Worried about excess rain

Leafer · May 9, 2009

Hello all, I am new to the forum and new to container planting as well, so I am definitely in need of some advice from the seasoned vets. I have a 31 gallon container going right now with two plants in it, and it has been raining a LOT here almost every day since the plants have been 'tainer-fied (ie -- in the container

). Anyway, I am not worried about there being too much water, so much as I am worried about the abundant rain leaching a lot of the lime and fertilizer out before the plants can benefit from it. Am I being paranoid, or is this a valid concern?

Oh, and one more thing, my plants only get about 4 hours of direct sunlight a day, and a few more indirect -- is that enough, or should I move them to a better location? Thanks in advance.

feldon30 · May 9, 2009

It is certainly a concern that container plants need to have their fertilizer, lime, etc. "refreshed" more often during the season than in-ground plants, and rain can exacerbate that.

As for specific quantities to add and application rates, I leave that to container experts.

4 hours sounds very lean for tomato plants. If you can move them, I would.

ContainerTed · May 9, 2009

leafer, you've probably heard about a "barn raising". Well, at my house, we've had several "tree trimmings". And we're about to have a couple more. If your problem is trees, then look for which branches are the real sun blockers and think about how to trim those without making the tree too ugly for the neighbor folks who view it. In my case, I could care less what someone else thinks. I try to live my life for me, not them. But that's another story.

If anyone needs me tomorrow morning, I'll be at a "tree trimming".

Ted

Leafer · May 9, 2009

Feldon -- thanks, yeah, I thought I probably needed to "refresh," as it were, and I will as needed; still a little early for it yet I think, rain or no . . . as for sunlight concerns, that is what I was afraid of . . . .

Ted -- tree trimming is an excellent idea, if only it were that easy: I'm on rental property, but that's not the main thing. It's tree TOPS not branches that are my problem. Ugh.

Oh, and to compound the pain in my buttocks, raccoons have been digging in my 'tainer! Those little %$#*%#%! I know they are only doing what nature told them to do, but that doesn't make me any more sympathetic their marauding.

Suggestions anyone? I have put out some hot red pepper flakes and am looking into using coyote urine, but does that even work?!?

ContainerTed · May 9, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leafer

Oh, and to compound the pain in my buttocks, raccoons have been digging in my 'tainer!

Suggestions anyone? ?!?

Another Tennessean name of "Crockett" was known to say that they made pretty good hats.

Ted

Leafer · May 9, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Another Tennessean name of "Crockett" was known to say that they made pretty good hats.

Ted

Yeah, heard that myself, but I don't wanna be king of the wild 'tainer-teer, lol!

newatthiskat · May 10, 2009

How about putting some screen over the top of the container leaving an area for it to not touch the plants? They would not be able to dig then. My problem with racoons was that they would take the top of my tomato plants off just trying to get a single tomato off the top. I can't plant corn or melons anymore because they would get it before I could.

Kat

dice · May 11, 2009

Calcium moves fairly slowly through soils, so I would not add
more lime without doing a pH test first. If pH is still between
6 and 7, a couple of handfuls of gypsum on top of the container
mix is probably a better idea (adds calcium, will not raise pH).
Gypsum is fairly cheap at big box hardware stores (25-40
pounds for a few dollars) , really cheap at farm supply
stores ($5 or less for 80 pounds, usually), so it does not raise
the cost of growing tomatoes much to keep a bag of it around
for a pH-neutral calcium supplement.

Phosphorus stays put especially well once it is in soil or
container mix, too, so that is not likely to leach out. Nitrogen
is the main thing that you might need to add, and some
potassium. They need more potassium as fruit are developing
anyway, and a lot of people add more fertilizer that has
more potassium than nitrogen or phosphorus at fruitset,
even without excessive rain.

If you were using a liquid fertilizer soil drench, this would be
easy: fish emulsion for the leached nitrogen and molasses
for the potassium, ignoring the phosphorus. If you want
something that you can top-dress, something like a 5-1-5
to 5-1-10 would be about right.

Usually you want 6 hours minimum direct sun. Less slows
them down quite a bit (although you are pretty far south
so you might get away with 4 hours; I would not know
whether to expect that to work without having tried it
first).

May 9, 2009	#1
Leafer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Oxford, MS Posts: 13	Worried about excess rain Hello all, I am new to the forum and new to container planting as well, so I am definitely in need of some advice from the seasoned vets. I have a 31 gallon container going right now with two plants in it, and it has been raining a LOT here almost every day since the plants have been 'tainer-fied (ie -- in the container ). Anyway, I am not worried about there being too much water, so much as I am worried about the abundant rain leaching a lot of the lime and fertilizer out before the plants can benefit from it. Am I being paranoid, or is this a valid concern? Oh, and one more thing, my plants only get about 4 hours of direct sunlight a day, and a few more indirect -- is that enough, or should I move them to a better location? Thanks in advance.

May 9, 2009	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	It is certainly a concern that container plants need to have their fertilizer, lime, etc. "refreshed" more often during the season than in-ground plants, and rain can exacerbate that. As for specific quantities to add and application rates, I leave that to container experts. 4 hours sounds very lean for tomato plants. If you can move them, I would. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

May 9, 2009	#3
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	leafer, you've probably heard about a "barn raising". Well, at my house, we've had several "tree trimmings". And we're about to have a couple more. If your problem is trees, then look for which branches are the real sun blockers and think about how to trim those without making the tree too ugly for the neighbor folks who view it. In my case, I could care less what someone else thinks. I try to live my life for me, not them. But that's another story. If anyone needs me tomorrow morning, I'll be at a "tree trimming". Ted __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

May 10, 2009	#7
newatthiskat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: texas Posts: 1,451	reply How about putting some screen over the top of the container leaving an area for it to not touch the plants? They would not be able to dig then. My problem with racoons was that they would take the top of my tomato plants off just trying to get a single tomato off the top. I can't plant corn or melons anymore because they would get it before I could. Kat

May 11, 2009	#8
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Calcium moves fairly slowly through soils, so I would not add more lime without doing a pH test first. If pH is still between 6 and 7, a couple of handfuls of gypsum on top of the container mix is probably a better idea (adds calcium, will not raise pH). Gypsum is fairly cheap at big box hardware stores (25-40 pounds for a few dollars) , really cheap at farm supply stores ($5 or less for 80 pounds, usually), so it does not raise the cost of growing tomatoes much to keep a bag of it around for a pH-neutral calcium supplement. Phosphorus stays put especially well once it is in soil or container mix, too, so that is not likely to leach out. Nitrogen is the main thing that you might need to add, and some potassium. They need more potassium as fruit are developing anyway, and a lot of people add more fertilizer that has more potassium than nitrogen or phosphorus at fruitset, even without excessive rain. If you were using a liquid fertilizer soil drench, this would be easy: fish emulsion for the leached nitrogen and molasses for the potassium, ignoring the phosphorus. If you want something that you can top-dress, something like a 5-1-5 to 5-1-10 would be about right. Usually you want 6 hours minimum direct sun. Less slows them down quite a bit (although you are pretty far south so you might get away with 4 hours; I would not know whether to expect that to work without having tried it first). __________________ -- alias