Topic: growing bush toms in hanging baskets

[sarah]

This year I want to have a go at growing Gartenperle bush toms in hanging baskets, I have only ever grown cordon toms in greenhouse.  I have a sunny balcony and my seedlings are about 2 to 3 inches high now and looking healthy (my cordon toms which i sowed at the same time are nearer 10 inches high so i guess the bush ones will stay smaller?) Today i bought two cheap and cheerful baskets, one wire one with a insert matting and another made of ....er twigs or something, both are  about 12inches across.  Questions:
   1. how many should i plant in each basket?
   2. is there a good companion plant i can put in with them?
   3. shall i use multipurpose compost or grow bag compost
   4. Is there anything else i should know?

[luath]

No more than two in the basket, or possibly just one if you want companions in with it.  For companions, try basil, French marigolds, nicandra, parsley, trailing nasturtium.  Use potting compost, they will need careful watering and feeding.

[Jitterbug]

Hello Luath

I know about french marigold, nastirtiums and basil but why 'nicandra' never heard of that as a companion plant before. 
 ???
Jitterbug

[sarah]

thanks luath, i like the sound of nastertiams, and basil.  guess i will have to get a couple more baskets if i only put one in each. perhaps i will put one or two up the lotty as well. thanks, sarah.

[Hot_Potato]

Feel re-assured after reading your post Sarah.....I sowed 'Gartenperle' on the 28th March and they germinated very quickly....I 'pricked them out into bigger pots (about 3" high) as soon as they were about 1 1/2" high & had 3/4 leaves but since then - they don't seem to have made much headway and I've been really worried because they're soooo tiny!!.....

I've got them on a 'non sunny' window sill (don't have any that get the sun) and keep turning them daily as they keep leaning towards the light....should I be doing anything else to promote growth...they're in a good quality potting compost mixed with vermiculite and I water them as needed.

I've also got a cheapo hanging basket to plant one in and like the idea of planting basil as a companion....after all, it's the herb that compliments tomatoes 'on the plate'  :)

You can also put them in a tub on patio.

[sarah]

I think they are supposed to be this size hotspud, at least i know they look healthy enough and have had plenty light and warmth, so i guess they will be fine. let me know how yuors go on and i will let yuoknow how mine do.

[littlegem]

B***er. i've just put 3 in a big hanging basket! is that too many? what if i feed them well, will i get away with it? its such a pain when planting out seedlings, you forget how big they get, they look so petite!!!!!!! ;)

[MrsKP]

mine are still in their pots, so i'll watch this thread eagerly.  there's still no way i could think of planting them in a basket what with the wind and weather and all.

[Hot_Potato]

gosh littlegem....you mean they're outside already?....maybe they're in a very protected area or 'under cover' even?

Sarah - mine are getting light & enough warmth but never get any sun...I just don't get the sun at all come onto my windowsills - maybe just a bit as the summer moves on a few months  ???

yes, be interesting to compare  ;)

[littlegem]

Yes HP, they're in the GH ready and waiting for good weather  ;D

[sarah]

you may be ok with three i guess if the bskets are big littlegem, mine are quite small.  tomatoes are pretty tough i reckon once they get going.  lets all report back in a month or so and see how they are doing. i wont be planting mine up for a good few weeks yet.  HP where areyougoingto put yours eventually? patio, allotment, baskets? I'm sure if they look healthy they are fine they may just be a bit later to flower (made that bit up but hey i might be right) ;D

[Hot_Potato]

Oh that's a relief then littlegem....knowing they're in the greenhouse at the moment  ;)

Sarah....I intend to plant just one in my hanging basket (as I read somewhere I think) but like the idea of 'companion planting' and might tuck the odd few trailing nasturtium seeds around the edges of the basket, which will eventually hang on the end post of my 8'6" piece of trellis which is at the side of my tiny patio.....or is that unwise cos of the almost inevitable 'blackfly' - will they get onto the tomato??

can't remember having blackfly last year on them but did eventually get loads of caterpillars (after frequent visits from the white butterflies) so had to 'pull them out'  :(

yes, let's try to compare things in a few weeks time  :D

p.s. looking at them today - think most of them seem to have 'another leaf' but spindly looking  ::)....time will tell

[MrsKP]

well i'm a step further forward .... i bought another basket and cut all the linings today  ;D ....... am already for the off !

although thinking about the compost ........ when you say potting compost, do you mean a John Innes No. 2 ??  I personally hate the stuff and think it's like mud but then what do I know  ::)

[fbgrifter]

i grow these every year with varying success.  i use john innes no. 3 but think that grow bag compost would be just as suitable and probably cheaper.  i put 3 plants to a 20in container, or just one to a hanging basket.  i always use tagetes as a companion but am going for nasturtiums this year.  you probably will only need one seed to a basket!  i find the most important thing for toms in baskets is 'swell gel'.  toms are difficult to keep watered.  i have also lined baskets with old jumpers to great effect.

[sarah]

ahh thats very interesting. old jumpers, i guess you mean wool ones.  i might give that a try.  i am growing some tagetes so i might try one basket with them and  another with nastertiums.

[rosebud]

Hi folks, Hot spud if you wrap foil around the back half of your plant pots that will reflect the light and they will grow straight i have done this many times, i actually put them on a long or round window tray cheap at wilkos and make a back screen to reflect and it has always worked.  Sarah i once put Nastertiums in with my Toms and they got smothered in blackfly, i also put 3 toms in a 16inch basket they are fine keep them damp and well fed you will get lots of them, i use tagettes as a companion. good luck all of you tomatoe growers. ;D ;D

[katynewbie]

???

Sounds a lovely idea, fancy a basket of them on my shed...will it be too late to get some going in the next 10 mins? Didnt know I would have a shed until a week ago!!

 ;D

[jennym]

This particular variety, Gartenperle or Garden pearl, was a good cropper when I grew it. Small, sort of pinkish red fruits, and lots of them.
The only problem I had was that the foliage looked awful, tatty and not at all decorative. This meant that the hanging basket soon got taken down and put out on the plot, and bang went my visions of visitors at the front door seeing lush leaves as well as fruit-laden vines. Maybe I did something wrong, but other varieties of tomatoes grown in the same way have looked fine.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you want lush leaves, give them nitrogen. Trouble is, you may not get many fruit, as all the energy will go into leaves. Depends what your priotity is.

[Jitterbug]

I grew three to a 30 cm basket last year with normal compost.  I did not have water gel in and had to water them approx twice a day.  I was eventually dunking them into a large container with water every other week.  I remember having to top up with compost though.  I think that I will only put two per basket this year and maybe Basil with Tagetes close by (so hopefully I will get some self seeding in the rose containers this year).

I did not plant companion plants with my toms in the baskets last year but grew tagetes close by in my patio roses.  I grew nasturtiums in my other non edible hanging baskets.  Sort of like a sacrifice plant which I found kept my tomatoes lovely and clean.  The nasturtiums however were covered with black fly and then the caterpillars got them.  So this year I am growing the nasturtiums this year again as a 'sacrifice' plant and will keep my fingers crossed.