I just got mine through a couple of nights with mid-30's temps. I moved all the containers in between the in-ground patches:
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They're still looking and producing pretty good:
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They would've done OK uncovered, but you can't always tell.

Nice fall crop Raybo!

ferretbee,

Yours are still looking great considering you are in Zone 5b!

What fertilizer routine did you finally settle on? Will you be doing anything different in the containers next Season? You may want to consider a $6.00 pack of Biota Max, based on the results I am seeing with it this Fall Season.

Raybo

I tried a few different types of fertilizers in the containers, but I also gave them a weakly-weekly dose of Foliage Pro (and some Pro TekT) in the reservoirs, and I think that had a great impact. I wasn't focusing too much on fertilizer, this year was more about mix, varieties, and wick configuration.

I still have to look at my records to figure out what worked best as far as wick and mix configurations with the 18 gallon SWCs, but we had an abnormally hot and dry season so it'll be tough to sort out what works best in a more average year. My prototype SWCs with valves worked fine, but it was so hot I've yet to shut off the reservoirs. It may well be that a proper mix and wick setup negates any benefit to reservoir shutoff, but I need more cool temps to draw a final conclusion.

I had some really good results with my bucket SWCs using rayon mop wicks. I think the design is a real winner for peppers, eggplant, and smaller sized tomatoes (cherry and saladette size. I'm working on a detailed set of instructions.

My cucurbits didn't do well at all this year, either in ground or in SWCs (most locals I talked to had a bad cucurbit year). I grew some Cukes in SWC buckets and found that once established, they needed at least twice as many wicks as the tomatoes. I lost most plants to wilt from cucumber beetles. My current thinking is that they may do better in straight potting mix, and I'll also need to test a few different wick setups.

One practice I think makes a big difference in SWC gardening is to top water until the plants are well established, then add the fertilizer and mulch cover before adding water to the reservoir.

Here's some of my bucket SWCs from the end of July:
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One thing I'm certain of; No matter what the setup is, 40 tomato plants is way too many (for me). Next year, far fewer tomatoes and a lot more other stuff.

ferretbee,

Thanks for the update. Please let us all know what mix ratio worked best in your SWCs. My 3:2:1 ratio has done pretty well, but I am always open to improvement.

Next Season, I am going to trial one Cup of 19-6-12 CRF versus the 14-14-14 CRF that I used this Fall deep in the 'Tainers, along with the two strips of Tomato-tone 2 inches down from the surface.

Raybo