NS Gearhead
Veteran Member
So I'm very "green" at gardening. LOL This is just my 2nd year, so it's all new to me. In an attempt to learn as much as I can, and get better, I've decided that this year I'd experiment with tomatoes. Last year I had 6 plants, and although they seemed to do well, they only produced enough for me to munch on as I walked around the yard. This year I got 16 seedlings. At under $1 each, I thought what the heck. Oh, and they're sun sugar cherry tomatoes. So the experiment was to see if:
-more then one plant would do just as well in a pot, then a single plant. I have singles, one with 2, one with 3, and one with 4 plants. I found that multiples it was better to tie the plants to the outside of the trellis rather then try to stuff them inside.
-a pot with holes lined with landscape fabric would do better then a normal pot. So far, no difference.
-greenhouse tomatoes do better then outside tomatoes. This so far has been the only difference. The plant seems healthier. All leaves are green where the outside ones have yellow leaves on the bottom, and the plant seems taller. The fruit seems to be later coming in though. Still, they have lots of flowers, so it's looking good.
...and for one last experiment, I decided to have two of the plants soaking in a miracle grow solution. The drain holes in the pots should wick up the water they want. I won't be watering these, just to see how well this works.
Pots with holes and a normal pot. I'd guess the black ones are 4 or 5 gal. All other tomatoes are in these.
The greenhouse I built this year
Re-used sand box
If I find I want to keep using the sand box, I could toss the lid, and simply fill with pea gravel to cover the water level. This would be to keep flies and algae away. I could probably keep 6 pots in there. If I do multiples in those pots it could mean 12, 18 or even 24 plants!
-more then one plant would do just as well in a pot, then a single plant. I have singles, one with 2, one with 3, and one with 4 plants. I found that multiples it was better to tie the plants to the outside of the trellis rather then try to stuff them inside.
-a pot with holes lined with landscape fabric would do better then a normal pot. So far, no difference.
-greenhouse tomatoes do better then outside tomatoes. This so far has been the only difference. The plant seems healthier. All leaves are green where the outside ones have yellow leaves on the bottom, and the plant seems taller. The fruit seems to be later coming in though. Still, they have lots of flowers, so it's looking good.
...and for one last experiment, I decided to have two of the plants soaking in a miracle grow solution. The drain holes in the pots should wick up the water they want. I won't be watering these, just to see how well this works.
Pots with holes and a normal pot. I'd guess the black ones are 4 or 5 gal. All other tomatoes are in these.
The greenhouse I built this year
Re-used sand box
If I find I want to keep using the sand box, I could toss the lid, and simply fill with pea gravel to cover the water level. This would be to keep flies and algae away. I could probably keep 6 pots in there. If I do multiples in those pots it could mean 12, 18 or even 24 plants!