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My cherry tomato plant on the third floor balcony gave me exactly 4 tomatoes, but they were worth it
Three months ago I set up a single cherry tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket on my balcony in Chicago, mostly because I kept reading posts about how hard it is to get fruit in containers. I got exactly 4 tomatoes off that plant over the whole summer, which sounds like nothing, but each one tasted better than anything from the store. The trick for me was moving the bucket so it caught morning sun on the east side instead of frying on the west railing all afternoon. Is 4 tomatoes normal for a first try, or am I doing something wrong with the soil?
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ivan_perez5h ago
Man, 4 tomatoes from one cherry plant in a 5 gallon bucket is on the low side but it happens a lot on balconies. The big question is what kind of soil you used, because if it was straight potting mix with no slow release fertilizer that plant probably ran out of food right when it started setting fruit. Cherry types usually want a good amount of calcium and steady water or the flowers just drop before they turn into tomatoes. Also, how many hours of direct sun was that bucket actually getting after you moved it to the east side? East light is gentler but it's often only 4 or 5 hours, and tomatoes really want 6 to 8 to pump out fruit. Did you see a bunch of yellow flowers that just dried up and fell off, or did the plant barely flower at all? That answer would tell you if it's a food problem or a light problem.
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