My Fall Tomato Crop is In - - Now, 27 Container Mix Trials Begin!

14 years ago

After a few years now growing in Self-Watering Containers such as the EarthBox and the EarthTainer, I have concluded that there is no "off-the-shelf" potting medium that is ideally suited to the unique needs of a bottom-up, moisture wicking container. Case in point, both the Moisture Meter is pegged in the "Wet" range, and more relevant the plants themselves are more leggy than they should be:

A "symptom" that I observe is early leaf roll which I attribute to a too wet container mix:

Another "telltale" is premature yellowing of lower leaves and branches:

There is also credible evidence that tomatoes grown in SWCs can have a "watered-down" taste. So, how to address the goal of replicating the ideal in-ground growing experience but in an automated self-watering container.

My guideline in selecting a range of materials to experiment with is based on people being able to easily obtain them at big box stores or places that supply lawn and irrigation supplies. Also, ingredients such as Orchid Mix were ruled out due to their excessive cost. As upward wicking is a "must-have" property, mixes such as "Al's 5:1:1" are good for top down watered containers, however I deemed that a SWC mix required a finer particle composition. But the dilemma is that with too fine a particle size, one will end up with "container goo".

So my quest to find an optimal composition of 3 to 4 ingredients that will provide the best balance of moisture wicking coupled with proper aeration for the root system. The products I selected for the trials included:

Sta-Green Potting Mix (Lowes)

Miracle-Gro Potting Mix

Perlite

Cactus Mix (containing Pumice)

Turface MVP

Decorative Bark Fines

Redwood Compost

I had to make some assumptions on a range of combinations and ratios as there are something like 7 to the 6'th Power of combinations when doing the math. So here are the 27 combinations I have planted for the Fall tomato trials.

Miracle-Gro; Perlite

4:1

Miracle-Gro; Cactus Mix

3:1

Sta-Green; Perlite

4:1

Sta-Green; Cactus Mix

3:1

Miracle-Gro; Cactus Mix; Perlite

3:1:1

4:1:1

Miracle-Gro; Bark Fines; Perlite

4:1:1

Sta-Green; Cactus Mix; Perlite

3:1:1

3:2:1

Miracle-Gro; Turface; Perlite

4:1:1

5:1:1

Sta-Green; Turface; Perlite

3:1:1

4:1:1

Sta-Green; Bark Fines; Perlite

2:1:1

2:3:1

3:2:1

3:3:2

4:1:1

4:4:3

Sta-Green; Redwood Compost; Perlite

2:2:1

2:3:1

3:3:2

3:5:2

4:4:3

Sta-Green; Cactus Mix; Turface; Perlite

2:2:1:1

Sta-Green; Bark Fines; Turface; Perlite

2:2:1:1

Sta-Green; Redwood Compost; Turface; Perlite

2:2:1:1

My hope is that a number of these combinations will actually "starve" the plants of moisture and will die. I hope an equal number will also show the leaf roll and premature yellowing leaves, indicating too wet conditions. And ideally, I will end up with a distribution curve of healthy, "just watered enough" plants that will replicate an in-ground experience.

If anyone has suggestions for other combinations and ratios, please post them, as I have 4 more empty 'Tainers for trials.

I'll be posting photo updates and identify the specific container mix with each picture as the Fall tomato crop develops.

Raybo

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Comments (12)

emgardener
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Raybo,

Nice trials. Very interested in your results.

How about trying 1:1 turface:decorative ground bark

Also it would be interesting to try the 1:1 turface:bark with 2 containers. One with a plastic mulch and one without.

Are you using plastic mulch in your trials?

I'd planned on trying the 1:1 turface:bark next spring (I don't get enough fall sunlight to plant right now).

regards
rnewste
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
EG,

On 3 of the 'Tainers I have removed the plastic mulch.

Do you think a 1:1 Turface / Bark would really wick properly? I'll try any combination, but I thought so much Turface would not wick properly. What has your experience been when using Turface? Also, Turface seems to be pretty heavy, and I would be concerned about the weight on the Aeration Bench.

Raybo
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Hey EG, how are you doing? What specific moisture meter are you using in getting a reading of 3-4? Regarding just using Miracle-Gro potting mix alone, I have found it is too "good" in wicking, and that is why I am running about 30 different combinations of potting mix, Turface, Cactus Mix, Bark Fines, Redwood Compost, and Perlite. To date, the 3:2:1 ratio of potting mix, bark fines, Perlite seems to be doing the best in the EarthTainers. I'll have to validate this with several 'Tainer grows of this ratio in the Spring planting - - but I will NEVER use plain potting mix in the 'Tainers again. Raybo
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justaguy2
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Raybo, my SWC mix currently is 3 parts partially composted pine bark, 1 part Turface MVP. Wicks like a champ and believe it or not, 1 container in particular is a tad too wet for the 4 pepper plants in it. There was supposed to be 6, but my 2.5 year old picked them for me ;)

The biggest variable is the bark. Partially composted it works fine. If it wasn't at all composted I would either add a little peat OR increase the turface.
rnewste
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
justaguy,

Thanks for the insight.

What do you think of my trying 3 parts Redwood Compost, 1 part Turface, plus 1 part Perlite. I am really liking how the Perlite seems to "lighten up" the mixes, and keep them more airy.

BTW, reached 104 degrees here today with bright Sun all day, so this is a good stress-test on the formulations.

Raybo
emgardener
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My experience with Turface is that with a 4:2:1 Turface:bark:peat mix it wicked fine in the Garden Supply SWCs and homemade 19gallon tub ones that seems similar to yours. However in a 5 gallon bucket ones with a large tomato plant it did not wick fast enough.

Agree about the bark is better partially composted. I never did this. But the 2nd year it wicked better.

I want to get a mix that would last a long time so the more turface the better was my thinking. Turface is heavy, but it didn't seem to be a problem.

Yes it was VERY hot today and still is.

rgds
justaguy2
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What do you think of my trying 3 parts Redwood Compost, 1 part Turface, plus 1 part Perlite.

I think it's fine, but if your temps were 104 keep in mind mine were 65. Your plants (tomatos) also seem to grow a bit larger than mine do. In other words we have very different climates so what works for me in terms of keeping up with the wicking needs while not being water logged are likely to be a bit different than your needs.
donna_h
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for doing this Raybo. With my lackluster results, I will be watching this thread with extreme interest.

Donna H.
rnewste
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Received my 4 bags today of 80 Quarts total, which will just about fill one EarthTainer.

{{gwi:46723}}

This is an absolutely beautiful mix. Reminds me of sleeping on a Goose-down pillow.

{{gwi:46724}}

Surprisingly (or maybe not so) the listing of Ingredients is EXACTLY the same as Pro-Mix BX:

{{gwi:46725}}

While the percentages of each are not specified, it does resemble the BX formulation of 82.5% Sphagnum Peat Moss, 12.5% Perlite, and 5% Vermiculite. As an effort to get 2 trials out of this $43 worth of mix, I used the "stock" mix in the right half of the 'Tainer, and did a blend of the Gardener's Supply Mix, Bark Fines, and Perlite in a 4:2:1 ratio (on the left):

{{gwi:46726}}

I have a bale of Pro-Mix BX on order, so hopefully soon, I will be able to add several more trial combo mixes into the fray....

Raybo
tomncath
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Raybo,

This is a great experiment and I really appreciate what you're doing for those of us that can and are willing to make our own mixes.....

Do you still have any containers not yet used? For those that for whatever reason can't make their own mix I'd like to see you try two commercially available less expensive mixes from the big-box stores. One from Lowe's call Jungle Growth Professional Flower and Vegetable mix, the other from Wally World called Expert Growers mix, only because these mixes are about $8 for 2CF and more affordable for folks in the category I just mentioned above.

Tom
rnewste
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tom,

Thanks for the kind words.

Unfortunately, out here in California we can't get Jungle Growth at Lowes (nor anywhere else, for that matter). Next time we go to Walmart, I will check for what they carry out here for Potting Mix.

Raybo
tomncath
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey Raybo,

How about a progress report?

Tom
rnewste
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey Tom,

I am freezing my ass off here in Trendy, Downtown Rochester New York for the past 10 days (Father's 95'th birthday). We are on the "way to San Jose" at 9:00am tomorrow, so I'll take some updated photos (temperature hit near 100 for 3 days while I was gone) and I am expecting to see some defining results.

Raybo

My Fall Tomato Crop is In - - Now, 27 Container Mix Trials Begin!

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