[matt80]

My tomatoes in containers are very prone to drying out in hot and/or windy conditions. Is there anything I can do, such as apply a mulch to the surface? I have some partly-composted wood chippings which I was thinking might help?

[SG6]

Will help a bit if the pots are plastic.

If terracotta then will not help greatly as these lose water through the sides of the pot, they are porous.

A lot of the water will be lost through the leaves, osmosis and evaporation, cannot stop that.

Not sure of the pot size but bigger ones hold water for longer.

Best advice is to water copiously daily.

[Yorkie]

a mulch can't hurt,

Also, when you plant things in pots it is usually recommended to leave a 1" gap at the top to allow a decent amount of water onto the surface before it starts running off over the pot edges.

[matt80]

Do you think its worth removing some of the leaves, as I've heard that can be good practice anyway to help the fruit ripen? This might mean that the plants' water requirement is lessened and less water can be lost through the leaves?

[Yorkie]

You could remove some of the lower leaves below a truss, but I wouldn't remove too many as that will prevent the plant from being able to make energy to keep growing etc.

I think you would do better to focus on ensuring regular moisture in the compost.  Tomatoes in containers can require watering at least twice a day in hot windy conditions.