Topic: Best Tomato growing medium?

[Mothy]

What do you guys use to pot your tomatoes into?
I have always used large pots, rather than grow bags, but wondered what the very best growing medium is to get maximum yields through nutrition,water retention etc.

[weedgrower]

hi mothy
i plant mine in flower buckets from the supermarket. drill 6 large holes in the bottom for drainage. in the bottom i put rotted manure, then the sieved bits from my compost bags, then normal compost. about half way i put a sprinkling of chicken pellets and then compost to an inch from the top. after planting the tomato i give it a good drink of nettle tea. this seems to work for me

[Tee Gee]

The greenhouse border!

[djbrenton]

I've grown them in 10lt pots of compost, the greenhouse border and used ring culture. I can't say hand on heart I've noticed any difference in the results. Now I grow them in 10lt pots sunk into the border as it's the least work.

[Mothy]

Unfortunately the border isn't an option at the moment.
The greenhouse was originally just to grow bedding plants in etc and was sited in the only space we have in a small garden. It is sited on top of an area that has been backfilled with a load of old building rubbish so 10 litre pots are the order of the day.
I was hoping to pick up tips on what potting mix to use in order to get the best yields in less than ideal conditions  :)

[Tee Gee]

very best growing medium is to get maximum yields through nutrition,water retention etc.

What do you mean by yeild?

If you grow a cherry type tomato you will get hundreds of tomatoes per plant and if you grow a 'beef' type tomato you will get a lot less tomatoes but the total weight might be similar.

Other types will be somewhere between.

If not growing in the border I grow them by the 'ring culture' method. When filling the rings I fill the bottom 30%-50% with well rotted manure and top up with home made compost mixed with chempak potting base. Alternatively I use any proprietary potting compost ( not multi purpose.)

See here;http://tinyurl.com/6cfz5g

This keeps them growing until the fruiting stage then it is up to you how you feed them to get a good yield.

 I feed either full strength 'tomato feed' every second watering or half strength every watering.

But the choice is yours.

[Barnowl]

Apologies for a slight hijack here: I'm planning to use ring culture outdoors by digging a  trench in an unused grassed part of the allotment. What should I fill it with before I put the rings on top. I won't be able to water daily.

(I was thinking of using composted manure for water retention, but have now read  that the point of ring culture is that the nutrients are in the rings and the water comes from below so the manure goes in the rings.)

[Tee Gee]

so the manure goes in the rings

I never consider this to be strictly true.

It is true that manure has a fertiliser content but I consider it too variable to depend upon it as the main source of feeding.

I tend to treat it as a water retention medium as opposed to a fertiliser source! Any fertiliser content it may have I consider a bonus.

Hence my method manure on the bottom for moisture and potting compost with a known fertiliser content on top where the feeding roots are.

But that is a personal opinion............the choice is yours!

[Fork]

I read somewhere that tomatoes grow really really well in compost made from composted tomato plants.Cannot remember where I read it.

I use the stuff out of growbags in my pots mixed with some mutli purpose compost with added John Innes.

[davyw1]

Two of my GHs are concrete floors so my method is to place pallets down ( cut to size ) to raise the tomato,s off the floor as they do not like being on a cold base. I cover the pallets with black pollythene  and nail a plank along the side so the water does not run off.  I then put about 4" of manure in make hole for the pots to stand in.



I make up my own mix of grow bag and manure and fertilizer for the pot then only fill them two thirds full. as the tomato grows i take of the bottom stems and top up the pot to create more roots from the nodes. when that pot is full i will then put another smaller pot on top and fill that so i end up growing the tomato in ring culture.

[nippie]

Aaaah, just planted my Toms into the greenhouse border, enriched with well rotted farmhouse manure.
I will keep you posted. ;D

[tinker]

I plant mine in buckets wit 2 slits in the sides about2" from the bottom, i then fill with gravel to cover the slits,next goes a layer of soil/well rotted manure then come comfrey leaves then topped with a mix of soil/compost/manure.

[Chris Graham]

I used the black free buckets last year bu feel they made the plants start off too tall.  This year i'm using growbags.

[valmarg]

We use 10" pots with a layer of home made compost, sprinkled with some blood, fish and bone, topped off with some cheapo multipurpose compost. After that we plant some french marigolds in the tops of the pots to prevent whitefly.

Wonderful crops most years. Whitefly free.

valmarg

[Gazfoz]

I'm afraid I could only tell you what medium Not to use ;D ;D

[Ishard]

Im growing my beef toms in large pots with the bottom cut out and on growbags. :)

So the water roots go into the the grow bags and the feed goes into the pots.

The tumbling type pots are going in special planters I make from legs of old jeans to hang on 3 x 3s which are put into the ground on the plot, I under plant these with quash.
I am also planting nasturtiums and french marigolds with the toms for companion planting and to look nicer.

For the medium I use grow bags and umm panty liners to retain moisture. ;D I do feed as and when needed with tom feed

Oh and I sink into the growbags at regular spacing empty plant pots (2 usually) which I water through so I know for sure the water is going into the growbag

[Barnowl]

I've a number of earthbox type pots with water reservoirs in the bottom made from buckits and buckets wire and pipe. Otherwise they've just gone in large pots with potting compost and perlite or straight into a raised bed. Haven't used composted manure before and it sounds like a good tip -  cheaper than potting compost as well.

[davyw1]

As soon as the bottom stem is clear of the top plant pot they get get filled up and that is my ring culture complete

[Mothy]

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it!

Tee Gee, regarding yield, I should have said that I only grow cherry types (the kids eat them like cherries), so quantity rather than size is the key.

I am going to use organic growbag compost topped up with well rotted manure for the 1st time ever and see what results I get. I will feed with tomorite or something similar, but am hoping that the muck will aid water retention.

 ;D