tomatoes in buckets?

[ckfe]

are the morrisons flower buckets too big to grow tomato plants in? and also to save compost could i partly fill the bucket with pebbles too? and if so, how far up could i go with the pebbles?

[shirlthegirl43]

I grow my toms in morrison's buckets. I plant the tom fairly low in the bucket then earth up as the plant grows to give more support and a bit of fresh compost from time to time.

[ckfe]

do you just put normal soil in the bucket or is it all compost? i usually do just compost but i've come by a bit of top soil so it might be worth using that instead

[shirlthegirl43]

I use compost as I don't have a lot of spare soil in the garden.

[ckfe]

mine are only about 5 inches tall at the mo, but i don't want them getting pot bound.. will i need to put a support cane in with them yet?

[shirlthegirl43]

Don't put them in the buckets until they have their first flowers. It is best to wait for the roots to be showing at the bottom of the pot before you move them on. (I have just put some of my flowering toms from two and a half inch pots into buckets). I always put the cane in when I plant the tom so that you don't damage the roots putting it in later on.

[ckfe]

well that saves me a job today shirl, they haven't got flowers yet.. any idea how big they get before they get flowers?

[shirlthegirl43]

It varies, possibly according to type? I have one which is 2 foot tall with its first flowers and some which are 6 inches high (mind you they are a mini variety) with fruits on.

[ckfe]

i've not got a clue what mine are, think they're the freebie ones that i got when someone on here found out if you paid postage and packing you got free chitted potatoes, some grow bags and 5 lots of free seeds.. think they were from thompson and wotsimajig

[jonohanson]

One question I thought about regarding when to move toms to bigger buckets is why cant you put them straight into the big bucket? My reasoning behind this is that when they get planted into the soil there is plenty of space and they seem to cope fine, as does other veg. I can see the reasoning about the root stock using all the engergy to produce roots, but I did a little test, I did one in a big bucket and one via potting, and TBH they are at the same stage.

Thoughts?

[butter fingers]

are the morrisons flower buckets too big to grow tomato plants in? and also to save compost could i partly fill the bucket with pebbles too? and if so, how far up could i go with the pebbles?

i grow my toms in metal wast paper bins. to save on compost i mix in shredded white paper from work. this also holds moisture but does eventually compact down a bit.also feed them a bit extra because of their being less compost.

[vikkib]

i've not got a clue what mine are, think they're the freebie ones that i got when someone on here found out if you paid postage and packing you got free chitted potatoes, some grow bags and 5 lots of free seeds.. think they were from thompson and wotsimajig

I got the same deal! I believe they were 'Harbinger' tomatoes .

[taff]

I can see the reasoning about the root stock using all the engergy to produce roots, but I did a little test, I did one in a big bucket and one via potting, and TBH they are at the same stage.Thoughts?

Maybe it's just so we can look like we're doing lots of work in the garden

[Noodles]

I got the same deal! I believe they were 'Harbinger' tomatoes .

I got that deal too and the freebies were indeed Harbingers