Planting tomatoes in pots then in border

[helensusan]

Hi

I've always grown tomatoes in the greenhouse borders but this year I really need to replace the border soil. Because of a bad back I'm not able to do much in the way of digging, so as a second-best alternative, I'd thought about planting my tomatoes into large bottomless pots then sinking them into the soil so that they won't dry out as much as if in pots alone or growbags. Anyone tried this?

[rustylady]

Why do you need to replace the soil? Just revitalise it a bit with some fertiliser (Blood, fish & bone).

[Hans Mum]

I've done it in the past and will be doing it again this year, morrisons flower buckets with bottoms cut off filled with mix of homemade compost & bagged stuff..... pots pressed into the border soil. I usually put a pop bottle with bottom cut off in the pot as well to make watering easier.

[Two_Sheds]

Why do you need to replace the soil?

Over time, the soil will become depleted ~ most books recommend replacing the soil every few years

[veggiechicken]

I always grow my toms in bottomless (or very holey) pots in the GH border (which is really a mini raised bed as the GH is on concrete).

[helensusan]

Thanks all for your useful comments. I think I will go ahead with this idea and perhaps next year I'll refresh the border with new soil so that there is less chance of a build up of pests and diseases.