Started off strong now I have some wilting at the top

bigtexrb · May 24, 2011

I built 12 of the earthtainers and they all seem to be doing really well. For a while. I have 9 types of heirlooms and some strawberries, jalepenos & green chile's, and a herb one that has basil, oregano, green onions, and cilantro. I built 6 in 31 gallon containers and 6 out of 18 gallon containers. I put the non tomato plants in the smaller containers and two cherry tomato plants in 2 of them. I put two tomato plants in each container.

My wife planted some more of the herbs in regular pots and they look pathetic next to mine in the SWC.
I started the plants from seed around mid March and put them in the SWC around the first week of April. Some of the plants are as tall as me now. I only have fruit on the two cherry tomato plants. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the top of a couple of the plants had started to wilt at the top. Like they weren't getting enough water.

So I made sure the SWC were all full of water. I keep a pretty big amount of mulch on top of the plastic trash bags. They didn't really seem to perk up any after that. So I took the lid off of the worst wilting plant and sure enough the soil seems pretty dry. I then gave all of them a good drenching underneath the plastic trash bags.

I am in Austin, TX where its usually hot. But it hasn't even hit a 100 degrees yet.

I couldn't find the 5" hydro pots so I used a 4" dixie cup that I drilled holes into and cut slits as my wicking chamber. Could that be my problem? Or is it the heat?
If it is my problem. What is the solution?

I thought I read on here that you can put up shade cloth. But I thought they needed 6-8 of full sun. So what does that do for me?

Thanks and good luck with your gardening project.

bigtexrb · May 24, 2011

I used miracle grow potting soil with perlite mixed in. I used six bags of perlite for all 12 containers.

dice · May 27, 2011

Maybe the wicking part is not working well? I like to stuff the landscape
fabric down the hole where the wicking chamber is and then fill it with
potting mix. The landscape fabric wicks up water, too.

If that is the case (wick not working well), just treat them like conventional
containers for the rest of the year. Stick your hand down in there, or use
a moisture meter, and water from the top as necessary.

May 24, 2011	#1
bigtexrb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2	Started off strong now I have some wilting at the top I built 12 of the earthtainers and they all seem to be doing really well. For a while. I have 9 types of heirlooms and some strawberries, jalepenos & green chile's, and a herb one that has basil, oregano, green onions, and cilantro. I built 6 in 31 gallon containers and 6 out of 18 gallon containers. I put the non tomato plants in the smaller containers and two cherry tomato plants in 2 of them. I put two tomato plants in each container. My wife planted some more of the herbs in regular pots and they look pathetic next to mine in the SWC. I started the plants from seed around mid March and put them in the SWC around the first week of April. Some of the plants are as tall as me now. I only have fruit on the two cherry tomato plants. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the top of a couple of the plants had started to wilt at the top. Like they weren't getting enough water. So I made sure the SWC were all full of water. I keep a pretty big amount of mulch on top of the plastic trash bags. They didn't really seem to perk up any after that. So I took the lid off of the worst wilting plant and sure enough the soil seems pretty dry. I then gave all of them a good drenching underneath the plastic trash bags. I am in Austin, TX where its usually hot. But it hasn't even hit a 100 degrees yet. I couldn't find the 5" hydro pots so I used a 4" dixie cup that I drilled holes into and cut slits as my wicking chamber. Could that be my problem? Or is it the heat? If it is my problem. What is the solution? I thought I read on here that you can put up shade cloth. But I thought they needed 6-8 of full sun. So what does that do for me? Thanks and good luck with your gardening project.

May 24, 2011	#2
bigtexrb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2	My Soil Mix I used miracle grow potting soil with perlite mixed in. I used six bags of perlite for all 12 containers.

May 27, 2011	#3
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Maybe the wicking part is not working well? I like to stuff the landscape fabric down the hole where the wicking chamber is and then fill it with potting mix. The landscape fabric wicks up water, too. If that is the case (wick not working well), just treat them like conventional containers for the rest of the year. Stick your hand down in there, or use a moisture meter, and water from the top as necessary. __________________ -- alias