Tomato Pots!

I've been looking for a supplier of large containers for a few of my tomato plants this year. I had pretty much decided to use the large black plastic containers nurseries grow trees in. I'm hoping the larger volume of growing medium will prevent the soil from drying out between watering cycles this coming summer. It has been so very, very hot that my containers couldn't retain enough moisture.

While I was at my local farm supply store this morning to purchase onion seedlings for my garden, I asked the store owner where I can buy the pots locally. He said he has the perfect tomato growing pots that he will sell me for two dollars each. Since he also raises cattle, he uses large, fifteen gallon, tubs of minerals. The cattle lick the mineral mix out of the tubs leaving them cleaned and empty. The tubs are made of a very strong plastic which holds up well to the cattle pushing on them and setting out in the strong sunlight all the time. He has about thirty of the tubs and I can't make up my mind if I want to buy all of them or just the ten or fifteen I will need now. Since I was in my auto, I will need to go back in my truck to pick them up. Two dollars per container is a lot better than the high prices you pay for large containers at the big box stores. The tubs of minerals come in various sizes up to around thirty gallons. Some are only eight or ten inches deep, but very wide. Others are taller like traditional growing pots. I prefer the taller pots.

If you have a farm supply store near you, and want some really great growing containers; ask them if they have any empty cattle mineral tubs.

Ted

[tomatoguy]

Another option is 60-gallon plastic food service barrels, cut in half, vertically. The ones I have once contained vegetable oil. I cleaned them up, drilled some holes in the bottom, for drainage, and put in my plants. They work great but of course, in my climate, they have to be watered regularly once the heat comes. I fill them with the same topsoil/compost mixture that I use in the garden, except that I add vermiculite to each one to keep the soil loose.

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by tedln

I've been looking for a supplier of large containers for a few of my tomato plants this year. I had pretty much decided to use the large black plastic containers nurseries grow trees in. I'm hoping the larger volume of growing medium will prevent the soil from drying out between watering cycles this coming summer. It has been so very, very hot that my containers couldn't retain enough moisture.

While I was at my local farm supply store this morning to purchase onion seedlings for my garden, I asked the store owner where I can buy the pots locally. He said he has the perfect tomato growing pots that he will sell me for two dollars each. Since he also raises cattle, he uses large, fifteen gallon, tubs of minerals. The cattle lick the mineral mix out of the tubs leaving them cleaned and empty. The tubs are made of a very strong plastic which holds up well to the cattle pushing on them and setting out in the strong sunlight all the time. He has about thirty of the tubs and I can't make up my mind if I want to buy all of them or just the ten or fifteen I will need now. Since I was in my auto, I will need to go back in my truck to pick them up. Two dollars per container is a lot better than the high prices you pay for large containers at the big box stores. The tubs of minerals come in various sizes up to around thirty gallons. Some are only eight or ten inches deep, but very wide. Others are taller like traditional growing pots. I prefer the taller pots.

If you have a farm supply store near you, and want some really great growing containers; ask them if they have any empty cattle mineral tubs.

Ted

go pick them up now its very worth it.

Okay,

I bought fifteen of the containers yesterday. He has another ten that I may get the next time I drive my truck into town. I only needed ten for my garden so I may plant some blueberries and raspberries in the remaining five pots. I'm nor really sure how large they are, but I would guesstimate at 25 gallons. I wont know for sure until I see how many five gallon buckets of water one will hold. They are very strong and should last for many years. Now I need to drill a few holes in them and then figure out how I want to fill them for use in the spring. I also need to figure out how and where to place them. When they have been filled with growing medium, they will be almost impossible to move without a forklift. One guy suggested I put a layer or two of upright empty beer or soft drink cans on the bottom of each pot to take up space. The cans would hold water which the plant roots could access when needed. soil would fill the empty spaces around the cans. I haven't made up my mind if that is a good idea or a bad idea. It would cut down on the amount of soil required to fill the pots.

I plan on using the containers in the same way I used fifteen gallon containers many years ago by planting tomatoes in the center inside tall tomato cages, cucumbers around the cages growing up the outside of the cages, and herbs around the outer circumference of the containers. They will be watered by drip irrigation on a timer. It worked well for me for many years.

I plan on placing the containers on a paving stone base along my garden fence where my smaller containers are now located. I also plan on constructing a wooden or metal frame around the containers which can be easily covered with clear plastic. With a small thermostatically controlled heater, I should be able to grow veggies through the winter. It's just a plan right now.

Ted

[rags57078]

How did These work out for you ? I have 20 or so that I got for free

[Worth1]

Ted I know you are a good and honest man but when it comes to tomatoes I would set that aside.

I was going to suggest driving down the road at night before trash pickup and stealing trashcans.

Worth

Worth, I gotta tell the truth!

Rags,

They worked great. I grew tomatoes, peppers, herbs, onions and a few other things I don't remember off the top of my head. I finally figured out they need to be treated in the same ways you would treat a raised bed. They require good growing soil with drain holes in the sides to allow excessive rain to drain off, plus you need to remember you don't move them around after they are full of soil so pick the best location of full or partial sunlight before you fill them. I used drip irrigation on a timer to irrigate them and it worked pretty well. I am going to change my system to 1/2" tubing from 1/4" tubing this spring. Its pretty hard to get enough moisture to them in the black pots without over watering the rest of my garden. I could install a separate timer for the pots and let the drip system have longer intervals to accomplish the same thing. If the pots were a lighter color, they would not heat up in the hot sun so much and would require less moisture.

After growing in them for one year, I highly recommend them as grow pots.

Worth,

I once knew a lady who covered her entire fenced back yard with multiple rows of galvanized, forty gallon trash cans setting on concrete blocks. She was truly a tomato addict and grew some great ones in those trash cans. I always admired her for moving that much dirt one shovel full at a time. I could never understand why she only grew tomatoes and nothing else.

Ted

[rags57078]

Ted
I have red , black , green , and tan tubs . So far I have dwarf fruit trees planted in them . The farmers here just throw them away , the one says if you want 1 you have to take 12 HaHa . The black ones I was thinking about painting to help keep them from heating up so much in the summer sun . Thanks for the reply

Bob

[Cole_Robbie]

The ones my grandpa leaves in the cow field are yellow. They probably came from Rural King farm supply. I went out to pick some up about two years ago, and the plastic falls apart when I touch it from the sun destroying it. I don't know how long they have been out there, and whatever brand you have may have better UV inhibitors in the plastic, but that was my experience.

[rags57078]

the black ones I have are 3 years old and just like new

I saw some green tubs at a farm supply last week. Unfortunately, they were still full of feed supplement. I would guess the tub manufacturers use varieties of plastic with and without UV inhibitors meaning some will last forever while others will be nothing but plastic dust within a year.

My black tubs may have been in service for years, but they have only been in use by me for one year. They all exhibit severe scrapes and bruising from being kicked around by cattle, but they seem ready for many more years of sitting in the summer sun and winter cold in my garden.

I thought I posted some photos last week of my pots in service on this thread. Since the photos are not here, I suppose I forgot to hit "submit reply".

Ted

[oldasrocks]

Around here the tubs sell for $10 each once gardeners found they love them. So you got a great bargain! Drill a few holes in the bottom, add a layer of rocks then fabric to let the water out. Fill with good soil and stand back.

I have some trouble keeping the soil moist in the pots once the plants get really large' I've been wondering if I turn a smaller pot upside down in the large pots with a hole drilled in the bottom of the smaller upside down pot. Will the upside down pot, act like a water reservoir? I want it to retain a lot of moisture which the large pot can wick from the small pot into the main pot as needed. I would have to cover the hole in the small pot with some permeable cloth to prevent soil from filling the smaller pot. I might also have to cover the top of the small pot with cloth to prevent the soil entering the upside down pot from the bottom. The water would only rise in the small pot to the same level as the drain holes drilled in the sides of the large pots. I could plug the smaller holes in the big pots and move the drain holes to an equal height of the upside down pot.

Any one every try that?

Ted

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by tedln

I have some trouble keeping the soil moist in the pots once the plants get really large' I've been wondering if I turn a smaller pot upside down in the large pots with a hole drilled in the bottom of the smaller upside down pot. Will the upside down pot, act like a water reservoir? I want it to retain a lot of moisture which the large pot can wick from the small pot into the main pot as needed. I would have to cover the hole in the small pot with some permeable cloth to prevent soil from filling the smaller pot. I might also have to cover the top of the small pot with cloth to prevent the soil entering the upside down pot from the bottom. The water would only rise in the small pot to the same level as the drain holes drilled in the sides of the large pots. I could plug the smaller holes in the big pots and move the drain holes to an equal height of the upside down pot.

Any one every try that?

Ted

I would be concerned with overheating the roots and cooking the plant. The heat will rise in that kind of setting, I assume.

[oldasrocks]

You need drainage to get rid of the salts. I have no idea if you're plan would work on not. I do find potted plants and raised beds need watered daily. I've worked some peat moss in to help hold the moisture and lower the PH some. I've also installed a drip system on the whole raised bed area to try out.