Repot tomatoes again?
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Part query, part grumble. In this small garden we have to grow all veg in containers, and because of urban fox problems can't use organic fertilisers (bone meal, blood fish & bone) or organic compost unless we can also protect with wire netting. This is how I came to put 4 outdoor tomatoes in their final pots about a week ago in a mulit-purpose compost, with slow release fertilisers. The problem is, the compost seems to have no campacity to hold water - it just appears to run straight through. Aware of this, when I put a courgette into its final container this week I mixed the compost 50:50 with coir, which I'm used to. This mix certainly had a better feel. What I'm wondering now is, would it be better to take the tomatoes out of their pots and add coir to their compost, too?
Hi Ken
What compost are you using, is it soil based, peat or peat free?
Have you got a tray or saucer underneath your tomato pots to stop the water running away completely?
I always do this and keep them in place, saves on watering but ensures, especially if the compost is a bit dry to begin with, that it becomes nice and damp again and once it is it's easier to keep there, just as long as you don't let it completely dry out again.
Most composts act a bit like sponges in the way they absorb water, but once you've got them wet again you shouldn't find the water escapes so easily.
What compost are you using, is it soil based, peat or peat free?
Have you got a tray or saucer underneath your tomato pots to stop the water running away completely?
I always do this and keep them in place, saves on watering but ensures, especially if the compost is a bit dry to begin with, that it becomes nice and damp again and once it is it's easier to keep there, just as long as you don't let it completely dry out again.
Most composts act a bit like sponges in the way they absorb water, but once you've got them wet again you shouldn't find the water escapes so easily.
Hi Grundig. Just been out to check the pack (!) It's J. Arthur Bowers' Multi Purpose Compost, and on the back it says 'reduced peat', and with 'food for six weeks'. I imagine it is mainly recycled green waste, but with added fertiliser and trace elements. And, yes, the pots stand in saucers, and the water, or quite a bit of it, seems to end up in the saucers. Maybe I'm worrying too early and it's just a question of getting used to this particular compost. It's not what I would use for tomatoes, if it wasn't for the fox problem...
Hello Ken
If your compost has been allowed to dry out it can be very difficult to re-wet. When you water the water simply runs down the outside of the compost leaving the centre still dry. You see water coming out of the bottom of the pot so you think it has been watered properly but that's not the case.
Its a good idea to plunge the whole pot into a larger container of water and leave it to soak for several of hours so that water penetrates right through the compost. From then on try to avoid the compost becoming completely dry again.
Another thing that is very useful is to add a wetting agent to the water in your can. However these agents are almost impossible to obtain! The only place that I know of that sells this stuff is Garden Direct. They do a 'peat wetter'.
http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/garden-ca ... eat-wetter
I use this stuff and it is very good. One small bottle lasts a long time as you only need a capfull in the can occasionally.
I belong to the Johnboy school of growing veg. and use whatever I find is best for the job - organic or chemical. Garden Direct have a large range of extremely useful chemicals and fertilizers for the amateur gardener.
John
PS I will probably get this post bounced off forum for advertising but I speak simply as a customer who has always had very good service from this company.
If your compost has been allowed to dry out it can be very difficult to re-wet. When you water the water simply runs down the outside of the compost leaving the centre still dry. You see water coming out of the bottom of the pot so you think it has been watered properly but that's not the case.
Its a good idea to plunge the whole pot into a larger container of water and leave it to soak for several of hours so that water penetrates right through the compost. From then on try to avoid the compost becoming completely dry again.
Another thing that is very useful is to add a wetting agent to the water in your can. However these agents are almost impossible to obtain! The only place that I know of that sells this stuff is Garden Direct. They do a 'peat wetter'.
http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/garden-ca ... eat-wetter
I use this stuff and it is very good. One small bottle lasts a long time as you only need a capfull in the can occasionally.
I belong to the Johnboy school of growing veg. and use whatever I find is best for the job - organic or chemical. Garden Direct have a large range of extremely useful chemicals and fertilizers for the amateur gardener.
John
PS I will probably get this post bounced off forum for advertising but I speak simply as a customer who has always had very good service from this company.
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
Thanks, John. If truth be known, it's probably not so much a case of being allowed to dry out as not being made sufficiently wet in the first place. When I'm potting on small seedlings, I might well wet th compost first, or at least give the pots a good soaking afterwards. I think with the tomatoes it was a case of filling up the 10-inch pots straight from the bag, and then attempting to water well with a watering can. But (a) I reckon i can stand the pots one at a time in a bucket of water and (b) I'll take a look at the website you suggest. Many thanks.
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Primrose
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It might help to mix in some soil based compost in the pots and also to to mix in some water retention crystals which I've done in all my patio pots. Another slightly unconventional way of retaining water which I knew somebody used to do is to cut up old sponges very small and mix them in with the compost in pots to perform a similar function.
Certainly it's not enough to water until you see it trickling out from the bottom of the pot as compost really dries out. Alway use a drip saucer to catch surplus water. You can tell if the compost is really dry as if you give the pots a really good soak, the compost will slowly soak up the liquid and eventually stop producing air bubbles when it has fully expanded and become totally moist again. And if possible, always put a mulch on the top of the pot to help prevent the compost drying out.
Certainly it's not enough to water until you see it trickling out from the bottom of the pot as compost really dries out. Alway use a drip saucer to catch surplus water. You can tell if the compost is really dry as if you give the pots a really good soak, the compost will slowly soak up the liquid and eventually stop producing air bubbles when it has fully expanded and become totally moist again. And if possible, always put a mulch on the top of the pot to help prevent the compost drying out.
Thanks, everyone. I stood the pots in a bucket in tun last night, so I think they have really soaked up plenty of water now. And I appreciate Primrose's advice. In fact, at our previous garden, I used to grow all our tomatoes in pots in the greenhouse, and I filled the pots with a mix of John Innes no 3 and home-made compost, plus water retentive crystals particularly for plum tomato varietes because they seem very prone to blossom end rot if they are short of water. Why didn't I do the same here? Mainly a shortage of good home-made compost...
