Feeding My Toms.......some advice please

[George]

I have five grow bags of tomatoes and cucumbers, these are watered off a timed gravity dripper system (which seems to be working very well). The reservoir is a larger than normal domestic wheelie bin (I think 350 lt )on a built up plinth.
The tomato feed gives a ratio such that if the 1 litre bottle was added to the reservoir that would be the right ratio of water to feed.
However that is for a feed every seven days.
The real question is ..Can I overfeed my toms and cukes, and if so do you think I should add say half the bottle and give it a constant but more dilute feed, or lastly, just stop being a lazy bastard and feed it by hand ?
;)

regards

[George]

[tim]

I would say that you can overfeed.

A daily weak feed is recommended. That's what I have always done - via a dilutor.

[George]

I would say that you can overfeed.

A daily weak feed is recommended. That's what I have always done - via a dilutor.

Thanks Tim, I shall plump for just under half the bottle, that should do the trick.
I still need to do my outdoor ones manually though

regards

[queen of the cobs]

I agree, a daily dilute feed seems to work well.

Your drip feed - is it a home made job or did you buy it? I need to get something sorted out for my greenhouse but am not allowed to use a tap at the allotments so need a reservoir.

[George]

I agree, a daily dilute feed seems to work well.

Your drip feed - is it a home made job or did you buy it? I need to get something sorted out for my greenhouse but am not allowed to use a tap at the allotments so need a reservoir.

Hello Queeny. Not exactly home made. I shall explain.
My greenhouse is on a lotty too, so its difficult to get around every day.
As I said I started off with this big wheelie bin, with butt tap at the bottom, and set it on a plinth of bricks about eighteen inches high. I purchased a timer, I got a cheap one from Aldi and that bust after a week. So I got a Hoselock one (it was about £25 quid , but will last ).
That I set to come on once a day for an hour, it is fairly limited on it's programs, but that does nicely. I went to Wilkinsons, and they do a drip kit for under £7, with loads of pipe , and around twenty drippers and bit and pieces.
I went for the over size wheelie bin as opposed to a butt because A) We had it and B) it is a bit taller, but a large butt should do.
The think you have to consider on a gravity system , as opposed to taps, is pressure. The pressure comes from the height of the level of water in the butt or bin. As the level drops the pressure drops, so the higher you can get that the better, but remember water is very heavy, a cubic meter of water is around a tonne, so be careful.
In this weather I have no need to top up the bin. I think that I have enough water with reducing pressure to last just over a week, with my 5 bags, or is it 6.
Remember also with pressure and supply that the feeders at the end of a line will not deliver the same amount of water as those at the start, so if you are doing a few bags like me, put a T junction in the pipe and take a separate line to say the other three bags. It is a good idea to meter the system before use, save up plastic milk bottles to stick under the drippers so you get a good idea of what it administers at peak and low pressure.

regards

[queen of the cobs]

thanks George - will have a go at making one of these. Just need to find a cheap big bin now!