Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

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

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old June 28, 2018   #16
ginger2778
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10
Posts: 9,283
Default

By the way, the calcium in the dolomite will dissolve into the potting mix this season, so if your watering is very even and consistent, you will have very little BER next year with the same mix. It does take months to dissolve.
Are you letting them get dried out at all? Are you watering to the point that they are very wet for long periods? It is unusual to have so much BER.
ginger2778 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 28, 2018   #17
mobiledynamics
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: 7B
Posts: 281
Default

M -

Thanks to you seed offerings, I added extra containers to my intended 2018 planting. So I took potting medium from all my current pots (in total, maybe 15% mix of each) and put them into new pots and then also added more bark fines and coarse vermic. to incorporate into all the pots.

Not sure why the mix is so off this year. It might not be cal/mag def based on the the reply Carolyn posted. I will admit due to the undue fresh bark, all containers are a bit too coarse for me this year. The emitters are doing this job. I've adjusted them to water 2X a day now. However, when I do pull back the mulch on hot days to check soil conditions, the top is a tinge dry - more like surface roots sucking up all the water. Slight anomaly as well , as this year, MANY roots seems to be hugging right up to the top surface.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=47721

I wouldn't say the tops of my containers are getting root damaged but the medium on the top for sure - roots are sucking the water out of them as when I check in early noon after I pull the mulch, it's a tinge dry.

Last edited by mobiledynamics; June 28, 2018 at 08:48 AM.
mobiledynamics is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 28, 2018   #18
mobiledynamics
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: 7B
Posts: 281
Default

the majority seems to be the small fruit with BER. Some of the earlier ones that have fruited and still nice and coming along. I did throw away 2 fairly large hearts, which was a bummer
mobiledynamics is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 12, 2018   #19
mobiledynamics
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: 7B
Posts: 281
Default

I'm having a bimmer of a bummer of a year on the containers. I stopped counting but me thinks I have gone through 60+....


Sofar, I have not needed to chuck any of the ones in dirt. Eh, every season is different I suppose. Last year, I had greater crop in containers than dirt
mobiledynamics is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 13, 2018   #20
Tomzhawaii
Tomatovillian™
 
Tomzhawaii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Honolulu ,Hawaii
Posts: 262
Default

So far it's also been a struggle for me too. A real learning part has been that more is not better. Using liquid nutrients in containers is a tough call. Not only does the salt buildup create nutirent lockout , but without drainage and flushing the ppm levels continue to go up also creating extremely low ph. I have 3 different tomato sets. 1 is a potted style 2 is a diy earthbox style 3 is recirculating hydro style. Each have grown in differently. I like hydro setup, but the earthbox with a drainspout is certainly the easier of all. PH and ppm no matter which style is crucial to happy plants.
Aloha
Tomzhawaii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 13, 2018   #21
zipcode
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6
Posts: 1,582
Default

Yes, high EC means low water absorption basically, so that could be a reason. It also means smaller tomatoes with great taste. I really don't think there is a relation between high salts and low pH though.
zipcode is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 13, 2018   #22
AKmark
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Wasilla Alaska
Posts: 2,010
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by zipcode View Post
Yes, high EC means low water absorption basically, so that could be a reason. It also means smaller tomatoes with great taste. I really don't think there is a relation between high salts and low pH though.
Fertilizers affect pH based on the type of Nitrogen used.

http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/cr...rogen_form.pdf

Last edited by AKmark; July 13, 2018 at 01:50 PM.
AKmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 13, 2018   #23
Tomzhawaii
Tomatovillian™
 
Tomzhawaii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Honolulu ,Hawaii
Posts: 262
Default

Thank you Mark.
Your place looks great. Thanks for the pictures.
Aloha,
Tom
Tomzhawaii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 13, 2018   #24
AKmark
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Wasilla Alaska
Posts: 2,010
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomzhawaii View Post
So far it's also been a struggle for me too. A real learning part has been that more is not better. Using liquid nutrients in containers is a tough call. Not only does the salt buildup create nutirent lockout , but without drainage and flushing the ppm levels continue to go up also creating extremely low ph. I have 3 different tomato sets. 1 is a potted style 2 is a diy earthbox style 3 is recirculating hydro style. Each have grown in differently. I like hydro setup, but the earthbox with a drainspout is certainly the easier of all. PH and ppm no matter which style is crucial to happy plants.
Aloha
It is super easy, they(the professionals) could not make it any easier for us to be successful. What I see so much is people trying these home recipes that they see on internet forums, etc.

I only look at University studies and professionals who sell and USE a product. I also like support that good companies provide.

What we have is an information overload. everybody has something to sell, and it is the best. How do they know that?

My own failures are my own fault. I got behind a bit on pruning, my fruit production had a hiccup, I let a GH get to dry one day, I picked off about 40 BER today, I never get BER. (MY FAULT) I did not prune up some trusses, had a few more small fruits than I like. Had some Mg deficiency, did not follow my notes. Grew some heirlooms that perform poorly for markets, they still perform poorly, etc, etc. Anyway, all of these items are mentioned in the HG tomato growers guide.

You guys hang in there.

Read these guys info, it will change everything. I grow outside too, plants are looking great, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes all get the same mix, strawberries same at half strength.

For a simple mix try Flora Nova grow with every watering, and add 3-5 ml of cal-mag added (every time) you water.
AKmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 14, 2018   #25
Tomzhawaii
Tomatovillian™
 
Tomzhawaii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Honolulu ,Hawaii
Posts: 262
Default

AK Mark,
Thank you as always for your guidance and info sharing. For now , I will stick it out with the gallons of F.F. products that I have. Yes, I'm guilty of video learning and following poor information. Then to make matters worse , my brain tells me more stupid advice and so on. I wrote some time back, that I need to follow a tested and true protocol. That's my goal.
Thanks again for your encouragement and advice.
Ganbarimasu - I will try my best !!
Aloha,
Tom
Tomzhawaii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 14, 2018   #26
dokutaaguriin
Tomatovillian™
 
dokutaaguriin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Alberta, Canada Z3a
Posts: 905
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tomzhawaii View Post
ak mark,
thank you as always for your guidance and info sharing. For now , i will stick it out with the gallons of f.f. Products that i have. Yes, i'm guilty of video learning and following poor information. Then to make matters worse , my brain tells me more stupid advice and so on. I wrote some time back, that i need to follow a tested and true protocol. That's my goal.
Thanks again for your encouragement and advice.
Ganbarimasu - i will try my best !!
Aloha,
tom
トムさん、がんばってね!
dokutaaguriin is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:47 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★