Stupice in a container?

[jmsieglaff]

To those that have/do grow Stupice. How do you think it would do in a 5 gallon bucket? I've had great success growing dwarf tomatoes and to a lesser degree indeterminate cherries in those, but have had issues with BER when trying to grow non-dwarf, larger than cherry sizes likely due to inconsistent soil moisture. But from what I read, the smaller sized fruits and relatively compact plant habit may lend well to growing these in a container. I suppose worst case by later July if they plant has out grown the container and is struggling, I just pull it and enjoy the other varieties that will start ripening, as I will have enjoyed many ripe tomatoes by then. My earliest is always Sungold, but I think Stupice will win that race.

[NarnianGarden]

I've grown it in a pot about that size last summer. It did OK, and in a sunny location on my parents' patio it was quite productive - but then all of the plants had a hefty dose of horsemanure, which just makes everything grow and taste better
Early it was not, Azoychka was the earliest for my parents.

BER was not an issue with Stupice - a couple of other varieties were hit by it (due to irregular watering and weather changes), but all in all, the season was a success.

[creister]

I have grown it in an earth-tainer before. I have also grown it in the ground. Both times, I had BER issues. It loaded up with fruit, that is for sure.

You should have no problem growing it in a 5 gallon container, but just remember to water and fertilize more frequently. Do you drill drain holes in the bottom of the bucket? I have cut 1.5 inch drain holes in the bottom with a circle cutter drill bit. The roots grew into the ground through the holes. Plants did real well.

[AKmark]

I grow several hundred plants a year in containers, piece of cake, if you water correctly. I got 3lbs from a Brandywine in a 1/2 gallon container, so 5 gallon will work for Stupice. Prune the plants to 4-5 branches since they bear smaller fruits.

[Blueaussi]

These are the ollas I used for small containers last year.

http://shop.growingawarenessurbanfarm.com/butternut

They did seem to help prevent BER by evening out the water.

[jmsieglaff]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to give it a whirl. In my newer buckets I drilled two half inch holes one and a half inches above the bottom per suggestions here. That seemed to help, the ones with holes on the bottom are going to be used for peppers now. I grow my container plants on the deck so I don't have ground for them to grow into. The clay reservoir within a container is also a neat idea.

In my containers I mix composted manure with my promix and fertilizer every 10-14 days and this has done well for my container grown tomatoes and peppers.

[Labradors2]

Blue Aussie,

Can you tell us more about the Ollas? At the site, they mentioned that they were for small plants, so did you grow your seedlings in them and then pot them up into something bigger? Weren't they difficult to remove?

I didn't find anything on that site to explain more about them.

Linda

[FLRedHeart]

Linda, smaller plants are in the soil or soilless mix as normal, not inside the clay reservoir. The clay jar is just buried in the ground next to where the roots will grow, or inside the container mix like any SWC, and filled with irrigation water. It is just another variant of the self watering container that manipulates wicking of water.

In the case of a conventional SWC, the moistness of the soil is in balance with the rate the plant removes it to the capillary action of the soil which will lift water to a certain height. For the buried clay reservior, instead of buring the SWC below it can be higher. But you need a quite large clay container which takes up valuble root space to deliver enough water to a tomato in a hot climate in a container, which is why they are mainly for burying in the ground where root space is not limited. It is an interesting system, but I think modern plastics are more able to handle the diverse demands during the growth cycle and variety of hot/cold/humid/dry conditions we face. If we were growing in the desert and had a plant with lower peak needs, it would be different. Check out these while you are at it:
Plant Nanny

Blumat 0.2 liter

They are more space efficient since they can be strategically located and the main water source doesn't need to be buried. A mature tomato plant fruiting in summer might work with ten of them buried close by, but in the heat of the summer they wouldn't keep up unless you planted several extra.

[Blueaussi]

Originally Posted by FLRedHeart

But you need a quite large clay container which takes up valuble root space to deliver enough water to a tomato in a hot climate in a container, which is why they are mainly for burying in the ground where root space is not limited.

Tsk...I wish I had known this last summer when I was growing tomatoes and peppers in containers with the ollas. I would have told them to stop thriving at once.

*rolls eyes*

[luigiwu]

I thought BER has to do with uptake of calcium. I give snacks of calcium nitrate to ward it off. ALL my plantings are in approx 5 gallon containers since I only do container (RGGS) gardening.
I highly HIGHLY recommend sub-irrigated container gardening, especially the rain gutter grow system by Larry Hall. Look on youtube for his videos.

[Blueaussi]

I grew all my regular tomatoes in 15 gallon containers, and the dwarfs in 10 gallon containers last year. As I have moved to containers from growing the the ground, I have had some problems with keeping the moisture levels consistent, thus I was seeing some blossom end rot.

I tried some self watering containers, both store bought and homemade, and I really don't like them. So, as I was looking into other solutions, I started reading about the ollas. Locally, the only ones I can get are very large, and wouldn't work in the smaller containers I had some of my peppers in, plus they're about $40 a piece. I spotted these last spring, and bought 5 to try. I put 2 in tomatoes, 2 in peppers, and one in a container of flowers.

You bury them up to the neck, or even a little deeper, and plant the tomato/pepper in the pot as usual. They're not big enough to supply all the water a full grown tomato needs, but they hold enough to even out the water availability. Instead of having to water every day during really hot periods, I could water every other day. More importantly, I stopped seeing BER in tomato containers with ollas.

I put some of the large ones in the community garden bed we have at work. It's 4 x 8, and about 16 inches high. There's a lot of sand in the soil mix, and we're limited as to how much we can amend the soil. I put 4 tomato plants around an olla at one end of the bed, and some peppers, squash, herbs, and a melon around the olla at the other end. It was brilliant! They worked perfectly! Construction in that area blocked us from getting to the gardens some days, but the ollas kept everything watered. Once they accidentally cut the water lines, and we were without water for 4 days in July. I filled a couple of gallon jugs at the lab, and carted them over to fill the ollas. It worked like a charm.

Global Buckets .org has directions on how to make your own ollas from ordinary clay pots. You can make one that is the correct size for the containers you're using for a lot less money, too. I'm probably going to try a few of these this summer.

http://www.globalbuckets.org/p/olla-...ot-system.html

Some of the self waterers that FlRedHeart linked to would also even out the water supply, and that cuts down on the BER.

[Blueaussi]

It is a calcium deficiency, but it's usually caused by an uneven water supply.

[FLRedHeart]

Originally Posted by Blueaussi

Tsk...I wish I had known this last summer when I was growing tomatoes and peppers in containers with the ollas. I would have told them to stop thriving at once.

*rolls eyes*

Can you explain your comment? It sounds like you've had some success so perhaps you'd like to share some pictures. I used that design about 10 years ago and that was my experience. They were helpful in a pinch or to supplement watering, but the plants still required boosts. For that reason I prefer SWC's now.

[JJJessee]

Originally Posted by Blueaussi

I grew all my regular tomatoes in 15 gallon containers, and the dwarfs in 10 gallon containers last year. As I have moved to containers from growing the the ground, I have had some problems with keeping the moisture levels consistent, thus I was seeing some blossom end rot.

I tried some self watering containers, both store bought and homemade, and I really don't like them. So, as I was looking into other solutions, I started reading about the ollas. Locally, the only ones I can get are very large, and wouldn't work in the smaller containers I had some of my peppers in, plus they're about $40 a piece. I spotted these last spring, and bought 5 to try. I put 2 in tomatoes, 2 in peppers, and one in a container of flowers.

You bury them up to the neck, or even a little deeper, and plant the tomato/pepper in the pot as usual. They're not big enough to supply all the water a full grown tomato needs, but they hold enough to even out the water availability. Instead of having to water every day during really hot periods, I could water every other day. More importantly, I stopped seeing BER in tomato containers with ollas.

I put some of the large ones in the community garden bed we have at work. It's 4 x 8, and about 16 inches high. There's a lot of sand in the soil mix, and we're limited as to how much we can amend the soil. I put 4 tomato plants around an olla at one end of the bed, and some peppers, squash, herbs, and a melon around the olla at the other end. It was brilliant! They worked perfectly! Construction in that area blocked us from getting to the gardens some days, but the ollas kept everything watered. Once they accidentally cut the water lines, and we were without water for 4 days in July. I filled a couple of gallon jugs at the lab, and carted them over to fill the ollas. It worked like a charm.

Global Buckets .org has directions on how to make your own ollas from ordinary clay pots. You can make one that is the correct size for the containers you're using for a lot less money, too. I'm probably going to try a few of these this summer.

http://www.globalbuckets.org/p/olla-...ot-system.html

Some of the self waterers that FlRedHeart linked to would also even out the water supply, and that cuts down on the BER.

I had good results from trying a few global buckets last year. 2-eggplants, 2-tomatoes, and 2 peppers. The both tomatoes were just starting to set fruit when a storm took one out and top one that was about 8-9' after @60days from plant out - it was somewhat shady where the tomatoes were. They really do need to have water at least every other day when growing at peak rate. I left mine dry at three days a couple of times and it really hurt them. Using their recommended % of vermiculite is important.

[Blueaussi]

Yeah, larger containers usually mean you can go longer between waterings. I have one 25 gallon nursery pot I pulled out of the trash, and it didn't need watering more than twice a week.