hello everyone! i found this wonderful forum via reddit. i am a VERY novice gardener with a sunny roof and teeny backyard in brooklyn. a couple weeks ago i picked up 5 tomato plants (2 blush, 2 mikado, 1 ananas noir) from a community garden sale, and they are in tiny pots right now, so i know they're not happy and need to be moved...but that's the extent of what i know. i'll be looking for tips for a super-beginner (tried a lot of searches, but couldn't find a Growing Tomatoes For Dummies thread - please feel free to point me in the right direction! thanks and happy to be here

Welcome to the forum!

Hi Welcome to the Junction. Feel free to ask questions I am sure that you will get lots of helpful information.

Welcome to the Junction from Down Under

Welcome!

Welcome!

thanks, everyone! this actually might be THE friendliest gardening forum! if i have VERY basic questions (what should i buy, what should i do, halp) where should i post those?

Honestly I would pick up the largest pots you can find, a few bags of the largest bags of potting mix with food you can find, fill up the pots and plant those babies, lol. Tomatoes can grow roots along the stem so usually a good idea to plant them deeper than they are now, although that does depend on the size they are. If you picked up really small plants just plant them as is. Honestly, Anas Noir is a fairly large plant and to do well without an irrigation system to keep them from drying out They need larger pots and more soil per plant. Come hot summer months expect to water daily and even twice a day if the pots are not too large (like 5-10 gallon buckets some people use). It can be pricey to start growing tomatoes in pots because of the cost of large pots and enough soil to fill them. Then you are going to need something to support them. IF you can grow in th e ground that would be much less expensive and they would likely do better but you did say you have a very tiny backyard. If you have any type of garden area already, you can use that as long you have not been using any chemicals in it that would make it unsuitable for food. So you need to decide where you want to grow them, in pots or in the ground, how much you are willing to invest, etc. If you have a Costco, Home Depot or Lowes near you or a garden center, those are good places to find supplies. Once you decide what you want to do, come back here and let us know and you will get a lot more advise. There really are just too many options to advise you on all of them. In addition to in ground or pots, for example there are also fairly simple raised beds you can construct to grow them in. So many options for supporting them while they grow. Give us an idea or two of what you would like to do and you will get plenty of ideas on how to do it. Good Luck!

Hi, I'm from Canada...….

Hi from Texas

Welcome from alaska.

Hello aviva50981 and Welcome to the Junction. So glad that you have found us here. Most of your tomato questions can be asked in the "Tomato Talk" forum. There are other places if you have questions about growing in containers or have questions about disease and insects problems. If you would like to start a log about your garden, there is also a place for that. It's always fun and informative to look back on your growing season and see what you did right or not.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Junction [mention]aviva50981[/mention] Glad you found us.

Welcome to the forum. No need to go anywhere else as beginners are most welcome here and there are experts available to advise you.

Welcome from the sunny South! You've come to the right place.

About pots for your tomatoes, try talking to folks at a garden center about any extra nursery pots they might be looking to get rid of. Those would be plain black plastic pots but you might could get some for free. Try to find a garden center that also has a landscaping business OR try calling a few landscapers to see if they have any pots they want to get rid of from a recent installation job. Landscaping jobs generate a lot of pots from small 1, 2 and 3 gallon sizes (mostly left from ground covers and small shrubs), to 5's ,7's, 10's and 15's from larger specimen shrubs and trees. They tend to accumulate at the business and eventually they're glad to get rid of them, especially if they get charged a recycling fee for tossing them. I have worked for a landscaper, retail nursery and large grower in previous work lives.

Welcome from hot humid N. Florida!

Welcome! =)