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    Home » Gardening

    How to Grow Tomatoes in 5 Gallon Buckets

    Published: Jul 9, 2017 · Modified: Jul 31, 2020 by Alison · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    how to grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets

    When you don’t have a lot of space but still want to grow juicy tomatoes, 5 gallon buckets are the way to go. This is the first year we decided to try it and it worked out great. We had tomatoes in no time and they were just as good as they would be in a garden but less of hassle and no weeds to pull. The process was simple to do with the instructions listed below.

    Supplies Needed

    • Cordless Drill
    • 1 inch hole saw
    • Stainless Steel Rigid 2 hole conduit strap ½ inch
    • Screws
    • Potting soil
    • Tomato plant
    • 5 gallon buckets

    How to Grow Tomatoes in 5 Gallon Buckets

    5 gallon buckets gardening with 5 gallon buckets

    Turn the 5-gallon bucket over and drill one hole in the middle of the bottom of the bucket using a cordless drill and 1 inch hole saw for the tomato plant.

    tomato plant in a 5 gallon buckethow to grow tomatoes

    Remove the tomato plant from the container. Carefully feed the plant thru the hole until the roots hit the bottom of the bucket.

    herbs planted in a 5 gallon bucket

    Fill the bucket with potting soil. I used Miracle Grow but feel free to use whatever potting soil you prefer. You can also add a herb plant like I did to the top or something some that will not interfere with where you are hanging the buckets. Or you can just have only the tomato plants in the buckets.

    Position the bucket where you want it and secure it from the handle using a Stainless Steel Rigid 2 hole conduit strap ½ inch and screws. We hung our buckets from our shed, but you can hang them pretty much anywhere as long as it can handle the weight of the bucket, soil, plant, and water.

    5 gallon buckets attached to shed

    Make sure to water the tomato plants throughly and that they receive enough sunlight for at least 6 hours a day.

    gardening with tomato plantsgreen tomatoes

    Water the plants whenever the soil is dry which depends on the weather. You can check by sticking your finger in the soil to see if it is moist or dry.

    And in the end you will have delicious tomatoes that are perfect for salads, cooking and more fresh from your backyard.

    More Gardening

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    • 7 Creative Seed Starter Ideas to Try
    • DIY Vertical Herb Garden
    • 7 Tips for Growing Gorgeous Iris
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    Alison is a wife and mother of three who embraces the simple life, finding joy in easy recipes, DIY projects, life hacks, and her passion for travel. Learn more about me!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Emily

      April 03, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      Do you think you could hang this from a couple shepherd’s hooks if you do t have a good area to drill into on shed/house?

      Reply
      • Sharon

        March 08, 2023 at 1:07 pm

        A 5 gal bucket of dirt will be HEAVY.

        Reply
        • Alison

          March 08, 2023 at 1:10 pm

          You don’t have to fill it completely full, just enough to sustain the root system for the plant.

          Reply
    2. Shayeeb

      May 27, 2021 at 1:29 am

      Very good gardaing ideas

      Reply
    3. gee

      March 07, 2023 at 7:26 pm

      do you not worry about too much rain getting in the bucket and drowning the plants?

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 08, 2023 at 1:05 pm

        No because excess water drains out the bottom.

        Reply
    4. Deborah

      March 08, 2023 at 11:33 pm

      Do these have to be cherry tomatoes? Can you plant “big boy” tomatoes on these buckets?

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 09, 2023 at 3:06 pm

        Nope. We’ve planted big boy tomatoes this way and they turned out great.

        Reply
    5. Mark C

      March 10, 2023 at 2:40 am

      Does it ever get too heavy and fall out of the bucket

      Reply
      • RR

        March 10, 2023 at 12:51 pm

        The roots will grow extensively throughout the dirt in the bucket clinging to the dirt. There’s no way the massive root ball could be pulled out of the 1″ hole.

        Reply
      • Alison

        March 10, 2023 at 5:24 pm

        Nope, never.

        Reply
        • robb

          March 14, 2023 at 12:46 am

          Can gallon milk jugs be used like this???

          have many empty ones

          Reply
          • Alison

            March 14, 2023 at 1:01 am

            No those are too small.

            Reply
    6. Terry Gilcrease

      March 10, 2023 at 6:30 pm

      Could you use a smaller bucket

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 11, 2023 at 10:38 pm

        Possibly a 2-3 gallon bucket might work but will dry out quickly on hot days.

        Reply
    7. Robert Dingess

      March 13, 2023 at 12:52 pm

      Could you feed the plant root from bottom instead of feeding whole thing through top

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 14, 2023 at 1:03 am

        No, it won’t fit through the hole. You want the hole to be supported.

        Reply
    8. Zeke

      March 13, 2023 at 5:31 pm

      Great idea, what Tomatoes do you recommend using?

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 14, 2023 at 1:01 am

        Cherry or roma.

        Reply
        • Kim Oswald

          March 22, 2023 at 10:15 pm

          How do you water them?

          Reply
          • Alison

            April 01, 2023 at 1:31 pm

            I spray the hose and water the top of the bucket or spray the top of roof of my shed and let the water run down into the bucket.

            Reply
    9. Robin

      March 14, 2023 at 6:41 am

      Hi Alison, would it be possible to grow strawberries this way

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 14, 2023 at 12:41 pm

        no

        Reply
      • Jeff S

        March 19, 2023 at 6:39 am

        A good way to grow strawberries is to use a rain gutter as a planter. Grab a gutter and 2 end caps from your local hardware store, install the end caps and hang the gutter along your fence or wherever. Drill a few drainage holes along the gutter, then fill with dirt, then your plants. The beauty of strawberries is they don’t need much dirt to grow and the gutter allows them to expand. Keeps the rabbits away.

        Reply
    10. James Ringrose

      March 14, 2023 at 11:52 am

      Looks from the pictures you have two or three buckets inside each other ,whatthe reason for this?

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 14, 2023 at 12:42 pm

        It’s just one bucket. Must be the style of the bucket that is making them look like that.

        Reply
    11. hopkins tom

      March 15, 2023 at 10:40 pm

      Great idea. Will try it

      Reply
    12. Kristina

      April 16, 2023 at 8:56 pm

      We tried this years ago with no success so it’s nice to see that it worked really well for you. I’m going to give it another try and hope it works. Your plants look beautiful!

      Reply
      • Alison

        April 23, 2023 at 12:57 pm

        Thank you. We’ve been doing this for several years and works good every time.

        Reply
    13. Hudson Wise

      May 07, 2023 at 12:50 am

      can you put 2 plants in one 5 gallon bucket?

      Reply
      • Alison

        May 07, 2023 at 5:33 pm

        You’re going to need enough room for the roots so I would suggest only one plant per bucket.

        Reply
    14. Big Daddy

      June 05, 2023 at 9:33 am

      Is the bucket filled all the way to the top with dirt / soil ?

      Reply
      • Alison

        June 11, 2023 at 7:01 pm

        A little more than halfway.

        Reply
    15. Doug

      March 03, 2024 at 9:21 am

      I tried this last year but ran into a problem. When it got windy on the bucket stayed stationary on the hook but the tomato plant want to move. This caused the base of the steam to twist and break off after about 4 weeks. UGH! Any ideas on how I solve this?

      Reply
      • Alison

        March 05, 2024 at 3:43 pm

        I’m not sure. In all the years I have been doing this I never had that problem.

        Reply
    16. Donna M Sockabasin

      April 17, 2024 at 10:30 am

      any tips on how to do cucumbers?

      Reply
      • Alison

        May 09, 2024 at 9:06 pm

        I plant them in a raised garden and use a trellis.

        Reply

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