Trials on tomatoes in 2006

[Geordie]

Lesley,

I think you may qualify for an EU subsidy!!! 40 plants!!! I grow 12 and always have loads to spare.

[Jaxom]

Jaxom if you only keep one plant per variety that will be 22 plants. I normally grow about 40 so you will not be snowed under with tomatoes.

Phew! That’s a relief. I had visions of a tomato mountain and starting to think that I had bitten off more than I could deal with.
Jax

[nick the grief]

I only grow 4 plants and are sick of them by November

[Patsy]

Patsy - you can get back dates of radio programs repeated on the internet! have a fiddle with BBC site. If you have problems finding it, let me know and I will run you through it! this is of course only helpful if you have speakers attatched to your pc!

Thanks Nicos. Found it eventually. It evidently is a marble-size yellow tomato which fruits prolifically with about 80! to a truss and fruits continually. It was a Pippa Greenwood "Plant of the day". Thanks again

[Lesley Jay]

I love tomatoes!! I also really enjoy growing them. I bag some up for the freezer so that I can make fresh tomato soup through the winter. No need to skin them just chuck them in the freezer and cook from frozen. Don't forget they don't all ripen at the same time.

Jaxom with the Pink Brandywine tomatoes grow more than one plant. You don't get many tomatoes per plant although they are huge. They are lovely fried.

[Jaxom]

As I have so many types of tomarto seed... If anyone sees a type they would like to try PM me.
Some types I have 20 seeds of for this year but next year I should have more if I save seed form my produce.
Some seed packets have more in than most, so this year I could still share with others.
Jax

[nick the grief]

Hi Jax,

Sorry I've spent all day at the university my daughter wants to go to, still in student mode

You may have trouble saving your own seed if you've got more than one variety together as the bees etc will cross pollinate won't they. I dig out the Sue Strickland book and check for you.

ntg

[Jaxom]

Thanks NTG, that would be wonderful!
Jax

[Geordie]

Upside Down Toms

This is for all the people looking for a 'new' way to grow toms. If nothing else it will provide a talking point.

We've been growing our tomatoes upside-down for the past three years and really have fun growing them this way! We also grow tomatoes in the ground, and, by comparison, the ones in the upside-down buckets seem to have a little better yield than the same varieties grown in the ground. I attribute it to the fact that the branches have less stress while growing, and have better air circulation. Of course, you have to grow smaller varieties or ones that are suited for container growing, or the yields will be less.
You can grow tomatoes in any large container that has a sturdy hanging system, but we've found the safest is to use five-gallon paint buckets that have a handle. Planting them in the buckets is much easier and safer for the plants when you have one or two other people helping you.

Start out by drilling a hole in the bottom of the bucket. Usually, there is already a circular indentation, which is approx. 2 ½" in diameter. If there isn't, drill the hole between 2 and 3 inches in diameter.
Set the bucket, right side up, on a structure such as two wooden horses, so that the bottom hole is exposed. Put whatever material you choose to use to secure the seedling, in the bottom, then take the seedling and gently thread the leaves and stems down through the hole so that it hangs out of the bottom of the bucket. Hold the plant up till no more than 2 inches of the stem is protruding out from the bottom.
While holding the plant in one hand, pack the material around the stem so that the plant is anchored and will not slip through the hole. There are several things that can be used to keep the seedling from 'slipping out' of the hole untill the root system has developed and it can hold it's own. You can use sphagnum moss, newspaper, coffee filters, etc.
Keep holding the plant in place, and add the soil into the bucket, making sure it's distributed evenly up to the root ball. Gently let go of the plant, letting it rest on the dirt, and add soil till the root ball is about 2 inches below the soil line. Add about 2 cups of compost, then fill the bucket with soil up to about an inch from the top.
Carry the bucket to the structure you are going to hang it from, being very careful to keep the tomato plant from hitting the ground as you walk. Hang the bucket by the handle, then water thoroughly. Water should start running out of the bottom hole within a few minutes.

Check the soil level of each bucket to be sure the soil didn't settle to more than 2 inches from the top, adding more if it has. Water and add fertilizer, when needed, directly in the top of the bucket. You can also grow "living mulch" like parsley or other herbs, in the top portion of the dirt, but be sure you water the bucket sufficiently so that the water gets to the tomato plant's' roots. Some herbs, such as oregano or marjoram, become too thick to allow the water to penetrate quick enough into the soil.
Keeping a lid set on, but not tightly sealed, the tops of the buckets will help prevent moisture loss, but can be a problem since they have to be moved every time you water. Depending on what type of watering system you come up with, will depend on whether or not the lids are used. We've always set the lids on top of the structure, above the buckets (approx. a foot above the rim), and watered the buckets with a hose. The lids don't help much with the moisture retention, but it does help deflect rain in the extremely rainy season.
How much to water the buckets will depend on your climate.

One interesting thing that will happen when you grow your tomato plants this way is that they will grow upwards towards the sun until the plants get bigger and bushier and start producing fruit. You have to check them daily to be sure that the stem is growing out from under the bottom, not into it.
Every few weeks, check the soil level to be sure there has not been too much loss. Add soil or compost each time the level lowers.

Have fun!!

[nick the grief]

Wow! You'll have to take a picture of this Geordie, it sounds incredible, I used to know someone who was a gardener on a local estate and he grew his toms in straw bales, but this method is new to me.

Just when you think seen everything theres always something new to learn

[caz1]

I heard the show, Mirabelle are excellent producers apparently up to 80 toms on a truss. I am certainly going to try this tom this year. If you get any of the seeds could please let me know where from. By the way as you are on this web site one assumes you have internet access you can go to radio 4's web site and listen to any of the prgrammes that have been broadcast. I do this regularly as I am a sad person who likes listening to the archers and the plays....

[hils]

Geordie, does it matter whether you grow a bush tom or a standard triffid by the upside down method?

hils

[Geordie]

Hils,

You can use any type you wish.

[JennieAtkinson]

Fantastic pictures Geordie! I grew toms in hanging baskets last year, but never thought of planting them so they "hung down". I am on the hunt for buckets!
Jennie

[caz1]

can you describe the planting method in your picture..?one large hole in the bottom, ?is there a lid on the top of the bucket, ?does the plant try to climb upwards, any problems