Growing Tomatoes in 5 gal buckets question

[Delerium]

Hi Everyone!

Can anyone give me a good organic potting medium recipe for a well drained mix if top watered? Some of my 5 gal containers tend to get BER and i think it probably has to do with my watering.

[claherron]

I gave up trying. Every year they started gangbusters and the next day BER. If possible put them in the ground.


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[Delerium]

My DIY Earthboxes don't have that problem. With 5 gal buckets it happens. I am thinking it has to do with the way i am watering them. I do grow in the ground as well. Do all 3 but this is for a little experiment i want to try so that is why i am asking. Need something that drains well but don't want material that will steal nitrogen like Bark and so forth.

[amideutch]

Whatever you choose for your aggregate just add perlite till it gets to the consistency you want. Helps with aeration, drainage and water retention. Ami

[mdvpc]

I am growing in 5 gallon smart pots, 25 varieties, including 3 pastes. No BER at all-I always grow in 5 gallon containers, and I rarely have any BER. I used miracle grow organic choice potting mix. My smart pots get watered on a drip system-you are right, its the watering. Most people overwater tomato plants, but the important thing is consistent watering. Also, with 5 gallon containers, the fert requirements are different-the ferts get washed out, thats why I use a liquid soil drench and foliar feed.

[TightenUp]

last year i had 3 plants which each got a 4 gallon container. i pruned down to 2 stems to keep the plants manageable in that small size container.

i used vigoro potting mix with some added perlite and a small amount of lime and of course fertilizer. i think the key with BER comes with watering. i set up a drip hose on a timer to water a small amount each day. of course i couldnt control the rain.

the only time i had BER was when my timer failed and the potting mixed dried up. luckily it rained as i was away for the weekend or i felt my plants would have died. the plants were stressed which resulted in a lot of BER. i got my timer situation figured out and didnt have BER the rest of the season.

my advice would be to regularly water and dont stress the plants out because of drying up the potting mix. sure you can go crazy trying to find the perfect potting mix but having the right fertilizer and watering regularly worked for me

[SIP Gro-Tubs]

See the following thread

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=28229

5 gl single bucket SIP, SWC, or whatever you want to call it.

Terry Layman

[Delerium]

I don't want to build a SWC. The reason i want to good draining mix is to cut the bottom of the 5 gal bucket so i can put it on top of a raised bed. So the roots can continue to grow in to the raised bed itself. I would probably drill some holes at the top of the bucket to run a small drip hose or something rather like that. I figure why limit the container at the same time why not utilize the container on top of a raised bed.

[TightenUp]

Why not grow tomatoes in both? Putting containers on top of the bed gives you half the planting space as keeping then separate

[Delerium]

I do already but i just want to try it for fun . I prefer growing in 18 gal totes. I already grow in Macro bins but 5 gal buckets are so limiting i want to try it on a raised bed only because tomatoes do so much better in raised beds.

[tlintx]

If you're basically making raised beds, you should look at Carolyn's just showing off thread. She uses half premix, half compost, if I recall correctly. And you never saw such pretty plants and fruit!


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[KathyDC]

I'm basically doing this method except not on raised beds, they're just sitting on top of the ground. I decided to use a modified version of this method (http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot....ole-in-it.html).

I also am using 5-gal buckets with drilled drainage holes, and a medium-sized hole in the bottom of the bucket so they can root down through it. For me the buckets were a necessity because our soil in our back yard is terrible and we didn't have time to build up an amended bed. So this way I figured they'd get good amended soil in the bucket, and hopefully not be stunted by being able to root down through the hole into our awful soil.

In the buckets, I'm using a mix of potting soil, compost from leaf clippings, and vermiculite, with some TomatoTone scratched in. I'm also feeding with a liquid fertilizer called Texas Tomato Food (which they have loved so far). The plants are all green and healthy so far, though no fruiting yet (blooms are just now appearing).

I'm not using this site's method of anchoring though, it looked a little too intense for me. Instead I am using screw eye bolts screwed into holes in each bucket, anchored with 6' (resin) "bamboo" poles pounded down through the eyes to keep them from tumping over.

Kathy

[Delerium]

Glad to see someone doing this! Did this person post any follow up pictures? This is exactly what i want to do with my tomatoes in raised beds and be able to plant other plants around them making use of more of the planting space. I wouldn't bother putting drainage holes just leave the bottom completely open.

[KathyDC]

I never saw any follow up posts, but I didn't look too hard. I don't think this was their first time out doing this method, though.

[tlintx]

From what I've read (and experienced) even a few drainage holes in contact with the ground give you a raised bed effect. You get the benefit of the ground's wicking power and can use a more forgiving mix than, say, a SWC.

You might google the pot-in-pot method. It's a nursery growing technique where you put... a pot in a pot.