Tomato Pots!

[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.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by peppero

I saw a suggestion on Pinterest about using baby diapers in the bottom of containers since they have moisture absorbing crystals...There is always someone thinking>

jon

depends are bigger...

[luigiwu]

Ted,
I grow only in subirrigated containers hooked up to a float but the thing is yours is so big.
I would suggest looking perhaps at Larry hall's hybrid system or kiddie pool system? For the hybrid, you can trench a 4-inch pvc pipe with pea gravel around it and be able to set your containers on top but you'll stilll have to modify the bottom to wick - he recommends net cup packed with soil. For the kiddie pool - have a big pool like shallow tray of water that your containers (with bottom holes) now sits in... Larry Hall has lots of videos on youtube, check out these two systems from him.

[sergeant69]

Originally Posted by peppero

I saw a suggestion on Pinterest about using baby diapers in the bottom of containers since they have moisture absorbing crystals...There is always someone thinking>

jon

everytime the grandkids come for a visit I could send you some. you want the ones w/liquid or solid fertilizer? you pay postage!

Originally Posted by 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.

I agree that drainage is needed. In my case, drainage is only needed to expel excess rain water. That is something we haven't seen often lately. My water doesn't have any "salts" in it. We have a water well and it is so soft you can squirt it on your car. When it dries, it doesn't leave any hard water spots on the car. I also use drip irrigation to my pots. My problem is the main line from the timer is only 1/4" going to ten large pots. It's simply difficult to get enough water to the pots in the time alloted for the remainder of my garden. If I water the pots the correct amount, the garden will be over watered. I was simply looking for away to retain more water in the pots the plants could draw from as needed.

I made my soil in the pots with a mixture of my compost and other organic products. It retains moisture really well, but when the plants are very tall, and the sun is very hot, they consume lots of moisture/ I'm thinking about installing a 1/2" drip line to solve the problem. I'm just a little lazy and haven't done it yet.

Here are the pots I'm talking about. They are rather large at close to thirty gallons each. This photo was taken in early spring of last year. If you can imagine the tomato and pepper plants at triple the height shown, you should be able to imagine the volume of water required each day. 1/4" drip line on a timer can't deliver enough.



Ted

.

[lexusnexus]

What type of potting medium do you use in those? Do you fill it to the top?

Thanks, Dan

[Ed of Somis]

Last year I got serious about container growing tomatoes. (How come this thread is not in "container" threads?) 15 gal nursery pots worked nicely. I bought more used ones this year for $1 apiece at a local Mexican nursery. I had to wade through a few that were broken. This year I bought 20 gal "Husky" trash cans. I think they will work great...but expensive. If you are doing this in North Texas....plan on spending a lot of "hose time". haha

Dan,

I use a mixture of the most inexpensive potting soil I can find, sand, some mineral additives like Ironite, Epson Salts, compost, and a few other things I can't remember right now. I mixed everything in a wheel barrow and shoveled it into the pots. I think the potting soil I used was "Black Magic" purchased at a Big Lots store for six or seven dollars per two cubic ft. bag. Every container had the exact same mixture. I filled each pot to the top with the mixture. When the photo was taken, it had compressed to about one inch below the top of each pot. This spring, the soil level is about four inches from the top. I will slowly refill each pot next spring with fresh compost.

In my garden, I use the population of earth worms as the measurement of how healthy my soil is. I wasn't really expecting to find any earth worms in the pots this spring since I didn't introduce any into the pots and my drain holes are all at least four inches above the concrete blocks they sit on. When I planted my pepper plants last week, I found the pots to be full of large, vigorous earth worms. I don't know how they got into the pots, but I sure was happy to see them.

Ed, This thread probably should have been in the container gardening forum but I think I started it last year when I was looking for large pots or when I had just found these pots. If one of the moderators wants to move it, I kinda wish they would. I was excited to find something that really filled my desire for large pots at a reasonable price. Also, no hose time with the drip irrigation installed on a timer.


Ted

[TomatoDon]

Here are the Purina tubs I used. They are around 25-30 gallons each and work very well for determinates. I make the cages for these big enough to slip over the tub which keeps it simple and easy.

[agee12]

^How do you water / irrigate?

[TomatoDon]

By hand with a garden hose.

[ddsack]

TomatoDon, those are wonderful tubs! Are you getting them used from a feed dealer? I have not seen those around here. I used to see some unbranded heavy blue plastic tubs that minerals came in, but they were not as tall as yours. I like your set up!

[MrsJustice]

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

Here are the Purina tubs I used. They are around 25-30 gallons each and work very well for determinates. I make the cages for these big enough to slip over the tub which keeps it simple and easy.

I am so impressed, Amen!!!

So Pretty and just beautiful; but my Heirloom Tomatoes grow over 14 feet. How do you handle the Height Issues?

[TomatoDon]

ddsack, these tubs are made for cattle minerals-protein, which the cattle lick, and it reminds me of a tub of solidified molasses. The cattle ranchers around here use a lot of them every year, so there is a good supply of them. They usually sell them for $5.00 each and they are thicker and tougher than a standard black nursery pot. Probably a lot cheaper, too, and a lot cooler than black.

MrsJustice, these are best suited for smaller determinate tomatoes. I have grown some indets in them, and Park's Whopper seemed to do especially well in them, but, overall, the smaller determinates do the best.

When this picture was made, I had not put CRW cages around all of these tubs, but they all soon had cages. I made the cages with a diameter that fit over the tubs, which is ample for growing determinates that didn't get more than 4 feet tall.