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General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.

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Old June 4, 2010   #16
rnewste
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llc,

If you then have relatively calm water at your disposal, I would suggest you start a "FloaTainer Farm" with dozens of them in a corral on the Lake. Seems like excellent use of free space (and water), plus as Lee said, you've probably got the nutrients already in the water there for fertilization.

Anchors Aweigh!

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Old June 7, 2010   #17
lowlylowlycook
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Actually now that I think about it the obvious next step is to make it robotic and for it to search out sunlight throughout the day.

Sort of like a Roomba but for growing tomatoes on a lake.
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Old June 8, 2010   #18
heirloomdaddy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook View Post
Actually now that I think about it the obvious next step is to make it robotic and for it to search out sunlight throughout the day.

Sort of like a Roomba but for growing tomatoes on a lake.

affirmative........
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Old June 8, 2010   #19
Lee
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Quote:
Actually now that I think about it the obvious next step is to make it robotic and for it to search out sunlight throughout the day.
You could use a solar cell to charge a small battery during the day. A sensor
connected to the solar cell could be used to detect reduced charging power and
then trigger a motor to propel the "boat" towards a predetermined sunnier
spot..... Or you could just use a timer to motor it around based on the sun's
path....

Lee
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Old June 8, 2010   #20
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lowly you seem very innovative and determined check this out:

http://www.redrok.com/led3xassm.htm#led3xforsale

LED3XS24Vc3 solar tracker available for sale for $35.00us fully assembled. This includes the power connector and 5 pins (an extra pin just in case).
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Old June 8, 2010   #21
rnewste
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The amount of Collective Knowledge on this Site is scary.

Too bad we couldn't harness it to send a Tomato to the Moon!

Raybo
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Old June 8, 2010   #22
Timmah!
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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/0...-lycopene.html

Well, it's not the moon, but it did make it into space. Anyone here ever grow that variety?

Last edited by Timmah!; June 8, 2010 at 03:13 PM.
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Old June 8, 2010   #23
rnewste
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...And there you go! I stand corrected.
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Old June 9, 2010   #24
lowlylowlycook
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Well they couldn't even grow one plant. Clearly we need to send Dr Carolyn into space. In zero gravity she could still get around well enough to grow 100 plants, I'm sure.
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Old June 12, 2010   #25
Earl
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You could surround a Pontoon boat with a 100 or so of the Laketainers and sell 'real' fresh maters to the lake people. Let them pick their own for an extra dollar a lb.
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Old July 10, 2010   #26
lowlylowlycook
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Well, it's still alive:


And it has a tomato!


The plant struggled for a while because the bucket had slipped down far enough that the main dirt chamber was sitting in the lake water. I've taken a few steps to help prevent that but for next year I'll have to work out a more robust method.
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Old July 10, 2010   #27
Timmah!
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Looking pretty healthy for an experiment. Are you adding any amendments?
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Old July 10, 2010   #28
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Quote:
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Looking pretty healthy for an experiment. Are you adding any amendments?
Yeah. Whatever kind of calcium rnewste recommended for the EarthTainer, some starter fert that had minerals in it and some slow release fert.
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Old July 10, 2010   #29
rnewste
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llc,

If the container has been below the water line for some time, you might want to give it "Shore-Leave" and let the root system dry out a bit, before it sails on to the next Port.

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Old July 10, 2010   #30
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That is SO cool!!! I hope to see a whole fleet of 'em next year.
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