...that tomatoes in containers is the way to go.
What I need is about ten 25 gal nursery pots.
And cages made from a roll of woven wire.
And water reservoirs. With the one gallon water reservoir, I just stick the hose in there in the morning and fill it up. Every couple fo weeks you can add fertilizer right into the reservoir.When the reservoir over flows is continues to fill the pot with water from the bottom. You can water the tomato plant completely from the bottom. And that basically means - no soil splash up. I've had to trim my tomato plants in the bed for blighted leaves at least once a week, and after removing the lower set of leaves on the potted plants, there has been NO yellowing at all.
Not that the regular bed of tomatoes is doing poorly.
There are quite a few fruit set on every plant. The nasturtiums are blooming
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| Bed #1. Cucumbers started late in the cold frame and the last of the lettuce |
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| Bed #2 Cucumbers. First lettuce has been pulled out. I need to plant bush beans |
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| One vine is beginning to bloom |
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| Bed #3 Wando peas eight feet+ tall and still producing |
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| Bed #4 Easy Peasy Peas done and ready to come out |
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| Bed #6 Sweet Corn first planting |
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| Bed #5 Sweet Corn second planting |
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| Bed #7 Cantaloupes These puny little guys are beginning to bloom |
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| Bed #8 Tomatoes and Eggplants. Nasturtiums are blooming |
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| Bed #9 Garden Sweet Peas done and ready to come out I'll try these again next year on the tall trellis instead of the Wando. Then I'll see if they are really as productive as I think they are without having to fight through the jungle. They are sweeter than the other varieties which means you can pick them a little late without regretting it. |
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| Bed #10 Penelope Peas done and ready to come out These are my favorite variety. They are good producers for their height and have long straight pods |
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| Bed #11 Buckwheat ready to turn in and zucchini |
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| Dunja Zucchini planted late |
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| This is my favorite view in the garden. Beautiful corn! The pumpkin vines are working their way out. |
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| A cluster of Paul Robeson tomatoes (in container) |
Bush Beans were seeded in Bed #12 this weekend and were up in three days.
The past two weeks have been short on rain. My water tank was down by half (250 gal) but one inch of rain yesterday filled it back up in short order.
Your garden inspires me so. I just can't get to there part time. Once we're there full time hopefully it will be easier. I can't remember if I've asked you this but how do you keep the weeds out of the gravel? Is there weed block under that? It's just stunning. Seriously I come to your blog and just fall in love all over again, ha. Interesting about the tomatoes. We've not had much luck with tomatoes in the raised beds here. But a few years back when we had our house in town (now we're in a high-rise apt) I grew tomatoes in container because that was the only way and they did very well, not as fussy as I've noticed the in ground ones. I might have to develop some strategy for that. Keep up the work, you are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI know it's tough to leave a garden for five days and come back to see what has happened or what has been eaten. I don't know how I would even deal with gardening in Houston weather! Under the gravel is stabilization mat. This is different from weedblock you might put in the landscape. It's very slick like a nylon product, and roots can't knit to it. But we still get weeds growing hydroponically in the gravel. I've decided the real key to it is having the walkway cushion between the garden and the lawn. We still had lawn along one side, and that was where most of the weeds would come. Mostly from lawn mowing getting the plant seeds airborne. Also, the birds liked to perch on the fence at the edge of the lawn and bird poop is full of seeds. So I had my husband add a walkway down the other side, and he's going further adding a wide horseshoe pit next to that and all of a sudden the lawn is a long way from the garden. I'll be posting an update on that project soon.
ReplyDeleteSo the container tomatoes. Two of my pots are probably 15-20 gallons and the third is probably 7-10 gallons, and I do see a difference in the amount of area the roots have to spread. But also, I'm using potting mix in the containers, and while I work very hard to keep my garden soil healthy and fertile, it's hard to beat fresh potting mix for nutrients.