City-Slicker Texas Terrace Container Tomatoes

Vespertino · April 26, 2013

I've upgraded from a NYC apartment with no outdoor space (and a brown thumb, but I blame the north-facing windows) to an apartment in Texas with a western-facing terrace. Delighted that actually have an outdoor space I've dedicated my free time to cramming every inch of that terrace with something green.

Considering my lack of space, hot & dry weather, and forgetfulness with watering I decided to use earthtainers for the tomatoes. All other herbs/plants will be planted in SIPs once they're large enough. With a few exceptions I've grown most of my plants from seed.

My first tomatoes are 2 "Red Brandywine" potato leaf variety- bought from a store. I'm not sure if these are true "brandywines" or not, but as long as they taste fantastic I don't really mind what the true name is.

Here they are a little older:

And finally in the earthtainer!

First brandywine blossom and fruits beginning to set:

I used the electric toothbrush +spoon method to pollinate the blossoms since there's not a single bee to be seen yet. Luckily most of the blossoms (not many yet) have set fruit, but I've had about 4 blossoms drop off the plant. I don't know if that's because of the unusual, repeated cold snaps we've been getting in DFW or if I might be have made a mistake with the soil or fertilizer.

I'm growing some lavender hoping that when they bloom they will attract some pollinators to my patio. But for now there's not enough flowers for any bee to find interest.

I decided to grow my sungolds from seed. I don't have any lights, or a heating pad, I just late nature take it's course- which so far means my sungolds are a wee bit small. Here's some pics of their growth:

I'm planting the sungolds in the second earthtainer this weekend and giving away 2 plants. One of them (not pictured) is a runt, which isn't doing so well.

More updates later! woo!

April 26, 2013	#1
Vespertino Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Southlake, TX Posts: 743	City-Slicker Texas Terrace Container Tomatoes I've upgraded from a NYC apartment with no outdoor space (and a brown thumb, but I blame the north-facing windows) to an apartment in Texas with a western-facing terrace. Delighted that actually have an outdoor space I've dedicated my free time to cramming every inch of that terrace with something green. Considering my lack of space, hot & dry weather, and forgetfulness with watering I decided to use earthtainers for the tomatoes. All other herbs/plants will be planted in SIPs once they're large enough. With a few exceptions I've grown most of my plants from seed. My first tomatoes are 2 "Red Brandywine" potato leaf variety- bought from a store. I'm not sure if these are true "brandywines" or not, but as long as they taste fantastic I don't really mind what the true name is. Here they are a little older: And finally in the earthtainer! First brandywine blossom and fruits beginning to set: I used the electric toothbrush +spoon method to pollinate the blossoms since there's not a single bee to be seen yet. Luckily most of the blossoms (not many yet) have set fruit, but I've had about 4 blossoms drop off the plant. I don't know if that's because of the unusual, repeated cold snaps we've been getting in DFW or if I might be have made a mistake with the soil or fertilizer. I'm growing some lavender hoping that when they bloom they will attract some pollinators to my patio. But for now there's not enough flowers for any bee to find interest. I decided to grow my sungolds from seed. I don't have any lights, or a heating pad, I just late nature take it's course- which so far means my sungolds are a wee bit small. Here's some pics of their growth: I'm planting the sungolds in the second earthtainer this weekend and giving away 2 plants. One of them (not pictured) is a runt, which isn't doing so well. More updates later! woo!