I tested four container systems used to grow tomatoes including the EarthBox, SmartPot, AutoPot hydroponic, and well advertised TopsyTurvy. All set tomatoes but the TopsyTurvy was 25-50% less productive than the other systems in the test. The full review is at my blog site. The link is below for those interested. Here is a link that might be useful: Review of containers for growing tomatoes

Tom, your plants still look great. Mine have lost a lot of foliage. Not disease, just yellowing and dropping. Maybe the cold? Too old? Not enough sun? Still some left to ripen, but nothing like before, and nothing like yours look now. My best this season: Beefmaster Black Cherry Sungold Manitoba Bonny Best- did better in spring, but did pretty well. Not great: Legend Empire Bloody Butcher Has anyone tried Black from Tula, Rutgers, costoluto genovese and arkansas traveler? How did they do and what about the taste? I've been thinking about trying a few in ground in spring. Which are the nematode resistant ones that might have a chance? Anyone have any luck? Is fall a better time to try that? Anna

amberroses, to answer your question: farmers rarely direct-seed crops like tomatoes and eggplant anymore. They're usually transplanted, and the transplants are grown on contract by nurseries where that's their only business. I visited a transplant nursery like that this spring, and they had easily several million plants on site; their greenhouses are enormous, and they supply many growers in the area. The seed-sowing machines were going full-bore nearly every day, and they had trucks pouring out of there with deliveries. All of the fertilizer was liquid, in the irrigation, and centralized; it's very easy to imagine how such a thing could happen under those circumstances. What an ugly thing to do. --Alison

Great thread! Something I was planning on doing for my containerized tomatoes next season (I balcony garden) is mixing some coconut husk chips (1/4 to 1/2 inch chips, not coir) in with my potting mix as the chips retain a good amount of water AND air. I saw that someone suggest coconut coir (which is shredded coconut husk fiber, not chips) in their mix yet I have never used this product and can only suggest using actual chunks of coconut husks. I admit that I am a novice when it comes to tomatoes but for my containerized citrus trees I use a 4:1 ratio of CHC and peat and it works amazingly. For my first Meyer Lemon tree I simply potted in Miracle Gro for cactus and citrus and within a month or two all of the leaves on my tree had dropped and it appeared to be dead. I decided to repot it and the mix smelled aweful and was still wet after not being watered for about 3 weeks. I repotted it in the 4CHC:1peat mix and within a month or two it started to bud again and rebounded. The first ingredient in Miracle Gro for cactus and citrus is peat which holds entirely too much moisture for citrus in a container (at least for it to be the number one ingredient). I'd bet that just about any mix that has peat as the number one ingredient for growing nearly anything in a container will eventually become problematic because of a lack of oxygen to the roots of the plant. When I bought CHCs at the begining of the year I got a 3 cubic foot bale (after being dried and compressed) and even after potting my 15 or so citrus varieties I still have about 2.5 cubic feet that is just taking up space in my storage unit. Depending on what potting mix I buy for my containerized veggies next year I would like to mix at least 1 or 2 parts CHCs and see how how the plants respond. CHCs expand and contract just like a sponge (holding a great amount of water and more importantly air) and also takes forever to breakdown (literally years which is what makes it great for citrus). Here is a link on CHC usage and I used the same supplier they suggest (Crystal Company) as they wash their product 3 times which removes a good amount of salt buildup that may exist. I am not sure if any of my information is useful for tomato growers but if you have never used CHCs before for anything I would suggest giving some a shot (get a citrus tree also!). Great posts folks! Joe