General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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I grew 2 Jamaican Red Hot peppers in 6 gallon buckets using a potting mix.Both plants really produced well for me.I now have those buckets with the soil in them sitting outdoors next to my garden.I have never grown anything in buckets before so my question to those that do,can I reuse it and just add fertilizer in the spring?
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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Go ahead. I don't dump mine. It is not really a cheap product. I top it off and add amendments and or sometimes just fertilizer and plant anew.
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carolyn k |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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,Thanks I'm glad you replied,I was thinking about you when I thought about reusing it.Hope all is well for you and your family, have a great Holiday.
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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getting along. I can't believe the season is over and ready to begin the next one. Merry Christmas to you and yours also.
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carolyn k |
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#5 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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ContainerTed with my 2 buckets that would not take long.
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#7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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carolyn k |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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We had a Menards open this past summer about a mile from me.I have not been through the entire store but bought a leaf blower and got a good deal.Do they have a nice garden department when in season?
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 6a - NE Tennessee
Posts: 4,538
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I used to collect all my store-bought potting soil onto a large tarp at the end of the season - one big pile. Then I would throw in some 10-10-10 fertilizer, some composted manure, and a few handfuls of dolomite lime. This would be mixed well and then bundled up for the winter. I also made sure the whole thing was not dried out, but was not overly moist. This was allowed to remain over the winter during which time I would open it up and carefully mix it again. The tarp kept the winter rain and snow from leaching out the nutrients and also kept any weed seeds from germinating and using up the nutrients.
In the spring, I would open it up and start filling up my containers. Using my largest wheelbarrow, I would add in more composted manure and a touch more lime and fertilizer (10-10-10). I would also add in some new potting mix. My goal was to replace about 30-40% of the original growing medium from the previous season. When all the containers were full, the remaining material was added to the flower beds. I would add MG crystals to the watering for the new season's tomatoes and peppers and enjoyed a lot of really healthy plants. While this method did not get all of the really small, fine dust-sized particles out, it did get a very high percentage of them out. This was very good for ensuring the mix was not "compacting" itself into a "root unfriendly" environment. Even now, I have a large wheelbarrow and a large screen sifter that I use to do the same thing for the containers I keep up near the house. And, yes, every three or four years I buy a new 30'X15' tarp. They seem to "biodegrade" into an unusable condition in that timeframe.
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Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch |
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10
Posts: 9,283
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I solarize my Earthboxes and 7 gallon pots for 6-8 weeks in the summer, then dig out the old fertilizer strip in the Earthbox, add new lime and new fertilizer, top off with new mix. It's reused every year, unless I get something unusual happening during the previous growth cycle, such as a peculiar taste, or the one box actually got nematodes from the yard man kicking up native soil into the openings, with his weed whacker.(a very freaky thing that only happened to one Earthbox, and once in all these years)
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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Its whatever they have supplied by the corporate office. everything from seeds and pots to bale after bale of pottingmix to tools etc. some are deals some are not.
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carolyn k |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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I'll have to walk through their garden center.Thanks.
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#13 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
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I’ve been growing veggies in fabric grow pots for about 5 years now, and am in the process of switching over to a 5-1-1 mix. Here in North Florida with the rain and humidity regular soil compacts too much, and seems to contribute to my tomatoes going downhill once summer really sets in. My question is - are folks mulching over 5-1-1 in containers?
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Madison, OH, zone 6
Posts: 468
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When I started growing in grow bags 3 yrs. ago I also wondered about re-using the Pro Mix from them the next season. Upon reading Epic Tomatoes written by our friend Craig, he says not to do it in the interest of keeping soil born disease from transferring to the soil mix. Well my whole reason for having to use grow bags is exactly because of soil disease in my in-ground garden plot that I used for more than 25 yrs to grow tomatoes. So I decided to not risk shooting myself in the foot and take the advice of someone I respect. And I can say I no longer struggle with bacterial disease in my grow bags. I know Pro Mix is expensive but my growing success is worth it. But to each his own.
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#15 | |
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