Tomato plant as a gift?

[daninpd]

I gave away a bunch of Red Robin plants, some to people to give to their older parents as indoor/outdoor plants. At 12" tall you can't call it a "serious" tomato, but it's fun. My first year growing Al Kuffa and it is outproducing the dwarfs on my deck. Waiting to taste any of them.

[taboule]

I've been doing this for the past couple years with enjoyable results, mostly 3 gal pots, this year started using grow bags. Both tomatoes and peppers. All recipients were very happy and kept their plants going through the entire season.

Folks with kids reported how their little ones got fascinated by the flower blooming, fruit setting and growing sequence. It also taught them responsibility and accountability to keep the plant watered.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Kikaida

Pretty cool, I think for almost guaranteed success before the plant gets annihilated...I'd entertain going with a cherry type. Mines have had the snot beat out of it with bugs and direct sunlight. So far its the only real producer as I have a bowl full in the fridge with another 40 or so to pick over the next couple of days. They don't get too big either.

Kikaida, please forgive me for this bit of off topic info. I keyed in on the bowlful in the fridge. Fresh tomatoes lose a great deal of their wuality and flavor when refrigerated. Knowing this, the only time I refrigerate is if they are planned to be part of a sauce or otherwise cooked, because then it doesn't matter. Only want to be helpful here.

[Starlight]

I think it is a great idea. I would also add this suggestion as there are several of us every year that grow extra plants and set them all up in 5 gallon buckets and deliver them to elderly folks.

Most of what we give them is early producing determinates because of the heat and humidity down here. They don't need to be out in it, even just to water a plant.

When we first started doing such a thing we found like was mentioned a lot of folks just didn't know how to take care of their plant. What we did was print of small calenders with 6 months on it and the weeks and put on a piece of cardboard and basically marked the days for them that they should feed and we gave them little pre-made packets of ferts and espsom salts. Watering was harder so the buckets all came with a yard stick and directions on how to check the moisture.

Some folks still croaked off their plants, but the ones that didn't had the biggest smiles and had to share when they got their first tomatoes.

It's soil, a bucket, and a plant. I a living gift. What's great about it, is at least it is not one they are going to try and regift.

For the few who kill off theirs the first try we set them up again the following year and we also check to make sure if their plants died that we brought them some fresh veggies.

I say go for it. : )

[Dangit]

Thanks to all of you for the advice and encouragement.

It doesn't seem so hair-brained after all. Like I said, this year is an experiment. Can I get tomatoes from my bucket with only the addition of water?

It's been just 1 month, so not what I'd call a result, but there are a few fruit set and a boat load of blooms. I'll keep you posted as it goes along.

Dangit

[schill93]

Originally Posted by Dangit

Thanks to all of you for the advice and encouragement.

It doesn't seem so hair-brained after all. Like I said, this year is an experiment. Can I get tomatoes from my bucket with only the addition of water?

It's been just 1 month, so not what I'd call a result, but there are a few fruit set and a boat load of blooms. I'll keep you posted as it goes along.

Dangit

Dangit. When you say nothing but water, are you not planning on putting in at least one cup of granular fertilizer around the rim and some dolomite in your mix? I would not give them the gift without this added to the bucket. You want them to have success with it and make it as easy as possible for someone to succeed with the plant.

Starlight, I think this is a marvelous idea. Certainly an easy way for elderly people to be able to have a garden. Not only provides food for them, but can give them an enjoyable hobby to pursue. Come to think about it, it would make a very good how to demonstration down at a Senior Center. They have classes that teach them how to make things. This would be a great one to teach.

[Dangit]

schill93, you're right, the idea is to put everything in the bucket that the plant will need. My mix has a good mix of organic ferts, is PH balanced, dolomite, etc. It's got everything I can think of to make one plant happy for a season. I didn't add any time release fertilizer, but maybe that would be a good idea.

This will be a continuing learning experiment, so I am open to any suggestions.

Dangit

[Dangit]

Well I've had to pull the plug on this attempt. There have been a couple of issues that I did not anticipate, but can adjust for next time.

1.Too many tomatoes with no support. This little bush early girl really took off, and has produced at least 30 fruit. While installing a cage two heavily fruited branches broke nearly off. I was able to tie them upright without any further damage, and they didn't even wilt. It's been about three weeks, and those branches and tomatoes look just fine.

2. Blossom end rot. Looks like this will be a big problem. Had to toss several toms already. I'm thinking that I will need to use a better fertilizer plan. Maybe something like the Earth Box folks recommend.

With all that in mind I just went ahead and hit it with a good dose of TTF in an effort to salvage the remaining 20 or so tomatoes left on there.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

Dangit

[taboule]

Maybe too late for this yet, but don't give up completely for next year

1) Support: put in the cage very early to avoid damage. Or add sticks as plant grows, but if you give it as a gift, best to get it fully prepped before you give it away.

2) BER: start with a larger container and water/feed regularly. Check the live thread/topic on BER, lots of advice there.

[luigiwu]

I agree with taking queues from the earthbox. Anyone wanting to grow in containers can benefit from its self-watering features and the strip of fertilizer that is put down initially. I use 10-10-10 as a ring around my 5-gallon buckets when doing so.

I have an old neighbor that I made some self-watering containers and gave to. The issue was they didn't get the idea that all the had to o was fill the bottom reservoir until water came out of the overflow hole - or at least didn't care about it. I had explained it probably 1000x times becuase she is always asking questions about my container garden... at the end, its hard to change old habits and I think they wanted to top-water, the way they have always garden, despite asking me 1million questions a week about mine

[Dangit]

taboule - I'm not giving up, just trying to learn how this might work. I have designed a cage that attaches to the bucket with wire ties, and goes half way around the plant. This works well for my pepper plants in the same type of bucket. There is no problem installing this when the planter is made. The nature of the SIP has insured that the plant never did dry out. It has had a very constant moisture level since day one, so I'm hoping that the BER is from a nutrient deficiency, at least in this case. I have studied a lot of info on BER, and it seems to me that it is still a bit of a mystery. Kind of a crap-shoot even under perfect conditions. My other tomatoes, grown with the same soil mix in similar planters, have had no issues with BER. If I've missed something on this, please let me know.


luigiwu - Thanks for that info. Since I'm using 5 gallon buckets, that's just what I need to know. Can you tell me how much of the 10-10-10 you use? Does that dose carry the plant for the entire season? Do you use mulch or plastic to cover the soil?

With luck, and all your help, the next try will be better.

Dangit

[BackyardFarm]

I planted a Sungold in a five gallon SWC (made from buckets) for my sister this year for her apartment balcony. It's still at my house because she has yet to come and get it with her work schedule being the opposite from mine! This weekend I'm going to just deliver it, right in time for the first ones to be all nice and ripened for her kids.

That said...I still plan on giving each of my siblings a cherry tomato in a five gallon bucket (SWC) next year. It was a fun experiment and next year I'll deliver at the beginning of June

[Catherine+twin]

I didn't quite give tomatoes as gifts, but I used to start tomatoes for my mom, aunt, and myself, and then always had spares to give away at work, etc. Actually, my grandma always told us that gift plants always died, but stolen plants thrived, so it is a family joke that you put the plant out, then turned your back while the recipient "took" it.

My mom is gone now, my aunt can't go out in the garden because her medication makes her so sun-sensitive, and this year I still started the same number of plants I used to, if not more. I stopped gardening for several years after my mom died, during the worst of our drought, but about five years ago and the year before that my kids set up a table by the street on Memorial Day weekend and sold my spare tomato seedlings and a bunch of aloe pups we had potted up. To appease my grandmother's spirit, I let the neighbors "steal" the plants for either $1 or $2 each, although the aloes were $4 because the kids saw how much they were selling for at the grocery store. (I think we saturated the aloe market here, but I had neighbors tell me in the fall that the only tomatoes they got were from my short-season picks.) I remember one year the kids made $48. But we were busy this year and didn't set up our table, so I found places for all but the 4 plants I gave away (had stolen) at work. That's, um, 58 tomato plants in a garden that has only held 24 in the past, and that was a BIG year.

My many tomatoes are still green this year (long, cool spring, we're about 2 weeks late on my early-earlies), but my plants are LOADED. I planted extras of a supposed-Sicilian sauce tomato for my Italian/Sicilian-American step dad, and he is going to be OUT OF TOWN when they ripen!!! Mother Nature is NOT cooperating!

Catherine