grow in each grow bag?
What Variety (and Size) of Tomato Plant will you Grow?
With over 10,000 varieties of tomato plants, pick a variety that best fits the space and parameters you plant to grow it in. The variety you choose to will help determine what size grow bag to use.
One Gallon Grow Bags are Great for Dwarf Determinate Tomato Plant Varieties
Do you plan to a grow micro, dwarf tomato plants? One gallon grow bags make a great choice when grown in a countertop greenhouse indoors, or on a balcony or small patio. One gallon grow bags can work great for these small varieties, just remember to place them on a tray if you need to protect the surface underneath.
Some Popular "Dwarf" or "Micro" Tomato Varieties
These small tomato varieties can grow well in one gallon grow bags, recommended one plant per bag.
Beginner tip: decide where you want to grow your new tomato plant (indoors, balcony, outdoors, windowsill etc), then look for a variety of tomato to match. Each variety of tomato (there are more than 10k, plenty to choose from!) has different parameter requirements (space / size container it needs, how much sun, hardiness zone if growing outdoors).
Sometimes it takes a few tries before finding the tomato varieties that grow and produce best in the environment you are growing them in. It also helps to read reviews from other people that have been successful (or not) growing that variety, and learning what they did!
One Gallon Grow Bags also work well for Temporary Acclimations and Growth
These one gallon grow bags also work great for temporarily growing tomato plants before transplanting them to a larger container or into the ground. Take a small seedling you’ve grown in your Aerogarden, put it in a one gallon grow bag and place it outdoors to acclimate it to your climate and full sun. This “hardening” process will help ensure it stays healthy, and the small size bag means it’s super easy to move around as needed.
Healthy, producing tomato plants can become top heavy, even dwarf varieties. You may need to use or create a small support system. Finding a solution that works with these small one gallon grow bags could be a challenge.
There are small wire and plastic tomato cages on Amazon that can fit into a one or two gallon grow bag, but they don’t last longer than a year or two if kept outdoors in the sun. The wire is held together by plastic pieces which eventually break. See photo (below) of all the broken ones we’ve got!
Two and Three Gallon Grow Bags
Two and three gallon grow bags work great for growing most smaller varieties of determinate tomato plants. When purchasing, pay close attention to the dimensions of the bags. Some are wider, and some are taller. If you end up needing a tomato cage or trellis to support the plant, these dimensions will affect which solutions will work.
If your tomato plants are determinate (limited height, growth) and small, chances are they won’t need any extra support like a tomato cage or trellis. In this case, a two or three gallon grow bag can work (but, larger is better).
Two gallon (most common) grow bag size: approximately 8.5″ wide x 8″ tall (wider versus taller)
Three gallon (most common) grow bag size: approximately 9.5″ wide x 10″ tall (taller versus wider)
Some Popular "Smaller Space" or "Container" Tomato Varieties
Five Gallon Grow Bags are the Best Choice for Larger, multiple and INdeterminate Varieties
Five gallon grow bags are a great size for growing most types of tomatoes. The only real drawback is that they can get a little heavy if the soil is wet, so make sure to buy bags with handles if you plan to move them around! These bags can hold more than one tomato plant if a smaller variety. And they are a great size to start a bunch of seeds in.
The easiest solution in the case of an abundant and top heavy small tomato plant that needs support is to transplant into a 5 gallon grow bag with a strong wire tomato cage. The 5 gallon size can accommodate 2 dwarf tomato plants, and even 3 is possible if using optimum soil and good with water and fertilizer. We have all size wire tomato cages from 19″ to 42″ in our 5 gallon grow bags, so far they’ve all fit together perfectly.
Why is it Smart to Use Grow Bags for Tomatoes?
- they make moving plants easy (especially grow bags with handles!)
- they offer good drainage in the even of heavy rainfall or overwatering
- they are fabric and allow for increased oxygenation of root system for healthier, faster growth
- they are inexpensive and can last for years
Tomatoes are one of the easiest foods to grow. Most tomato plants are hardy and tolerant to change, and forgiving when they need to be transplanted: indoors to outdoors, small container to larger or from a grow bag to a raised bed or into the ground.
For this reason, starting tomato seeds indoors can be a great way to start off your tomato plants a little faster and stronger. Then, when they reach 4-6″ they can be transplanted into a grow bag and moved outside.
Tomato plants also do very well growing in a grow bag, permanently. Just make sure its in the right climate (for that particular variety), has enough sun (6+ hours per day is best) and has enough space for the roots to grow and expand according to its needs. The most important part of growing tomatoes is starting!
Tomato plants need full sun exposure and 6+ hours of sun per day in order to produce tomatoes and to stay green and healthy. They also need a good amount of water and healthy soil. Pests and some pesky small critters can be problematic also.
All of these factors lead to grow bags being a GREAT CHOICE to grow tomatoes in. When you see a problem, you can easily move the bag to another space, lift it up off the ground, place it in a more sunny spot, etc.
Grow bags let you move your plants around until you find where your tomatoes are happiest.