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

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Old April 18, 2019   #436
AlittleSalt
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The storms weren't that bad - there was a little hail and a lot of rain and wind. I did install the dragons mostly because the tomato and pepper plants were just planted 2 days ago. I would have done the same thing if the plants had been newly planted in-ground, so nothing different there.

I will always compare container growing to in-ground growing. I grew plants in-ground for most of my life. I have seen SS 100, Celebrity, and many others grow in our gardens over 8' tall and 4' around - okra that shaded me and I am 6'-1".

I expect a lot from container growing.
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Old April 18, 2019   #437
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Worth, glad you were spared from hail damage. Nothing more frustrating than losing plants you’ve invested time and money into.
- Joyce
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Old April 18, 2019   #438
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No hail I know of just a lot of rain.
Much needed rain.
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Old April 18, 2019   #439
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Here in SE La. we’re just about to get the same system that just left you folks in Texas—got the plants up against a fence, shielded by a tarp tied to fence posts & weighted @ the bottom w/cinder blocks. Hopefully this will be enough wind/hail protection. More importantly, I’m hoping that the fence doesn’t blow away!��
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Old April 20, 2019   #440
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Audrey17, I hope the storms turned out to not have the wind and hail. I did mean to ask you sooner. It has been a busy last couple of days.
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Old April 20, 2019   #441
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Post #422 (Year Two) means that it's the second year of this thread. I would like for us all to share our container gardening experiences. It happens to actually be my third year of attempting container growing, but the first year for me was a few plants that I ...really had no clue about.

Tom, thank you for sharing your pictures. They show me two things - one being an interesting way to plant in containers - the other is "any city street in the USA" Pictures I have seen of Hawaii all of life are either WW2 or tourist traps with hula dancers.
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Old April 20, 2019   #442
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The other thing I wanted to round up comes from another thread I started. All were in the right places, but here is where they actually belong. Everything I'm going to grow is in containers.

From the other thread:

"April can be the most erratic month of the year weather-wise here. Temperatures can vary from 30F to 90F. My father told me that he had seen it snow here in April, but I don't remember it snowing here in April. The latest freeze was May 2, but it was not official at DFW Airport - a lot of people lost their plants.

Knowing/experiencing this should tell me to find a new hobby, but I'm stubborn. Yesterday I finished making my 20 five gallon buckets of pro mix/MG/chunky perlite/10-10-10/ and others. A child's plastic wading pool was a good way to mix it all in. The buckets will be fed/watered with 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate. ...and rain."

The "...and rain" part used to be something I looked forward to. I still love the rain, but too much can wash away nutrients in containers. That's why I added a small amount of 10-10-10 that is distributed throughout the buckets. It may be weeks before I can water with 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate because rain may keep it too wet. The 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate is great for greenhouse growing because it doesn't rain in the greenhouse.

For us outdoors growing gardeners - we need to make our educated guess at what Mother Nature is going to provide and compensate.
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Old April 20, 2019   #443
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Salt,
Your very welcome. Happy Birthday !!! Your thread has brought many people to share their stories. Good or bad, we still continue to try.
Aloha,
Tom
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Old April 22, 2019   #444
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The past 3 days (Friday April 19th through Easter) I haven't done much with the plants other than monitoring them. The mix is basically perfectly wet/dry, so feeding the plants hasn't been needed. I did water the extra pepper plants still in Solo cups today and the tomato seedlings. The tomato seedlings will be potted up tomorrow (Monday) as I wrote, I got them started very late, but there's more to it than it sounds. They'll be fine.

One thing I was thinking about is that I'm a little uneasy about feeding/fertilizing young plants. I know a lot of you do, but after you read here throughout the years - you will see where others have burnt up their plants with fertilizers including organic ones. Then there is what you have witnessed. My father believed in a balanced man-made fertilizer, Fish Emulsion, and would use Agent Orange to control the weeds on the garden fence line. It worked.

Each of us uses what we read, have experienced, and just figuring it out for ourselves. Keep a positive mind, read, remember, and make it happen.
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Old April 25, 2019   #445
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Wednesday April 24, 2019 - it rained a lot. At least 5 inches was reported in cities nearby. I went to check our rain gauge and found it was damaged during the rains. I guess the very little bit of hail got it last week - or a mischievous grandchild - lol.

I've already mentioned this, but it drives home the point of having multiple strategies of feeding container plants that are grown outside. The 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate formulation is mixed with water and is meant to be used in containers inside a controlled environment. (Please, nobody get the wrong idea - The product has it's use, I know it has wonderful results, and I can't wait to be able to use it.) But for now, it's too wet. The containers just had 5 or more inches of rain poured into them in one day's time. That's enough rain to wash out the small amount of 10-10-10 I put in them.

I'm no expert by any means at container growing, nor do I have money to put into it. I will get up tomorrow and see what I can do for them. Most likely add more 10-10-10 carefully. In 9 days the pepper and tomato plants have almost doubled in size. I think of them as children in-a-way. Give them room to grow and loving educated support. I'm still working on the educated part.
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Old April 26, 2019   #446
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt View Post
The other thing I wanted to round up comes from another thread I started. All were in the right places, but here is where they actually belong. Everything I'm going to grow is in containers.

From the other thread:

"April can be the most erratic month of the year weather-wise here. Temperatures can vary from 30F to 90F. My father told me that he had seen it snow here in April, but I don't remember it snowing here in April. The latest freeze was May 2, but it was not official at DFW Airport - a lot of people lost their plants.

Knowing/experiencing this should tell me to find a new hobby, but I'm stubborn. Yesterday I finished making my 20 five gallon buckets of pro mix/MG/chunky perlite/10-10-10/ and others. A child's plastic wading pool was a good way to mix it all in. The buckets will be fed/watered with 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate. ...and rain."


The "...and rain" part used to be something I looked forward to. I still love the rain, but too much can wash away nutrients in containers. That's why I added a small amount of 10-10-10 that is distributed throughout the buckets. It may be weeks before I can water with 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate because rain may keep it too wet. The 4-18-38, 15.5-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Magnesium Sulfate is great for greenhouse growing because it doesn't rain in the greenhouse.



For us outdoors growing gardeners - we need to make our educated guess at what Mother Nature is going to provide and compensate.
Robert, consider covering the container tops, or bump your feed up a bit before rains. I have used that stuff for years outside in a very rainy area. Piece of cake
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Old April 26, 2019   #447
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Robert, consider covering the container tops, or bump your feed up a bit before rains. I have used that stuff for years outside in a very rainy area. Piece of cake
Thank you Mark. I'm just now seeing this 19 hours later. I haven't figured out a way to cover the containers yet. I will be working in the garden tomorrow. Hopefully a light bulb idea will happen
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Old April 28, 2019   #448
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I was able to water/feed with the Calcium Nitrate, 4-18-38, Magnesium Sulfate today. I did a lot of work on the garden today, and have a lot more to do tomorrow. (I hope tomorrow)
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Old April 28, 2019   #449
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All of this is going to sound like me thinking out-loud. I apologize for that. My mind is busy thinking of how to put a boarder around the raised bed garden. I have many options but I know the best way with the materials I have available = no cost, and it's going to take a lot of energy and work. I will get back to my decision.

Gardening is about the soil or mix, varieties, pruning, etc. There is also the lay of the land, how weather presents itself with flooding/freezing/too hot/too much sun/too little sun, and now toss in the fact the fact that I'm container gardening...there are a lot of things to think about.

First of all, the 20 containers are not sitting on flat ground - it's on a hill. Flash flood water does go through the garden, but not enough to move the containers. I have already changed the flow of the flash flooding by at least 90%, but there are still some problems. I could easily not put up a boarder, and it would work with some erosion problems, but that's just not me.

We have enough landscape timbers to sort of halfway work. If it was flat ground - those would work well enough and look good. Then we have a lot of real 1"x4" boards that have no other use for us - they need to be used, and my brother was all about me using them. I tried to let him know that while they will look good that I would basically have to cover them in tar for them to last. But he was more into telling me that I needed to stay active. He is right, but I have no money for tar.

Jan looked at it for a few seconds.

So...My decision is to move the cut limestone from the old garden to make a lasting boarder for the container garden.

Last edited by AlittleSalt; April 29, 2019 at 09:22 AM. Reason: 'by' instead of buy
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Old April 28, 2019   #450
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to move the cut limestone

That sounds like heavy work that you could use some help with!
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