Kitchen Garden Forum

Would someone be kind enough to tell me the optimum pot sizes for toms, peppers, chillis and aubergines grown under cover please?

I start them in modules then prick them out into 3 - 5 inch pots. Once they are established they go into into double depth growbags in my tunnels, in 3's.

Thanks for that Tigger, but i really want to know about pot sizes. I do use grow bags as well, but want to know what pot sizes to put on staging (grow bags too heavy)

Sorry - I thought you meant pots to get them started. I have grown them on in pots in the past - ususally 10/12 inch or bigger. It's imortant to get sufficient depth to keep them happy.

My first question was a bit vague, sorry. Yes I meant pot size for final planting of those plants

Incidentally Tigger, re-reading your post I see you use double depth grobags. I havent seen these about, where do you get them from, and is the benefit worth the extra cost, presuambly they are twice the price?

Brooklynodog, not a direct reply to your question, but I grow single tomato plants in 9-inch pots with the bottoms cut out and then placed on top of a normal growbag, so that the plants get the benefit of the compost in both the pot and the growbag (three pots to each growbag).

If they do make them Bdog, I haven't found them. Lyndon made wooden frames for the growbags. I put one in, cut a big rectangle out of the top. Put a second one on top of that. Cut a slightly smaller rectangle in the top of the second one. The I put my hands in and cut through the bottom of the top one - if you see wht I mean! Don't make this too wide or it weakens the sides Then I mix some swell gell into the soil.

The benefit is the depth - obviously - and the reduced demand for watering. They're particularly good for tomatoes and melons becase they need feeding. I don't use double ones for chillies but I do for peppers and cucumbers because the depth also makes them more stable.

Can't help with tomatos as I grow them directly in the soil but I grow my peppers, aubergines and chillis in 8 inch diameter pots. I suspect this is the smallest practical size because they can grow quite tall in greenhouse conditions whereas mine are mostly grown on a sunny patio. (The few I grew in my plastic covered shelf greenhouse grew much taller than those outside and could probably have done with a 10" pot). I mix plenty rotted manure and chicken manure pellets in with the compost to ensure they don't run out of nourishment towards the end of the season always end with a satisfactory crop.

Tigger, do you loosen up the contents of the grow bags first? I always find them so compacted. I am interested in the frames you make, how do you do this?

When RHS did a Chilli trial they planted into 3 litre / 18 cm pots and then the potted plants were plunged into the soil of a tunnel, 44 cm apart in rows 75 cm apart. The idea was that the pots provided some restriction to the roots so the plants did not become overly large or lush. The timetable was Capsicum Annum varieties sown on 24th February and other later types on 30th January in modules at 23-25 deg C. They were given 16 hours of artificial light then potted into 9 cm in a greenhouse (doesn’t mention temperature) before going into final pots from 27th April onwards to be put in the tunnel on 15th May. For example, Hungarian Hot Wax was ripe by the 23rd July and a plant had produced 15 fruits by 15th August. I wish I could achieve that! You can read the full report if you go to http://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/awards2006.asp then scroll down to "For the chilli pepper report click here".
I grow a first batch of tomatoes in a heated greenhouse using ring culture plastic rings about 25 cm diameter on top of growbags, I fill them with growbag compost and grow three in a bag. For support I just hang a piece of binder twine from the greenhouse structure and bury it under the plant then twist the plant round it as it grows. This greenhouse has an insulated concrete floor. The next batch are grown in the borders of an unheated greenhouse.

Did they remove the bottom of the pots before burying them?

I think not.

I did see some big bags (same length but fatter) made by Levingtons last year.

I use lengths of land drain pushed into bags, rather than parts of pots but the principle is the same - it gives each plant a bit more soil and also makes them much easier to water.

I tie a loose loop around the tomato stem, below the first leaves and then twist the baling string around the stem, very like Geoff. The top is tied to a rail (outside) or some bit of the greenhouse.

We are about to get a polytunnel (planners permitting) and I'm a bit concerned about where I will be able to attach strings. I wonder about erecting a tall post and rail before the tunnel goes up.

What does everybody else do?

I have just started with my tunnel and I was wondering the same thing about attaching strings/support wires. Why do you need planning permission for a P/T?