1/2 55 gal drum

old_drummer · December 30, 2016

I have a 55 gal drum split in half and was considering using it for tomato plants this coming season. These are not self-watering. Curious as to how many plants (presumably) a 27 gal container could accommodate. The plants could be Ind or Det as I don't have support scheme thought up yet
Seems like I could get a couple in there anyway...

maxjohnson · January 4, 2017

It's more limited by space, since they are 22inches in diameter I guess you can only put two plants max, on opposite end. Some people even do just one.

However, it does have 27 gallon. If you do square foot gardening method and prune the plants so they only grow single stem, which people do for cherry tomatoes. Then you can fit in 4 plants and have room for herbs. Sweet Million seems to be a good choice for this method since it is productive.

old_drummer · January 4, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxjohnson

It's more limited by space, since they are 22inches in diameter I guess you can only put two plants max, on opposite end. Some people even do just one.

However, it does have 27 gallon. If you do square foot gardening method and prune the plants so they only grow single stem, which people do for cherry tomatoes. Then you can fit in 4 plants and have room for herbs. Sweet Million seems to be a good choice for this method since it is productive.

Thanks! Perhaps the shape of Earthtainers (being longer) would be better. Still like to find a good use for them.
Sweet millions are on the grow list.

Black Krim · January 9, 2017

What little I've heard of Mr Wilbur. He uses these half barrels.Fills with his compost mix . He's the guy that grows super tall Indeterminate s by selecting just 11 stems....my best guess is that each stem is assigned to one vertical wire of the tomato cage. He stacks the cages well secured with hog something, name eludes me. With well fed hybrid he produces record pounds of tomatos. That's the story anyway.....I didn't verify this beyond the details in a Utube video and confirmed a book. Seems he could supply a great soil mix as a base and supplemented.

December 30, 2016	#1
old_drummer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 20	1/2 55 gal drum I have a 55 gal drum split in half and was considering using it for tomato plants this coming season. These are not self-watering. Curious as to how many plants (presumably) a 27 gal container could accommodate. The plants could be Ind or Det as I don't have support scheme thought up yet Seems like I could get a couple in there anyway...

January 4, 2017	#2
maxjohnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: OH 6a Posts: 592	It's more limited by space, since they are 22inches in diameter I guess you can only put two plants max, on opposite end. Some people even do just one. However, it does have 27 gallon. If you do square foot gardening method and prune the plants so they only grow single stem, which people do for cherry tomatoes. Then you can fit in 4 plants and have room for herbs. Sweet Million seems to be a good choice for this method since it is productive. Last edited by maxjohnson; January 4, 2017 at 11:46 AM.

January 9, 2017	#4
Black Krim Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: New England Posts: 661	What little I've heard of Mr Wilbur. He uses these half barrels.Fills with his compost mix . He's the guy that grows super tall Indeterminate s by selecting just 11 stems....my best guess is that each stem is assigned to one vertical wire of the tomato cage. He stacks the cages well secured with hog something, name eludes me. With well fed hybrid he produces record pounds of tomatos. That's the story anyway.....I didn't verify this beyond the details in a Utube video and confirmed a book. Seems he could supply a great soil mix as a base and supplemented.