Cheapest containers for tomatoes
bakaroni
16 years ago
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booberry85
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Only tomato fertilizer for container tomatos?
Comments (4)What is "tomato fertilizer"? There are dozens of different formulas under that name. Some have micronutrients, but most don't. Some people say tomato fertilizers should be higher in P than N or K. Others say they should be higher in K. Most people agree that tomatoes need calcium. I believe the ideas Al (aka Tapla) puts forth in his Fertilizing Containerized Plants posts. All plants use nutrients in close to the same ratio: 3:1:2. Since I grow my tomatoes in containers, I've been using a controlled release fertilizer with a ratio close to that and fertigate during the season with a soluble fertilizer with that ratio. I make sure my fertilizers have calcium, magnesium and trace elements. I sometimes use Tomatotone once the fruits start to form, which doesn't exactly fit the bill because it's lower in N. Reducing N at the time of flowering is one theory Al and others have talked about of how to increase yield. I always liked it when I used it in the garden, and it's easy to use without risk of burning....See MoreTomato Container size?
Comments (23)First year growing...just thought you should know before reading my post :) It's interesting that everyone says you need to water so much. I have gone well over a week without watering mine on several occasions, and find that the soil is still moist upon digging down 4 or 5 inches. I usually give them some water anyways once a week or so, but I don't feel that they need it. About the top inch has dried out at most so far. On container size, I think 5 gallons is too small. I've been using the 5 gallon paint buckets from Lowe's with about 20 or so holes drilled in the bottom and rocks to promote drainage. For the fall I have two tomatoes on one plant and three on my other. Days are still in the 70s - 80s and I bring them in if night time gets below 50s. They have tons of dead flowers just sitting on the plant not doing anything for weeks. Vertical growth seems to have halted as well. They sprung up very quickly for about 3 or 4 feet and then plateaued. They look plenty healthy, just small and unproductive. I spoke to my grandfather, who used to grow amazing gardens, and he even said he's never had luck with container tomatoes. He also said 5 gallons is not much for a tomato root system. Not saying that it can't be done (obviously some people have success), but I think I'll be building an in-ground garden next year....See MoreSupport for Container Tomatoes?
Comments (4)I use 3/4" PVC frames for my big Gardeners Supply containers and Earthboxes (do a search on the NancySil tomato cages)..... for smaller containers, including the 5 gallon ones, I use the frames that Burpee sells. I drill 4 holes at the compass points in the container, and then use plastic ties to affix the frames to the bucket. If they grow real tall, I use another frame on top. if the whole mess gets unstable (and with our hurricane winds here that is pretty common) I take a metal fencepost from Lowes of 3-4 feet, drive it WAYYYY into the ground, and then plastic tie the bucket/cage structure to it. this works pretty well, and I have never lost a bucket. Michael in Hampstead, NC...See MoreContainer tomatoes
Comments (5)No, and you can snip off the lowest leaves and plant it deep with only about 12" of the top sticking out. Water it regularly and the stem will send out roots from all the hairs. May not get a full harvest but I bet you will get some. I had a plant that I didn't mark. Thought it was another large red cherry plant which I have a lot of. Now its' fruit looks more like one of my beefsteaks. Also, it had two stems (double seeds when I started them in the house) and I just kept repotting them and left them together. The last container was a 2 gallon one and I called it my siamese plant. Well, it got pushed out of the way and I forgot about it till Wednesday when I noticed it was droopy and sad looking. Dying really so I found a nice spot for it and dug a nice deep hole and gently gave it a permanent home. The fruit and the stems survived the move and tonite it looked like it had been there for quite awhile. I hope it is a beefsteak cause I need more of them. If it is a LRC the fruit will be tennis ball size when they ripen. I'm thinking a little epson salts and some low nitrogen fertilzer will help it adapt....See MoreHoosierCheroKee
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