"Crackpot"

[michael johnson]

I thought the title would get your attention going a bit-but its totaly relavent, All summer long I have been nursing along a very good tomato plant outside that seemed to do very well until a few days ago.

It was planted into a very large terracota pot about 18 inches high and about just over a foot wide at the top, all of a sudden a few days ago the leaves started to droop on the lower half of the plant, so I watered it well and didnt bother anymore- until the following morning just after breakfast I was sat in the conservatory reading the morning paper, when I suddenly heard a sharp bang like a gun going off.

I lept up quickly and dashed outside - only to find my large pot had cracked into two complete halves and were laying on the floor- there stood the tomato plant with a solid mass of roots still in one lump- this was the strangest thing that ever happened to me, it obviously had become very root bound in its pot and the massive internal pressures of its roots trying to expand had more or less exploded the pot- and I had quite failed to notice that this condition was developing.

Needless to say- I quickly transfered it to a large plastic tub- and hoped for the best.

[Mantis]

Thats one strong plant eh.

[michael johnson]

It sure is-I was quite surprised that it was able to do that- but the annoying part was that the terracota pots that size are not cheap, I believe I paid something like £ 3.50 UK for it, but since it cracked open in two complete halves I might be able to tape the two halves together and use it again for something 8)

[Polar_Lace]

Michael,

Got 'Bondo'? Products For Fillers-Putty

Read: Can I Repair my Terra Cotta Pot Fountain

Aquarium silicon?

Gorilla Glue?

[feldon30]

A terra cotta pot 12" wide and 18" deep sounds like less than 3 gallons (12 litres). Tomato plants really want 10-15 gallon pots (40-60 litres).

[montanamato]

That happens to me in the winter, if I haven't emptied the pots of soil, and a -35 snap comes along.
Just took a few high dollar pots and I now empty them after the season.
After emptying many potted tomatoes over the years, I have found the roots fully encompass the container whether 2 gallons or 20. They simply grow as much as they can.
Also, alot of containers contain small cracks or imperfections that are not noticeable until stressed....canning jars do the same.....

Jeanne

[Mantis]

Have you tried this technique yourself Keith? Sounds like it would be worth a try.

[psa]

Somewhat relevant to what Keith was saying, I've noticed that my tomatoes grow better in grow bags than in same-sized containers with the same mix. There are holes in the sides of the grow bags (7G) and I've wondered if this was the reason. I do know that the tomato plants completely fill the bags with roots.

[michael johnson]

I thought that pot size I chose would be quite ample for the tomato growth, but obviously I was wrong- I hadnt taken into acount that some tomatoes are more vigorous than others- this one was one of them.

I was definaly surprised at the total amount of pressure the roots could muster trying to escape from the pot and expand, but then when you see weeds growing through ashphalt pathways and concrete drives etc its not surprising.

I was once in a garage filling up with petrol in my car- when a biggish lorry rolled into the forecourt for a diesel fill up, the forcourt had been recently tarmaced with ashphalt and it became obvious this was the chap that did it,- the garage owner dashed out and said to the chap- hey you" that ashpalt you laid for me on the forecourt has lots of weeds growing through it- where upon the driver quickly replied- what do you expect for $500 dollars - (Tulips ), and jumped into his cab and drove off.

[Mantis]

I'll drill a few holes in mine then. Can't hurt eh. When you think about it, the water in soil has the ability to expand wherever it wants to go, but in a pot it hits the sides. Might need to water more, but if the plants are better I can handle that.

[dcarch]

1. To waterproof clay pots, use penetrating two-part epoxy/resin (such as Cure Rot) .
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/p...e=macs=MP6SPDR

2. To drill hole in ceramic pots, use diamond drill bits. Drill with running water.
3. To repair cracked pots, use fiberglass tape and epoxy to patch crack from the inside of the pot.

dcarch

[michael johnson]

At the moment I have got the pot in question-tied up with a long length of Binder twine- using the crack as a drainage point, its a bit of a( heath robinson) lash up but works for the time being- until I get round to glueing it with epoxy resin or other suitable glue- but for now its crude but effective