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

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Old July 13, 2009   #1
akeimou
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Default maxikap

has anybody used a maxikap system? i'm thinking of trying it. looking for some experiences. was surprised that searching tomatoville about it returned zip.

--meg
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Old July 13, 2009   #2
habitat_gardener
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I haven't heard of that one, but there are tons of posts on self-watering containers, including various homemade versions, for both indoors and outdoors.
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Old July 22, 2009   #3
hmacdona
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I bought a couple of them this year for the first time. So far the tomato plants are very strong and healthy despite the wet cool weather we've had so far this year. I'd have to say they are healthier than most of the other tomatoes I have planted in other containers.

I filled the watering chambers a month ago and haven't had to water since. I expect that will change once we have and extended period of much warmer weather.

So far so good. I'm quite happy with my purchase.
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Old July 22, 2009   #4
dokutaaguriin
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Hi Meg,
I have used Maxikaps for growing cherries (hybrids) with success. I don`t believe that besides Garden Retreat the only other place to purchase them is Denmark.
Search for earthtainers (homemade self-watering containers) as mentioned above and I think you will be impressed with the results. It does take a little bit of work and dollars to make them; but think of it as a long term investment. I am evaluating some earthtainers this year and will post some photos once I get back to Canada.
Sorry to hear about all of your troubles this year with compost. Was it from Western Canada? Did you contact them?
Jeff
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Old July 23, 2009   #5
hmacdona
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In case you're in the north end of Calgary, Plantation garden centre in the NW sells them as well. They're on 4th street and I think 26th avenue nw.
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Old July 23, 2009   #6
akeimou
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thanks for the pointers, hmacdona---i have to find a really good price because i need 20 of them! that's assuming i can plant at most 3 tomato plants per maxikap box. how many plants do you have per box?

hey, Jeff, good to hear. i did look at the earthtainers but the instructions look complicated to me---i'm not handy with tools like that. maybe i'll use this coming winter to learn how to do it. anyway, looking forward to your evaluation of different earthtainers, and maybe a comparison with maxikap too?

how long are you away for? how do you/anybody do that, be away from the tomatoes for an extended period of time, and how extended can it be?

btw, the tomatoes outside the greenhouse don't have any problems at all and the same batch of compost was used on them so it's not the compost. it's a real mystery. not knowing the exact cause, i'll just have to try a few different things for next year as listed here.

--meg
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Old July 23, 2009   #7
hmacdona
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You can only plant 3 per container. For the container itself, I believe they still run around 30 bucks. If you get the whole kit, which includes fertilizer and growing medium, I think it's about 43 bucks. Garden retreat has the best price, but if you have to drive to the other end of the city to get them, it's probably worth paying a couple of bucks extra at Plantation garden centre as gas costs more.

These containers are quite big, so I can't imagine anyone fitting 20 of them in their backyard here in Calgary. You must have a big lot. The water reservoir in these is a lot bigger than any other swc I've seen for sale. That's why I liked them, so I could go away for a bit and not have to worry about watering. They say you only have to water every two weeks with these, but so far it's been a month and I haven't had to fill again. I would think you could easily go away for two weeks without seeing to the tomatoes if you use the maxicap system.

If you haven't had a chance to see them in person, Garden Retreat has them on display, so you can see the size for yourself.

Good luck with your purchase. I'm sure you could negotiate a discount if you were buying a large quantity.
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Old April 27, 2010   #8
akeimou
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seeded tomatoes indoors Mar 14, transplanted into 3" pots and opened window and turned on fan Mar 27, moved trays to greenhouse and turned on heater to keep above freezing temps at night Apr 11, transplanted to maxikaps Apr 14, first flower bud Apr 24 (on Chocolate Stripes) woo-hoo! that's the earliest ever in over 10 years.



started with 10 maxikaps this year. if successful, will add 10 more next year.

--meg
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Old April 27, 2010   #9
DanishGardener
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The maxikap's are great! I grow allmost all my tomatoes in them, and most of my other greenhouse veggies like peppers, cucumbers, eggplants and so on. I usually bury the maxikap in the ground, to allow the tomatoes to grow higher in the greenhouse.
The company (Pindstrup) also makes "minikap", a mini SWC for seed starting wich i can highly recommend: http://www.familiejournal.dk/Artikler/Have/~/media/websites/FamilieJournalen.dk/Website/Artikler/Have/2010%20Uge%201%20til%2013/08%2010%20Minikap.ashx

What is the price for one maxikap in the US? Just curious
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Old April 27, 2010   #10
akeimou
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in Calgary Canada it's $50 per kit (including tax) from Garden Retreat. at first i couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a planter and tried other systems like wooden boxes, 7-gal plastic pots, automatic watering systems but there's always a problem. years later i realized i've already spent as much if not more than if i went straight to maxikaps.

now i wonder, does anybody plant on the soil around the 3 main plants? should probably be a shallow-rooting crop. like what?
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Old April 28, 2010   #11
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Lol, the maxikap must be about the only thing that is cheaper here, than over the pond
They cost 17,5 USD here.


I sometimes plant basil in them with the tomatoes.
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Old May 29, 2010   #12
akeimou
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Default so far so good

i plan to add water tomorrow, that's only the second time. the first time was Apr 15, i.e., 6 weeks in between waterings! and some are not completely empty yet. mind you, the maxikap has a 50-litre water reservoir (literature says). and it's been a cold spring. had phosphorus deficiency for a while there. right now it's still snowing outside but at least temp is above 0°C, barely. brrr!

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Old May 29, 2010   #13
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What is the diameter of the planting cylinders? Ami
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Old May 29, 2010   #14
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akeimou, Your plants look wonderful. I'm trying to build my own SWCs, but if they do not work I may have to try a similar product, which is available here in Finland. http://www.biolan.fi/suomi/default3....ve_page_id=672 . I did not find pricing for that system anywhere, but I assume it is going to be exensive like anything made by the same company.
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Old May 29, 2010   #15
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i'm guessing the diameter is 3 inches. the seedlings were in 3.5" pots and i had to squeeze the soil to fit into the cylinder. i'll know for sure when i clean them out later this year. i'm curious, why you ask, Ami? what might be a good diameter?

the biolan version looks interesting. it looks like plastic which would be more durable and less fragile than maxikap's styrofoam. and the "portholes" would make it easier to check the water level except perhaps when it's near empty. i've given up on the blue ball floater and started using a plastic chopstick as a dipstick---if i dip it in the watering hole and it comes out dry to the touch then the reservoir is most likely empty. thinking an endoscope would be ideal :-]

thanks, svalli. keeping fingers crossed. they looked wonderful this time last year too and then all hell broke loose in June, the main reason i switched to this maxikap system.

--meg
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