Over did it...pot size

Kikaida · September 13, 2015

Well, as I wind down my season and pulled a few plants I have a couple of observations that I'd like to share.
-
My biggest pots were 30 gallon "dirt pots" which as some of you may or may not know, are fabric pots.
-
Here in Southern California, I found it difficult to keep them watered correctly. The summer heat was just unrelenting. As such, one day they'd look fine, the next wilted pretty bad. And when watering after a wilt, it seems the plants do perk up but they do seem like they endure some stress as the leaves will curl for a day or two.
-
Mulch helped a lot and I highly recommend it.
-
As to the oversized pots, my biggest were 30 gallons and upon my postmortem uprooting of my largest plant, it did not need all of that real-estate. The main root ball was just a bit smaller than a basket ball. Sort of like those red school yard dodge balls. Yes, it had a lot of little rootlets spreading out but they weren't very prevalent. There were very few 'noodle' sized roots and those were mostly close to the center.
-
This pot was pulled after not watering for about 2 weeks with major heat. The plant looked beat to death *but* when examining the soil, it was still relatively moist in the center. There was an outer band of bone dry soil and I thought the whole thing would have been that way...Not so. So that puzzled me as to why when I was watering on a 'normal' schedule, they would look so wilted and thirsty. Really hard to figure out these pots and I think next season I won't be using them. Just the pattern that they dry in coupled with a damp center...There appears to be no winning. Either underwater at the peripheries and fine at the center or fine at the peripheries and overwatered in the center...Lose, lose.
-
They'll only be 4 tomatoes next year as I switch to a pepper garden so really looking forward to that!

September 13, 2015	#1
Kikaida Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Valencia, CA Posts: 258	Over did it...pot size Well, as I wind down my season and pulled a few plants I have a couple of observations that I'd like to share. - My biggest pots were 30 gallon "dirt pots" which as some of you may or may not know, are fabric pots. - Here in Southern California, I found it difficult to keep them watered correctly. The summer heat was just unrelenting. As such, one day they'd look fine, the next wilted pretty bad. And when watering after a wilt, it seems the plants do perk up but they do seem like they endure some stress as the leaves will curl for a day or two. - Mulch helped a lot and I highly recommend it. - As to the oversized pots, my biggest were 30 gallons and upon my postmortem uprooting of my largest plant, it did not need all of that real-estate. The main root ball was just a bit smaller than a basket ball. Sort of like those red school yard dodge balls. Yes, it had a lot of little rootlets spreading out but they weren't very prevalent. There were very few 'noodle' sized roots and those were mostly close to the center. - This pot was pulled after not watering for about 2 weeks with major heat. The plant looked beat to death but when examining the soil, it was still relatively moist in the center. There was an outer band of bone dry soil and I thought the whole thing would have been that way...Not so. So that puzzled me as to why when I was watering on a 'normal' schedule, they would look so wilted and thirsty. Really hard to figure out these pots and I think next season I won't be using them. Just the pattern that they dry in coupled with a damp center...There appears to be no winning. Either underwater at the peripheries and fine at the center or fine at the peripheries and overwatered in the center...Lose, lose. - They'll only be 4 tomatoes next year as I switch to a pepper garden so really looking forward to that! __________________ Fun FIRST, safety second... Last edited by Kikaida; September 14, 2015 at 09:16 AM.