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Container Gardening

Growing medium for Hanging baskets of tomatoes

jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)

15 years ago

I am going to grow some hanging baskets of tomatoes. They are the Tumbling Tom's. What do you suggest for the best growing medium for these baskets. Last year I grew some Patio Tomatoes in pots with Al's Mix. They worked out good. Would this mix be good in the baskets or should I go with something else?

Thanks,

Jay

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Comments (4)

sprtsguy76
15 years ago
I think you have answered your own question. Stick with what works, good luck.

Damon
justaguy2
15 years ago
Allow me to be somewhat sarcastic (appearing) initially.

The 'best' growing medium in this case is the one that allows sufficient aeration while also holding sufficient water until you can reasonably water again.

If Al's mix worked out well for you in a traditional pot last year then I would say use it again this year, but with some caveats.

Is the volume of potting mix your hanging basket holds the same, less than or greater than the pot you used last year?

Is the hanging basket a plastic pot with some 'hooks' that attach or is it a fiber lined basket?

If your answer is that the hanging basket holds as much potting mix volume as the pot used last year and it is a plastic pot then I would say do the same thing you did last year.

If the volume it holds is less and/or you are using a fiber lined basket then you will have to water more often than you did last year. IF this isn't acceptable/realistic then you may have to consider modifying the mix to hold more water.

Let us know.
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Hey guys, just wanted to give my two cents into the mix since I happen to have dealt with all these issues this summer. We had our deck re-built and extended this year. As a result, we went a little hanging basket mad and now have about 15 - 17 baskets around the deck and hanging from the pergola (new and overly excited gardeners lol). Of the baskets we have, some were purchased (Basket of fire, tumbling tomato, a couple strawberries, a couple creeping jennys, and 4 cheapo baskets from wal-mart) but the rest were made by hand so that we could A) control what we put in and b) use nicer baskets and c) re-use the baskets year in and out. When we selected the coir liners, I had no idea that their porous nature meant that they expelled water faster, but having read the other comments, it makes perfect sense! Will have to look into the plastic lining, thanks for the idea! That said however, we spent some time talking to a gentleman at the local nursery and ended up picking a soil called Faffard Profressional Agro-mix, which is a soilless mixture that includes coir, peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and a couple others (I couldn't find the list online). It was the same soil that the nursery used for all the plants they grew and we had wanted to make a mix ourselves like Al suggested (though not specifically that mix) but he essentially said that the agro-mix was what we would end up with (for the most part), but without needing to do the mixing ourselves. The benefit of a soil-less mixture was that it had great water retention, didn't pack down as much as soil did so the roots had plenty of room to grow and because it was an essentially an inert mix (no nutrients in the mix itself), the nutrients could be controlled by us. Furthermore, once the season was over, we *could* just remove the plants and roots, wash out the soil to remove excess salt (a byproduct of coir is that salt build up will happen, though it is dealt with by flushing the plants with water), and then use it next year. At this point in the summer, I can confidently say that the only baskets doing well are the ones we planted and the basket of fire. Most of the baskets doing poorly look root-bound and while we have provided water daily (when needed) and some miracle-grow for nutrients, they are struggling. I think I can confidently say that while doing things yourself may be a little more costly and time consuming, the end result is well worth it, especially into the end of the summer. As a side note, creeping jenny is amazing for baskets! It looks lovely and if you want to hide the basket itself, it hangs over so perfectly. Cheers guys, hope my input helps. Happy gardening :)
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I plant tumbling toms, yellow and red in 10 inch hanging baskets and get along great. Totally Tomatoes is also offering several other hanging basket varieties. They have a Gold Stripe series. There are also several more new ones. Here is a row of them from this fall. I started them too late to get much production last fall. We had a few tomatoes. During the spring and summer this year, we are planning on having 50 baskets to sell and 75-100 to grow out and pick to sell in addition to our other cherry tomatoes. Here are bunch from 2 years ago. Some from 3 years ago Here is one in full bloom. They will grow and produce fruit all year, if you keep them watered and fertilized. Very impressive little plants. Jay
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jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
15 years ago
Justaguy-you hit on the point I guess I was thinking about. I don't want these baskets to dry out too fast. I liked the results of Al's mix and potted tomatoes. The problem is they were in 3-5 gallon nursery pots.

I am planning on buying just 10 inch green hanging baskests. The soil volume would be around 385 cubic inches. The volume of a 3 gallon pot was around 700 cubic inches. I plan on putting 2 plants in each pot. This was based off another nursery I saw online. (Forgot where I saw it) Maybe I should go with 12 inch baskets. I could get around 475 cubic inches of soil in them?

I am growing these to sell these at our farmers market early in the season. I am not growing tons, but I want them to be successful with them.

How could I change Al's mix to hold a little more water? Any ideas?

Thanks for helping out.

Jay
justaguy2
15 years ago
It is going to be difficult to increase water retention from the 5-1-1 mix without sacrificing aeration.

Having said that,I don't think aeration is really a concern in this case. I think the entire volume of the pot is likely to be filled with roots very quickly no matter what.

I think that in this case you could up the peat, add vermiculite (a water sponge) or do whatever you wanted to improve water retention and there would be no noticeable difference in plant performance.

The roots are going to fill the pot and draw up all the water very quickly thus restoring aeration even in a mix that would otherwise be a poor choice.

Besides, if your intent is to sell these at market, you really only need provide something that looks appealing to make sales. Certainly I am not suggesting doing a disservice to your customers, but I think your customers are going to be pleased with what they get regardless of the potting mix in this case.

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