New Jersey 2016 Container Story

[rniedzia]

Hi - this is my 3rd year of growing tomatoes and 2nd of cucumbers. The first year I had 3-4 small containers and failed miserably. My second year I started with 3 City Pickers from Home Depot and my success rate was about 50%. Why 50% ? Tomatoes grew too high and I lost 2 containers once a windy thunderstorm came in. I mean what fun to have tomatoes on your lawn. so here is my story of 3rd year and changes made:

a) selected seeds
b) better support system for tomatoes and cucumbers

A - seeds... I got a few feeds in Feb 2016 from Rutgers Univ sale event. I started seeds first week of March and not expecting too much. I mean I have never done anything like that so any success is beyond expectations. Next year I will have heat mat and lamp :-)

B - plants. All of my tomato plants this year are coming from https://mgessex.org/

and the list includes:

Rutgers 250, Ramapo, Moreton, KC-146, Opalka Bycze Rogi, Yellow Pear, Anna Russian, Cherokee Chocolate, Chefs Choice, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, La Roma.

C - support / cages. To make a long story short - after spending endless hours going through the forum - I simply came up with design similar to what I have found on this site.

D - fertilizers: combination of Texas Tomato Food, Fish Fertilizer, egg shells and banana skins...

E - Neim Oil weekly routine plus 2 items from "Safer" against other unwanted guests.

F - I am happy to say that I won ( at least thats what it looks like ) the fight against Cucumber wilt. yes - the Japanese beetles and some spraying with products helped to stop the tragedy. I had no choice and was willing to fight the fight. I wish there was other choice.

I dont have enough experience to get into prune or not to prune, city pickers vs earthboxes, home made top mix vs bought etc. I am showing what works for me in NJ in a relatively small space.

Sure - some may argue 4 per box is too much and probably are right. I do realize that extra calcium and TTF will be needed almost daily to keep plants healthy.

[rniedzia]

2 weeks ago:



today:

[schill93]

It's very attractive and should help contain everything this year. You say you planted four plants per box. Are you talking tomatoes? If so, then you over did it. Two is plenty for a City Picker. They will be way over crowded and you will most likely have very small fruit.

[rniedzia]

You are probably right. but it is so hard to just pick 10 plants :-) Wife told me I can have only 6 containers and it was impossible to lower number of plants.

now - thats why I am planning on pretty strict process of making sure they have what they need. from eggshells to banana peals to Texas Tomato Food - almost on daily basis.

The container that survived last year with 4 plants had pretty good results. I had to watch for BER and was adding calcium every 3-4 days. My definition of good results around 15 tomatoes per plant.

but definitely will watch the over crowded effect possibly lower to 2 plants per box next year. but it is so hard to go with 2 plants when they are so tiny.

Originally Posted by schill93

They will be way over crowded and you will most likely have very small fruit.

[JosephineRose]

I love your trellis!

[Bulldog]

I love your trellis also. Very impressed.

[AKmark]

That is a sweet setup, I like it.

[peppero]

Nice work and pix


Jon

[Labradors2]

Love, love, love your planters! Why not expand into that back garden and grow a row of tomatoes along that white fence? Then perhaps you could try just growing 2 plants in each of our amazing planters for a better harvest and less work for you.

Linda

[rniedzia]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Why not expand into that back garden and grow a row of tomatoes along that white fence?
Linda

I was thinking about it few weeks ago b/c 6 boxes are taking too much space of a patio and had similar thought of moving tomatos towards the fence.

but...

I got my first fruit tree ( peach ) this year and was thinking of adding apple / plum trees next year. I added 3 grape plants this year on left side.

and final thing:

we are family of 4. i had maybe 6 plants last year and it was too much and we gave away plenty of tomatoes. so going more than I have this year is not practical - maybe adding 2-3 more boxes and getting 2 plants per box is way to go.

but also I am learning on what grows and what doesnt grow well in NJ.

I was super excited that I got my hands on "Opalka Bycze Rogi" tomato plants and they are not doing as well as I thought. it feels like I wasted 2 spaces so far on them. and was thinking of becoming more of tomato connoisseur grower and get my hands on "Pear of Wisdom" seeds etc - rare and good tomatoes.

now - I had very successful cucumber pickling run last year. my mom bought a big jar and it actually one batch came out very well.

[rniedzia]

[rniedzia]

also - what do you guys do in Oct to Feb?

How do you prepare for the next season? I started my fun in March with seeds planting but 5 months of nothing took too long :-)

[luigiwu]

Nice! I also exclusively plant in self watering containers hooked up to rain barrels 5 gallon bucket to be exact. You can see my setup in the photo gallery. I would suggest pruning each plant heavily to a couple of stems assuming you are growing all indeterminate. Also try some dwarfs next year!

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by rniedzia

...
I was super excited that I got my hands on "Opalka Bycze Rogi" tomato plants and they are not doing as well as I thought. it feels like I wasted 2 spaces so far on them. and was thinking of becoming more of tomato connoisseur grower and get my hands on "Pear of Wisdom" seeds etc - rare and good tomatoes.

I haven't grown that one, but I have grown Opalka, and it can have "wispy" foliage that always looks a little droopy. That's normal for them, though compared to other varieties it may look like something is wrong.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by rniedzia

also - what do you guys do in Oct to Feb?

How do you prepare for the next season? I started my fun in March with seeds planting but 5 months of nothing took too long :-)

Brassicas like cool weather. Do you have clear plastic around a trellis? Curious about why?