Plant in the biggest pot you can find......
When I first started growing tomatoes (by accident. Long story!), I grabbed every container I could find to plant the seedlings. I mean most were larger than your usual house plant containers, but they were the largest. The yield from these plantings was so-so. The fruit was usually smaller and not so plentiful.
On walks in the neighborhood, I would see large pots that people would put out for garbage. If it was in a good condition, I took it home and cleaned it up. When tomatoes were planted into these containers, the yield was tremendously higher. The roots could spread out and the stems and bases of the plant were stronger. Tomato plants amazingly know what kind of fruit to produce based on the environment they are in. When the branches feel secure and the roots spread out, they produce some amazing fruit (yes, I realize I need good soil too. I'll write on that later). However, if they feel free to expand, it will produce some amazing fruit.
I've been reading the Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkenson. He writes about a person who
is known in Holy Scripture by one little verse where he asks God to bless him and enlarge his territory. Jabez understood what I'm coming to realize - big pot - big harvest - big blessings. My first encounter with this book was about 20 years ago in a Bible study by Pastor Jason Perry. I actually thought that this was non-sense - that it was self-serving and that you can't build an entire theology from one Scripture. I've come to realize that all of Creation supports this one verse - harvests don't result from a small patch of land - it comes from branching out. Does not the Lord even say in Genesis, "Be fruitful and multiply"? The expanse of heaven declares his Glory! He means for us to branch out and bear fruit! And to let others know and see that fruit so that they may share in His goodness! He means for us to succeed in order to share and declare His glory.
I pray that I will seek out BIG pots for Big blessings and pray what Jabez did:
'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain. ' 1 Chronicles 4:9–10
(This was my only surviving seedling from the initial batch of seeds I planted in late February. I planted it in a pot I found in someone's garbage around 2008. It is worn, but it still holds the seedlings and has yielded MANY pounds of wonderful tomatoes! I also plant them with basil - the fruit tastes better and it seems the yield of the plant is always more plentiful than when I do not plant them with basil. I can't wait to see its fruit!)