grow bags or pots for toms in a greenhouse

[jeepster1961]

hi all, started last year by growing a few toms in a small lean too greenhouse, I grew them from seed but didnt start until late june, this year bought a greenhouse and started growing toms from seed more than a month ago.

Our garden is south facing which can be a pain as it gets too warm.

Anyhow, i bought grow bags for my tomato plants which i started off in small pots.

Do you grow your toms in grow bags or in pots, also has anyone any experience of the automatic irrigation systems, I want one for when we go on holiday in july.

I thought of connecting one to a water butt, I have got 9 tomato plants and 3 cucumber plants. As well as peas which are planted outside the greenhouse

[Scarlet]

I grow in the GH border but my surplus go in large pots. They are much easier to water correctly, can be watered from the bottom and are easy to move around.

[cariann88]

I grow mine in pots in the greenhouse.


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[jeepster1961]

hi both, I am going away for a week in july, and thought that if I plant them in pots, I could stand the pots in a large tray and use an irrigation system linked to a water butt to water the plants for me.

What size pot would you use, I was going to put the grow bag material into the pot with gravel in the base.

[Scarlet]

If you go to asda or morrissons they often sell (or give) their flower buckets. Cost about £1 for 8. Asda gave me a dozen or more the last time I asked. You don't need gravel. Make a few holes in the bottom for drainage. You can use a piece of hot pipe/screw driver. (I use a drill on mine.)
And fill with compost or your grow bags.

[sparkygardener]

Hi. I have found that emptying the contents of gro bags into pots is preferable. They are easier to water, more stable for canes e.t.c

[BertieFox]

Unless your greenhouse has a concrete base, I would still counsel you to grow them in the bed, enriched with compost. It makes watering far easier and does not run the risk of drying out so quickly and causing blossom end rot and similar problems caused by irregular watering.

If you can't do this, I think ring culture is much neglected having gone out of fashion for some reason. Simply, all this means is having eight or ten inch pots for the compost (some people use far smaller ones) with the bottom removed, or very large drainage holes, standing in a deep gravel tray or a pit lined with polythene which you keep watered. The principle is simply to separate feeding and watering, by feeding only into the compost in the pot while keeping the gravel moist. This way too means avoiding the problems caused by drying out or irregular watering.

You will find the pots fill with the fine small feeding roots, while the large water roots snake through the gravel bed.

I always found grow bags the worse of all options, as they dry out so rapidly, and if you are somebody out at work for long hours and unable to give them lots of attention, they are difficult to keep moist.

Well worth a try. I used to do this regularly with good results before I had a polytunnel with good rich soil beds.

[jeepster1961]

I have decided to buy 6 of those pots with a reservoir around the outside, and will leave the others in grow bags and see how they do this year.

I have one of those hozelock water computers and will link this to a drip feed system of some sort.

[brownfingers]

I use pots with the bottom removed, but sit them on top of growbags (2 to a bag). I cut out holes in the top of the growbag for the pots to sit on to. I also put three smaller holes in, one at each end and on in the middle, in which I sit smaller pots just to water the growbag. Remembe to put some drainage holes in the growbag.

This year, I'm trying a slightly different trick. I have drilled a 3/4" hole through the pot to slide a piece of plastic pipe through. The pipe has lots of smaller holes drilled along it's length. The idea is to keep an air supply to the roots. I'll let you know if it makes any difference later in ther year.

Regarding watering/feeding, I put some slow release into final potting compost, along with a bit of FBB and a spoonfull of finely crushed eggshells to give a calcium boost. I only had one fruit with BER last year on about 8 plants in the gh. I use any standard tommy feed diluted 5ml to a litre and give a 1/3 of a litre to each plant every day. This regime varies depending on how much slow release feed I have put in the final mix.