[Ma Lowe]

This year I am putting my tomatoes cucumbers chillis and peppers in the big pots I had from Mo*****ns. I am using ordinary MP compost  as it's cheaper but wanted to know is there anything I need to add to the compost to give the plants the best home.

Many thanks
Ma

[surbie100]

I mix in a handful of whichever fertiliser I have to hand - BFB or Supagro at the minute, plus a little more towards the bottom of the pot. Then feed with weak comfrey tea every 2-3 weeks. So far I have had good results from this.

[Lardman]

Normally I just bung them in MP and that's the end of it until they set fruit and get their first feed. This year I've done a mix of MP, some growmore , epsom salts , water retaining gel  - but only because I thought the been and queued compost this year was terrible !

[Ma Lowe]

Ahh great, I was going to put them straight in the MP but was unsure if they would be ok then I thought about adding the FBB but thought I would check first and I use the comfrey tea anyway so all should be ok.
I can now put my many tall tomato plants in their final pots
Many thanks 

[Growster...]

I mix a little garden soil in with multi-purpose compost, as I find that while they're getting towards their first truss, the nutrients already in the compost made the plants very fleshy with a lot of soft green growth.

I suppose it's also cheaper as we have 55 in big pots around various places..:0)

I didn't do it a year or so after the whole lot was taken out after late blight, and it seems that the soil has recovered.

[devonbarmygardener]

I use a combo of good MP compost, well rotted manure (bought) and a handful of chicken poo pellets in each pot 

[Headgardener22]

I mix a little garden soil in with multi-purpose compost, as I find that while they're getting towards their first truss, the nutrients already in the compost made the plants very fleshy with a lot of soft green growth.

I suppose it's also cheaper as we have 55 in big pots around various places..:0)

I didn't do it a year or so after the whole lot was taken out after late blight, and it seems that the soil has recovered.

Hi Growster, blight doesn't survive in the soil, it needs infected plant material (such as potato tubers or haulms). I gave up growing tomatoes at our allotment because we always get blight there because people leave potatoes lying around after they've harvested).

[sunshineband]

Tall tomatoes get through a lot of water once they are full size, and sometimes I found erratic watering of the pots led to the fruit splitting. Just something to be aware of.

[Growster...]

I mix a little garden soil in with multi-purpose compost, as I find that while they're getting towards their first truss, the nutrients already in the compost made the plants very fleshy with a lot of soft green growth.

I suppose it's also cheaper as we have 55 in big pots around various places..:0)

I didn't do it a year or so after the whole lot was taken out after late blight, and it seems that the soil has recovered.

Hi Growster, blight doesn't survive in the soil, it needs infected plant material (such as potato tubers or haulms). I gave up growing tomatoes at our allotment because we always get blight there because people leave potatoes lying around after they've harvested).

That's a good point, HG. As the toms were in a very concentrated area, and close together, there were several plants dropping all sorts of debris all over the place, so we stopped growing there!
]

[Ma Lowe]

Tall tomatoes get through a lot of water once they are full size, and sometimes I found erratic watering of the pots led to the fruit splitting. Just something to be aware of.

We have an automatic watering system to do our watering in the greenhouse i just feed them weekly 

[Headgardener22]

Tall tomatoes get through a lot of water once they are full size, and sometimes I found erratic watering of the pots led to the fruit splitting. Just something to be aware of.

We have an automatic watering system to do our watering in the greenhouse i just feed them weekly 

Too much water can wash out all the nutrients and/or drown the roots. I've seen it suggested that the plants shouldn't be watered too much early in the season to encourage stronger root growth as they go looking for water.

BTW, the if you're growing tomatoes in the borders of greenhouses, the lower roots are for water and the higher toots are for nutrients (I'm not sure if the same applies in growbags).

[adri]

@Ma Lowe.  How often does the automatic system switch on and for how long?

I've used soaker hose that goes up and down each side of our 8x4 raised beds and it's currently switched on every other day for 30 minutes but I have a hunch it's getting too much water.  I've just today turned it down to 15 mins every other day to see if that seems better.

Adri

[Ma Lowe]

@Ma Lowe.  How often does the automatic system switch on and for how long?

I've used soaker hose that goes up and down each side of our 8x4 raised beds and it's currently switched on every other day for 30 minutes but I have a hunch it's getting too much water.  I've just today turned it down to 15 mins every other day to see if that seems better.

Adri

The automatic water system is on for 4 mins 2 times a day at the moment but last year was on for 4 mins 4 times a day when they were fruiting. We had the tomato pots that you water into on top of the grow bags previous years and I was thinking of putting these on top of the pots this year too.
Watering is the one thing I never know if I get right.

[Totty]

I use pots in the greenhouse at home for them too. After planting them, they are given a pint of water each, and not watered again for a week. I then only water when the compost is visibly dry, and they get a good soak. This encourages strong searching roots, as opposed to lazy surface dwelling roots that are prone to drying out easily when the hot weather comes.
This applies to everything in the ground too. After an initial soaking at planting time, nothing is ever watered. at all. Ever

Totty

[devonbarmygardener]

I'm a bit torn now.
Shall I try out my Big Drippa set on one side of the greenhouse and water the other side like I normally do (pop bottles with pointy waterers/feeders stuck on - 1 full 500ml bottle a day each?