General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.
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July 9, 2013 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Hoboken, NJ USA
Posts: 347
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Am I doomed to a puny crop this year? Potting soil issue
When I learned about SWC's, I was stoked because now I could grow fruit/vegetable producing plants in a confined space. I've always wanted to grow my own tomatoes so I read up a little bit on-line, went to Lowes to get my supplies, then picked up a couple of seedlings at a local nursery.
After about a month, I started reading up on-line to increase my education. That's when I began to discover I'd done a few things right, but one major thing wrong: the potting medium. I see now that a potting mix coupled with stuff like peat moss and perlite is the best way to go with growing healthy and abundant tomatoes. But I made the mistake of using all out top soil. I did mix it with some fertilizer and I made sure to churn it up well so that it wasn't hard packed. It was claimed to be rich with nutrients, superior to potting soil. Well after 10 weeks I do have actively growing tomato plants that are basically healthy. One is producing 5 tomatoes right now, but the other languished with just one early tomato (although it appears that about 3-4 more blossoms have finally set). Am I doomed to an anemic crop this year? Or is there something I can do to compensate for the semi-inappropriate potting medium I've chosen? Will a plant food geared for tomato plants be worthwhile to add or should I just concede that these plants won't be abundant producers? Here's what they look like at the moment: Black Krim planted in 3rd week of May as a 10" seedling. Lemon Boy planted in 3rd week of May as an 8" seedling.
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I'm GardeningAloft.blogspot.com (container growing apartment dweller) |
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