Can we talk about fertilizing tomatoes?

[Dave2000]

You can use any size container you want, but if the size is below roughly 20 gallons and it's not meant to be a dwarf plant, it will be root bound fairly significantly reducing size and yield, BUT any plant that a smaller pot allows you to grow is more than having one less plant! You can still get pretty good sized plants from 10 gallon, 5 gallon is small enough you can often see 50% or higher difference in growth.

The opposing factor is whether you ever want or need to move them. For example if it gets really windy or you need to mow, etc. Above 10 gallons starts to be a real chore if you have a bunch of them, though I suppose this is a moving target based on the person's size, sex, health level/age/etc.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I usually plant my tomatoes from seed and then water with miracle grow once before I plant in the garden and then once when they start to bear fruit. This year I got this indoor/outdoor plant fertilizer. It is called Osmocote and it is a time release fertilizer. It is supposed to be good for 4 months. My tomatoes are doing great, 4 weeks old and they look like small trees. I am going to put in on my cukes and zuchini too.