Has anyone else attempted a LakeTainer?

[lowlylowlycook]

I just got back from 2 weeks of vacation.

My worries that I'd find that the bucket had slipped again and drowned my tomato seem to have been unfounded.



I guess I should prune that side branch but I'm tempted to rig some kind of line to support it.

[Timmah!]

Looking nice & healthy. =)

[rnewste]

llc,

You may want to wrap some bird netting around the entire plant to keep it held together. Looking great!! Gives the term "Aqua-culture" an entirely new meaning.

Raybo

[ddsack]

Looking good! I don't think you ever told us what variety you are growing in there.

I'll have to send this link my neighbors, they have absolutely no sun on their property. I suggested containers on their dock, but they were afraid of normal foot traffic bumping either the pot or the person into the lake. Floaters would be ideal for them.

[lowlylowlycook]

I think it was Jet Star.

Also I pulled my first small tomato from it. Should be ripe in a couple days.

[TomatoDon]

Give us another update. I'm more fascinated with this daily saga than with "Days of Our Lives."

[lowlylowlycook]

Well, this thing is now producing more tomatoes than my 10 main garden plants which seems to be past their prime.

It's been hit pretty hard by something that seems to clips off leaves and I've lost tomatoes to critters too but I can't believe how well this thing worked. The tomatoes are pretty nice sized. A few of them have some splitting so it might still be getting a too much water.

Next year I might try to put an early variety in it and only "launch" it after all threat of frost is gone. That way I could plant a bit early and stretch out my season.

[lowlylowlycook]

Hmmmm. Slight problem for next year.

It's occurred to me that something that likes really wet soil would be a better fit for the LakeTainer, even if I bought a packet of Sophies Choice seeds since Carolyn said they like to keep their feet moist.

So it seems my choices are:

1. Tomatoes: Funny choice
2. Water Spinach: Lazy choice

Ideally I'd launch a second Tainer and do both, but the surplus inflateable rowboat I was eyeing suddenly became non-surplus after my neices and nephews wrecked the one I always bring to the beach house.

[rnewste]

llc,

Go out and buy new tubes if you have to. Look at all the money you'll save on watering and fertilizing!

Raybo

[Tania]

I cannot believe I missed such an exciting thread...

Lowly, this is a great invention - now, think about marketing this thing!

At our old house, my husband demolished a swimming pool that we did not use very often to give me more tomato growing space. If I knew about this idea back them, he'd be building the LakeTainers instead

Way to go!

Tania

[RinTinTin]

Selling points for your marketing brochure:

* Prevent cross pollination
* No slugs, snails, hornworms, aphids, etc.
* Insects taking refuge on your plants are not herbivores
* Drought tolerant
* Prevents soil borne diseases
* Simplify crop rotations

etc, etc.

That plant sure looked healthy.

[lowlylowlycook]

This thing would seem to have some possibilities.

[rnewste]

Hey! It even has a built-in Cooler for beer!!!

I'm there!!!!!

Raybo

[RinTinTin]

Hang a fish hook from the bottom; lots of fish look for a shady spot on a hot summer day.

[lowlylowlycook]

In a discussion with my father we were speculating on the legality of anchoring the tomato in the middle of the lake vs., just tied off to our dock as it is now (as the sun heads south our shoreline gets less and less sunlight).

We don't really know but we suspect that it would be legal ... as long as we put our name and address on it and we ran a trotline off of it to catch some catfish.