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Re: Container Tomatoes (Stephanie Green)

Hi Stephanie,

Here's a rather belated response to your post ... I don't recall if you got
a reply or not.

As long as your cucumbers aren't covered and the insects can get to them then
you shouldn't have to hand pollinate at all.

[...]
> About my container tomatoes.  They are all planted in Sunshine Potting
> Soil in plastic containers.  They get fed once every week or two weeks.
> We have not added anything to the potting soil so there's no humus or cow
> manure, etc.  We have no compost yet (just started a compost heap a
> couple of months ago).  The plants were growing nicely at first and have
> lots of blossoms, but the blossoms either fall off or they started
> growing into tomatoes and aren't getting any bigger (the biggest is about
> nickel size).  The varieties are Sweet 100, Patio, and Lemon Boy.  The
> ones in our square foot garden with the humus, peat moss, and cow manure
> plus soil are doing beautifully.  Tomatoes are noticeably growing and
> coloring up and lots of blossoms that don't drop off.  Is there a
> nutrient deficiency in the containers?  What happens if you don't cut
> holes in the containers for drainage?  Please help us save our babies!
> This is our first year and we are very attached to everything!

Container plantings do have special requirements.  They dry out quickly and
the root ball can get too warm if the container is exposed to direct sunlight,
so regular watering is important.  Tomatoes will drop blossoms if they get too
dry or the temperatures are too extreme.

Tomatoes are notoriously thirsty and needy of regular watering, you might find
that you have to water more than once a day.  If it gets to be too much, you
might want to look at investing in a water timer, they are great for situations
like this.  You can also have a reservoir that the container sits in, a large
tray that will hold some of the overflow water (yes you must have holes in the
bottom of your containers! very important to have good drainage or roots can
rot) and the soil will draw this water back up as it gets drier.

Because you need to water containers so often you must also feed very regularly
to offset the leaching of nutrients that occurs.  Feeding every week or two is
good, but you might find that you can feed much more often.  Rather than give
them all their food in one meal per week, divide up the fertilizer and spread it
out over several feedings. A regular weak feed is closer to approximating what
the organic soil in your garden is doing for your tomato plants there.

One last thing, sunshine mix (I know there are several different formulations)
doesn't really have much in it other than peat moss.  You might find that the
pH in the containers is somewhat acidic.  If so you can topdress with some wood
ashes and water them in, that will help.  It's a good idea when you are using
peat to make up container mixes to add compost or well broken down manure and
some dolomite lime.

> Stephanie Green
> symphony7@juno.com

Cheers, and good luck!

   ____________________
  |                    |
  |     Bob Carter     | Kootenay Bay, BC, Canada
  |  bcarter@awinc.com | Zone 6b
  |____________________|


Its not a stolen tagline, it's just "previously viewed"

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