5-Gallon Container Varieties & Techniques - Page 2

**mdvpc** · February 18, 2006

Ms-I am growing Red Brandywine (seed from Carolyn) right now in a 5 gallon grow bag in my greenhouse in the desert southwest-Its produced about 5 10 oz or so fruit already and probably has about 15 more fruit in various stages.

**mdvpc** · February 18, 2006

Spud-another thing I do is put some of those watering crystal, already hydrated, in my containers-it keeps the moisture even and cuts down some on the watering.

hedwarr · February 19, 2006

Wow farkee, in a dixie cup?! Looks like im savin money on containers this year. Thank you

travis · February 19, 2006

Michael and Spud,

Thanks for the detailed information. Now if the weather would cooperate, I could get out there and start drilling holes in the bottoms of those 5-gallon buckets and organize some sort of container garden.

I went and bought a couple of bags of oil absorb ... the kind made from diatomaceous earth ... now I gotta find something that approximates pecan hulls.

Thanks again, and good container growing to you this year.

PV

spudleafwillie · February 19, 2006

PV
You might try chopped up or shredded corncobs for mulch. They should be cheap or free in IN.
The large 4 or 5 cu ft bags of perlite and vermiculite cost me about 22 bucks a bag here in NM

Spud

MsCowpea · February 19, 2006

Hedwarr, good comeback.

I can't help it when yellow pear is mentioned --couple years back planted 3 of them and I had MILLIONS and they were the blandest (but pretty) little things I ever tasted. When I pulled these gigantic vines out YP's when flying everywhere--they were loaded like nothing I have ever seen before.

Good luck with your toms--hope you have a great season.

hedwarr · February 20, 2006

Farkee, all in good fun!! I was basically pointing out that my experience with a plant as prolific as yellow pear, growing so well in a 5 gal. container was really surprising to me. The roots on that plant were not gigantic. I will try to experiment with other varieties in 5 gal. containers this year. I am curious to see what happens. As for flavor, I agree that they are'nt the tastiest toms of the group, but awful? Well, to each his/her own!

P.S. I was cracking up at the image of you wrestling this monsterous yellow pear plant as it was throwing little pears at you! LMAO!! Peace and good luck with your gardening this season as well!!! ED

Mantis · February 22, 2006

Very interesting thread. I grow a lot of toms in larger than 5 gal containers and only one per pot. I haven't had very good yeilds from them, and from the posts from above, I think I need to make the mix richer.

I have been mixing 3 parts bought potting mix with 1 part sandy loam.

Would 2 parts potting mix, 1 part sandy loam, 1 part cow manure (aged, which I can get any time) be better do you think???

Mantis

spudleafwillie · February 23, 2006

Mantis,

See my post on page 1 of this thread re # of plants/container and soil mix. You are right to increase the amount of organic matter.

I use a rich organic soil mix as folows: 20% peat moss, 20% steer manure 20% sand, 20% last years container soil, and 20% crushed pecan shells. You could substitute finely chopped leaves in place of the pecan shells. The trick is to have a rich , well drained soil with a bunch of organic matter in it.

I usually grow 4 or 5 plants/ 20 gallon container with no reduction in yields. With all those plants you will have to water daily to reduce stress and feed weekly with manure tea and a low N fertilizer such as 5-20-20.

Hope this helps,
Spud

Mantis · February 23, 2006

Thanks Spud. I think you are right on about having a rich organic component. My mix has been to dry and water resisting because of too much potting mix content I reckon.
My mom planted a few tomatoes and peppers in an old laundry tub she has in her backyard. This tub is filled with straight soil from her yard which is a rich black loam. These plants look wonderful. Deep green and strong.
Jealous I am, Jealous

MikeInCypress · February 25, 2006

Ms Cowpea.
I remember reading in an old Ortho All About Tomatoes Book that a study was done on yield with tomatoes grown in four 5 gal containers vs yield of one plant of the same variety grown in a 20 gal container. On a plant to plant comparasion the plant in the larger container had the greatest yield, but the combined yield of the 4 plants in the five gal containers was significantly greater than the yield of the one plant in the 20 gal container.

That said, I grow over 80% of my plants in containers as small as 4 gal. I grew Prue and Earl's Faux in 4 gal containers last year and had a satisfactory yield for large fruit in the Texas Heat. A comparasion of Burpee Bush Big Boy In the ground vs in a 5 gal bucket showed little difference in yield.

I work from home so it is easy for me to water the 60 containers during the day. This year I am going to try a drip system and see if that works.

Can't wait for that first BLT.

Michael

MsCowpea · February 25, 2006

MDVC--that is certainly an acceptable yield for a 5 gal. container-anyone would be happy with 20 RB

Michael- do you remember how many Earl's Faux you got? What do you use for soilmix in your 4 gal. containers? More importantly how often do you fertilize--like Mantis I may just not be fert enough.

From the standpoint of constantly purchasing all this potting mix to fill my containers , smaller containers would be great. I am a huge fan of self-watering containers so I even made one out of 5 gal. paint buckets hoping it would be more successful than just the plain bucket. (The site with the homemade earthboxes gives similar design) Still partial to my 15 gal. containers though--old prejudices die hard. I did see pictures on the greenhouse forum with big yields with 5 gal. containers so I know it can be done.

MikeInCypress · February 25, 2006

Ms Cowpea,
I use the cheapest ProMix I can buy at Walmart. Use House Brand Osmocote as the main fertilizer, then use half strength blue stuff once a week after the plants set fruit.

About Earl's Faux. I got about 10 nice sized fruit and 8 or 10 smaller ones. Then it got hot. About average or above for the BW types here.

I will be putting Faux in a home made gro box (Tony K Orlando's design) this year. Hopefully tomorrow.

Michael

MsCowpea · February 26, 2006

Michael, thanks for fert. info.--I should fertilize the 5 gal. size more than I do.

I grew Earl's Faux in Earthbox , so far about 15-20 nice ones and another 15 or so on plant (all smaller). good luck with yours.

Sibpnktom · June 27, 2012

06/27/12 Pictures of my 5 gallon grow buckets...for this season I water daily... The bottom bucket holds about 1 1/2 gallon water. How to make buckets can be found on You Tube... This is second year these have had plants grown in them so I used a half & half mix of new Miracle Gro potting soil and soil from last year with a ring of fertilize/lime mix. The small tomato I hope will bear late in the season...

February 18, 2006	#16
mdvpc Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 4,386	Ms-I am growing Red Brandywine (seed from Carolyn) right now in a 5 gallon grow bag in my greenhouse in the desert southwest-Its produced about 5 10 oz or so fruit already and probably has about 15 more fruit in various stages. __________________ Michael

February 18, 2006	#17
mdvpc Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 4,386	Spud-another thing I do is put some of those watering crystal, already hydrated, in my containers-it keeps the moisture even and cuts down some on the watering. __________________ Michael

February 19, 2006	#20
spudleafwillie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Zone 7b sw New Mexico,. Posts: 197	5 gallon container growing PV You might try chopped up or shredded corncobs for mulch. They should be cheap or free in IN. The large 4 or 5 cu ft bags of perlite and vermiculite cost me about 22 bucks a bag here in NM Spud

February 19, 2006	#21
MsCowpea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S. FLorida / Zone 10 Posts: 369	Hedwarr, good comeback. I can't help it when yellow pear is mentioned --couple years back planted 3 of them and I had MILLIONS and they were the blandest (but pretty) little things I ever tasted. When I pulled these gigantic vines out YP's when flying everywhere--they were loaded like nothing I have ever seen before. Good luck with your toms--hope you have a great season. __________________ "When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work." Carl Huffaker

February 23, 2006	#24
spudleafwillie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Zone 7b sw New Mexico,. Posts: 197	5 gallon containers--soil mix Mantis, See my post on page 1 of this thread re # of plants/container and soil mix. You are right to increase the amount of organic matter. I use a rich organic soil mix as folows: 20% peat moss, 20% steer manure 20% sand, 20% last years container soil, and 20% crushed pecan shells. You could substitute finely chopped leaves in place of the pecan shells. The trick is to have a rich , well drained soil with a bunch of organic matter in it. I usually grow 4 or 5 plants/ 20 gallon container with no reduction in yields. With all those plants you will have to water daily to reduce stress and feed weekly with manure tea and a low N fertilizer such as 5-20-20. Hope this helps, Spud

February 19, 2006	#18
hedwarr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wurtsboro, NY Posts: 165	Wow farkee, in a dixie cup?! Looks like im savin money on containers this year. Thank you

February 19, 2006	#19
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Michael and Spud, Thanks for the detailed information. Now if the weather would cooperate, I could get out there and start drilling holes in the bottoms of those 5-gallon buckets and organize some sort of container garden. I went and bought a couple of bags of oil absorb ... the kind made from diatomaceous earth ... now I gotta find something that approximates pecan hulls. Thanks again, and good container growing to you this year. PV

February 20, 2006	#22
hedwarr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wurtsboro, NY Posts: 165	Farkee, all in good fun!! I was basically pointing out that my experience with a plant as prolific as yellow pear, growing so well in a 5 gal. container was really surprising to me. The roots on that plant were not gigantic. I will try to experiment with other varieties in 5 gal. containers this year. I am curious to see what happens. As for flavor, I agree that they are'nt the tastiest toms of the group, but awful? Well, to each his/her own! P.S. I was cracking up at the image of you wrestling this monsterous yellow pear plant as it was throwing little pears at you! LMAO!! Peace and good luck with your gardening this season as well!!! ED

February 22, 2006	#23
Mantis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Oz Posts: 1,241	Very interesting thread. I grow a lot of toms in larger than 5 gal containers and only one per pot. I haven't had very good yeilds from them, and from the posts from above, I think I need to make the mix richer. I have been mixing 3 parts bought potting mix with 1 part sandy loam. Would 2 parts potting mix, 1 part sandy loam, 1 part cow manure (aged, which I can get any time) be better do you think??? Mantis

February 25, 2006	#26
MikeInCypress Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 963	Yield in 5 gal Pots Ms Cowpea. I remember reading in an old Ortho All About Tomatoes Book that a study was done on yield with tomatoes grown in four 5 gal containers vs yield of one plant of the same variety grown in a 20 gal container. On a plant to plant comparasion the plant in the larger container had the greatest yield, but the combined yield of the 4 plants in the five gal containers was significantly greater than the yield of the one plant in the 20 gal container. That said, I grow over 80% of my plants in containers as small as 4 gal. I grew Prue and Earl's Faux in 4 gal containers last year and had a satisfactory yield for large fruit in the Texas Heat. A comparasion of Burpee Bush Big Boy In the ground vs in a 5 gal bucket showed little difference in yield. I work from home so it is easy for me to water the 60 containers during the day. This year I am going to try a drip system and see if that works. Can't wait for that first BLT. Michael

February 25, 2006	#28
MikeInCypress Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 963	Pot Mix Ms Cowpea, I use the cheapest ProMix I can buy at Walmart. Use House Brand Osmocote as the main fertilizer, then use half strength blue stuff once a week after the plants set fruit. About Earl's Faux. I got about 10 nice sized fruit and 8 or 10 smaller ones. Then it got hot. About average or above for the BW types here. I will be putting Faux in a home made gro box (Tony K Orlando's design) this year. Hopefully tomorrow. Michael

February 26, 2006	#29
MsCowpea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S. FLorida / Zone 10 Posts: 369	Michael, thanks for fert. info.--I should fertilize the 5 gal. size more than I do. I grew Earl's Faux in Earthbox , so far about 15-20 nice ones and another 15 or so on plant (all smaller). good luck with yours. __________________ "When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work." Carl Huffaker

June 27, 2012	#30
Sibpnktom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: KY Posts: 8	Grow buckets 06/27/12 Pictures of my 5 gallon grow buckets...for this season I water daily... The bottom bucket holds about 1 1/2 gallon water. How to make buckets can be found on You Tube... This is second year these have had plants grown in them so I used a half & half mix of new Miracle Gro potting soil and soil from last year with a ring of fertilize/lime mix. The small tomato I hope will bear late in the season... Last edited by Sibpnktom; June 27, 2012 at 02:59 PM.