I am growing some tomato plants in a 5 gallon bucket of water. There are 4 baskets of expanded clay that are flush mounted into the bucket lid. There are 7 or so plants growing with the tallest being 60" from the lid to the top of the plant.
The bucket of water has an air stone in the bottom of it attached to an air pump. I feed the plants with Miracle Grow every week. I also mounted the bucket on a plant dolly so that I can bring it into the garage on cold nights and move it outside during the day.
The tomatoes are the vine type so they grow in clusters. Hopefully they will reach maturity before the real cold temps set in here.
The plants are covered in small tomatoes.