Just showing off. - Page 18

luigiwu · April 28, 2014

Carolyn, you continue to amaze me!
I'm wondering if I could pick your brain about plant spacing.
I'm doing Larry Hall's Rain Gutter Grow system and I would like your input on how I can maximize my tomato plantings on a 10ft long gutter. I largely use 5 gallon homedepot buckets. I wonder if I should just grow 1 plant per bucket and have the buckets right next to each other or to put 2 plants in a bucket and space the buckets out? Any thoughts?
Thanks so much in advance!

CarolynPhillips · April 29, 2014

Luigi
If it were me and I was using the rain gutter grow system, I would grow two plants in each 5 gallon bucket and I would prune the plants to have two vines each. The main vine and the sucker that grows just below the first cluster of tomatoes. I would space the buckets at least 6 inches apart.
BUT if it is hard to get that many plants, One plant per bucket sitting next to each other will work fine. I would prune the plants down to 4 vines on the one plant.

luigiwu · April 30, 2014

Thank you so much, Carolyn!
I also have some 7 gallon root pouch growbag (felt outside) that are approx 14-inch in diameter but only 12-inches tall. Might that work better for planting 2 in one container? I'm going to have to check back with you around pruning time to make sure I'm doing it at the right place...
Just curious, do you have any advice regarding vining cukes and squash in containers on the RGGS?

CarolynPhillips · May 1, 2014

The 7 gallon grow bags sounds great. I am potting up some tomatoes this weekend in 7.5 gallon poly grow bags.

I don't know much about cucumbers and squash. I don't have much experience with those but I have read and tried growing one cucumber per 5 gallon grow bag and pruning the plant to have only two to three vines on each plant. I would assume it would be about the same in the RGGS.

SharonRossy · May 1, 2014

I have never pruned cucumbers - never saw the need to. I have grown them in 7 or 8 gallon containers. Cucumbers are manageable. They just need to be able to attach themselves somewhere, sometimes even on another stem.

Dork Fish · May 9, 2014

I had these same questions...but I didn't see it answered?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnpeppers

Carolyn:

A few questions...when you FIRST plant your tomatoes, how do you apply your fertilizer mix, and how much? Do you start sprinkling it on the top of the soil in the pot seven days later, and then every week thereafter?

How do you apply the fertilizer mix to your root vegetables; such as carrots, turnips and beets? Do you just 'side dress' the rows?

Re: calcium nitrate...do you apply the 'snack' when you plant, or do you wait until they have been in the ground 10 days, and then continue to apply it every ten days thereafter? Do you also apply that as a 'side dressing' with root vegetables?

Do you water these ingredients into the soil in all cases?

Thank you in advance...appreciate your help!

ricman · May 26, 2014

Hello Carolyn,

I have followed your post ever since I came across it a couple of years ago. You grow some incredible looking tomatoes. I always look forward to any new pictures you have. I never get tired of looking at pictures of tomatoes!! Thanks for sharing...

Rick

areetz · July 21, 2014

Carolyn,

I live in the Sandhills area of North Carolina, not too far from the Pinehurst #2 golf course. I was inspired by your Tomatoville comments and photos and decided I would try again to grow tomatoes. I refurbished my 4' x 8' raised garden and I built two EarthTainers (a somewhat difficult and time consuming effort for me). My raised garden has Al Tapla's 5:1:1 mixture of Bark Fines, Sphagnum, and Perlite. One EarthTaine (Container #1) has Ray Newstead's recommended growing mixture: a 3:2:1 ratio of Pro-Mix BX, Bark Fines, and Perlite; 3 C Lime; ¼ C Starter Fertilizer; and 3 Cups of Tomato Tone in the fertilizer strip. Container #2 was filled with a mixture similar to your EarthBox mix of Pro-Mix BX, 1 C Lime, ½ C Bone Meal, ½ C Azomite, ½ C Gypsum and 3 C of Pumpkin Power in the fertilizer strip. My Pro-Mix BX included MyCorrhizae.

I planted four tomatoes in the two containers the 3rd week of April and they started growing at a fantastic rate, both in plant height and yield, and much better than the tomatoes in my raised garden. However, about 3 weeks ago, the tomatoes in Container #1 began wilting and died. Now one of the two tomato plants in Container #2 has died and I'm afraid I'll lose the other also. Three of the tomatoes are grafted plants from Burbee's. I don't know whether the problem is too much or too little water or disease or what. I suspect some sort of blight. The caged tomatoes in the raised garden are still growing, albeit slowly. Deer are a problem for these tomatoes and they seem not to be deterred by my application of "Liquid Fence." The deer did not bother with the tomatoes in the containers, perhaps because of the nylon netting attached to their 76-inch tall cages.

Thanks for your wonderful comments and photos!

WJC055 · February 19, 2015

This thread has given me tons of good ideas.

CarolynPhillips · February 21, 2015

Sorry for not coming back to the topic.
I did not know there were questions.
Had a few medical issues. I been hibernating.....kinda.

thank you ricman.

areetz...I don't know why your plants died. I have never killed a tomato plant with this fertilizer mixture if I used the right amount. I hope you have better luck next time. Don't give up.

dork fish and tnpeppers
Yes, I apply the fertilizer mixture to the top of the soil and water it in well.
All the detail instructions should of been somewhere at the beginning of the topic. It has been so long ago....I forgot where.
Sometimes I wait a week after planting before applying calcium nitrate.....but if my plants were nice size when I planted them, I will give them a little. big pinch.
I always water in the fertilizer as soon as I apply it.

Salsacharley · February 22, 2015

It is great to hear from you again Carolyn. I hope your medical issues are under control. This thread is a classic!

Charley

luigiwu · February 22, 2015

Carolyn, nice to see you here! I've been waiting for your grow report from last year as I believe you were trying to do thing a little more organically with pumpkin power and such. How did it all work out. I never get tired of looking at your pics - more please!

CarolynPhillips · February 23, 2015

The pumpkin power pretty good. The were big and lushy green in the beginning.. I had to give a lot more and more often than the mittleider mix as the plants started producing heavy. Granted , plant growth naturally slows down when production is in full force but this was a lot slower than with mittleider mix..
I prefer the mittleider fertilizer mix in container gardening.
I will never stop using mittleider in the containers... in addition to organic amendments.

I used the pumpkin power in the garden on tomatoes, watermelons and pumpkins and it did great. Maybe it was because the milder organic fertilizer was able to sit in the soil without washing away....etc... I dunno. I liked the pumpkin power better in the garden. (along with extra amendments......bone meal, rock phosphate etc.

Barb_FL · February 23, 2015

I found this thread last week and it took me 2 days to go through it all. Your tomatoes are beautiful.

The first night of reading, I read up to the point where you weren't going to use the Mittleider mix anymore because you were going organic.

I'm glad to see your back and hope you are feeling better.

cheebamaster · April 7, 2015

Hi Carolyn,

I just read 18 pages of posts and looking at your pictures. Absolutely amazing job. I'm inspired to try your formula as this is my first year growing and I wanted to do it right. I'll be growing in 5 gallon containers.

I noticed that over time your fertilizing method/amounts have changed. Would you mind posting what you give container plants now?

From my understanding you give the mix/micronutrients from growfood.com, add 1 cup azomite, add organic phosphorous, and a pinch of epson salt and calcium nitrate. How often do you apply these fertilizations and is there anything I missed?

Thanks again and beautiful plants!

April 29, 2014	#257
CarolynPhillips Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Nauvoo, Alabama Posts: 184	Luigi If it were me and I was using the rain gutter grow system, I would grow two plants in each 5 gallon bucket and I would prune the plants to have two vines each. The main vine and the sucker that grows just below the first cluster of tomatoes. I would space the buckets at least 6 inches apart. BUT if it is hard to get that many plants, One plant per bucket sitting next to each other will work fine. I would prune the plants down to 4 vines on the one plant. __________________ Happy Gardening Carolyn

May 1, 2014	#259
CarolynPhillips Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Nauvoo, Alabama Posts: 184	The 7 gallon grow bags sounds great. I am potting up some tomatoes this weekend in 7.5 gallon poly grow bags. I don't know much about cucumbers and squash. I don't have much experience with those but I have read and tried growing one cucumber per 5 gallon grow bag and pruning the plant to have only two to three vines on each plant. I would assume it would be about the same in the RGGS. __________________ Happy Gardening Carolyn

February 21, 2015	#265
CarolynPhillips Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Nauvoo, Alabama Posts: 184	Sorry for not coming back to the topic. I did not know there were questions. Had a few medical issues. I been hibernating.....kinda. thank you ricman. areetz...I don't know why your plants died. I have never killed a tomato plant with this fertilizer mixture if I used the right amount. I hope you have better luck next time. Don't give up. dork fish and tnpeppers Yes, I apply the fertilizer mixture to the top of the soil and water it in well. All the detail instructions should of been somewhere at the beginning of the topic. It has been so long ago....I forgot where. Sometimes I wait a week after planting before applying calcium nitrate.....but if my plants were nice size when I planted them, I will give them a little. big pinch. I always water in the fertilizer as soon as I apply it. __________________ Happy Gardening Carolyn

February 22, 2015	#267
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	Carolyn, nice to see you here! I've been waiting for your grow report from last year as I believe you were trying to do thing a little more organically with pumpkin power and such. How did it all work out. I never get tired of looking at your pics - more please! __________________ Subirrigated Container gardening (RGGS) in NY, Zone 7!

February 23, 2015	#268
CarolynPhillips Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Nauvoo, Alabama Posts: 184	The pumpkin power pretty good. The were big and lushy green in the beginning.. I had to give a lot more and more often than the mittleider mix as the plants started producing heavy. Granted , plant growth naturally slows down when production is in full force but this was a lot slower than with mittleider mix.. I prefer the mittleider fertilizer mix in container gardening. I will never stop using mittleider in the containers... in addition to organic amendments. I used the pumpkin power in the garden on tomatoes, watermelons and pumpkins and it did great. Maybe it was because the milder organic fertilizer was able to sit in the soil without washing away....etc... I dunno. I liked the pumpkin power better in the garden. (along with extra amendments......bone meal, rock phosphate etc. __________________ Happy Gardening Carolyn Last edited by CarolynPhillips; February 23, 2015 at 10:19 AM.

April 28, 2014	#256
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	Carolyn, you continue to amaze me! I'm wondering if I could pick your brain about plant spacing. I'm doing Larry Hall's Rain Gutter Grow system and I would like your input on how I can maximize my tomato plantings on a 10ft long gutter. I largely use 5 gallon homedepot buckets. I wonder if I should just grow 1 plant per bucket and have the buckets right next to each other or to put 2 plants in a bucket and space the buckets out? Any thoughts? Thanks so much in advance!

April 30, 2014	#258
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	Thank you so much, Carolyn! I also have some 7 gallon root pouch growbag (felt outside) that are approx 14-inch in diameter but only 12-inches tall. Might that work better for planting 2 in one container? I'm going to have to check back with you around pruning time to make sure I'm doing it at the right place... Just curious, do you have any advice regarding vining cukes and squash in containers on the RGGS?

May 1, 2014	#260
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	I have never pruned cucumbers - never saw the need to. I have grown them in 7 or 8 gallon containers. Cucumbers are manageable. They just need to be able to attach themselves somewhere, sometimes even on another stem.

May 26, 2014	#262
ricman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Ardmore,Oklahoma Posts: 172	Hello Carolyn, I have followed your post ever since I came across it a couple of years ago. You grow some incredible looking tomatoes. I always look forward to any new pictures you have. I never get tired of looking at pictures of tomatoes!! Thanks for sharing... Rick

July 21, 2014	#263
areetz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1	Carolyn, I live in the Sandhills area of North Carolina, not too far from the Pinehurst #2 golf course. I was inspired by your Tomatoville comments and photos and decided I would try again to grow tomatoes. I refurbished my 4' x 8' raised garden and I built two EarthTainers (a somewhat difficult and time consuming effort for me). My raised garden has Al Tapla's 5:1:1 mixture of Bark Fines, Sphagnum, and Perlite. One EarthTaine (Container #1) has Ray Newstead's recommended growing mixture: a 3:2:1 ratio of Pro-Mix BX, Bark Fines, and Perlite; 3 C Lime; ¼ C Starter Fertilizer; and 3 Cups of Tomato Tone in the fertilizer strip. Container #2 was filled with a mixture similar to your EarthBox mix of Pro-Mix BX, 1 C Lime, ½ C Bone Meal, ½ C Azomite, ½ C Gypsum and 3 C of Pumpkin Power in the fertilizer strip. My Pro-Mix BX included MyCorrhizae. I planted four tomatoes in the two containers the 3rd week of April and they started growing at a fantastic rate, both in plant height and yield, and much better than the tomatoes in my raised garden. However, about 3 weeks ago, the tomatoes in Container #1 began wilting and died. Now one of the two tomato plants in Container #2 has died and I'm afraid I'll lose the other also. Three of the tomatoes are grafted plants from Burbee's. I don't know whether the problem is too much or too little water or disease or what. I suspect some sort of blight. The caged tomatoes in the raised garden are still growing, albeit slowly. Deer are a problem for these tomatoes and they seem not to be deterred by my application of "Liquid Fence." The deer did not bother with the tomatoes in the containers, perhaps because of the nylon netting attached to their 76-inch tall cages. Thanks for your wonderful comments and photos!

February 19, 2015	#264
WJC055 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Ashland, KY Posts: 3	This thread has given me tons of good ideas.

February 22, 2015	#266
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	It is great to hear from you again Carolyn. I hope your medical issues are under control. This thread is a classic! Charley

February 23, 2015	#269
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	I found this thread last week and it took me 2 days to go through it all. Your tomatoes are beautiful. The first night of reading, I read up to the point where you weren't going to use the Mittleider mix anymore because you were going organic. I'm glad to see your back and hope you are feeling better.

April 7, 2015	#270
cheebamaster Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: SC lowcountry Posts: 14	Hi Carolyn, I just read 18 pages of posts and looking at your pictures. Absolutely amazing job. I'm inspired to try your formula as this is my first year growing and I wanted to do it right. I'll be growing in 5 gallon containers. I noticed that over time your fertilizing method/amounts have changed. Would you mind posting what you give container plants now? From my understanding you give the mix/micronutrients from growfood.com, add 1 cup azomite, add organic phosphorous, and a pinch of epson salt and calcium nitrate. How often do you apply these fertilizations and is there anything I missed? Thanks again and beautiful plants!