[Debz]

I am sure they grew them on the Beechgrove Garden (Scottish Garden Programme) this way as a test.  Might be worth having a look for it on the internet as they always provided information sheets for each programme.

[JayG]

Waddya think? 
  or  or even  ??

All 3 !!!!

I have a long history of making Heath-Robinson style contraptions and inventions (but I'm still poor!)

I love experimenting though and think it's brilliant (but slightly barmy!) to go to all that trouble to grow some possibly watery and tasteless tomatoes.

Good luck, hope they turn out really well, and no doubt you will have really enjoyed yourself in the process! 

[NigelB]

JayG.


Only slightly? 

[JayG]

JayG.

Only slightly? 

British eccentricity is in a class all of its own! 

[NigelB]

A week on and all seems well enough, although I'm not entirely happy with the colour of the roots. There's a bit too much of a brown tint to them. I'll probably just nip the offending pieces out while I try to figure out what it is that's causing the discolouration. It could simply be dust from when my son opened up a sack of clay pebbles next to it....
That aside though, not bad progress really. It's growing away fairly quickly and looks healthy with a nice canopy forming on a strong stem.

[oldcow]

It looks very nice... Better than my soil & compost grown ones...

[NigelB]

Ha! I know what you mean Oldcow...
It's becoming a monster! It is well out-performing anything I have in soil right now, in the garden or the greenhouse....
Just look at the size of the bloomin' thing:...... :blink:





The first set of flowers have appeared, and any side-shoots have been pinched out regularly.
Looking down at the top, there doesn't seem to be much wrong... No real signs of over or under-strength nutrients.

Fingers crossed it'll stay that way......

Now I have to start supporting the thing somehow....... Hmmmm........

[mumofstig]

Now I have to start supporting the thing somehow....... Hmmmm........

First get a job, then there will be means testing and the CSA forms to fill in.......

 

[NigelB]

I could probably do with benefits to help me feed the thing, the rate it's going.... 

Seriously, now it's getting into it's stride, I don't think I've ever witnessed such fast and strong growth.
My son has adopted it... Which is nice. He's enjoying working out the amounts of nutrients to add so the pretty lights flash at the right places on the EC Meter, and how many drops of Ph Down to add to get it just right on the Ph pen.....
That's also costing me a fortune  .... But hey, it's all educational, for both of us...  So all's well.

[Hey Jude]

It certainly seems healthy from the photos! Jude.

[Spana]

What variety is it? 

Do you have a seed of the same variety in compost to do a comparison ?

I just lurve experiments

[woodburner]

Yes, I hope I'm not going to be the bringer of bad news, but you do need a control plant or three . . . You have got more of the same variety sowed at the same time growing in pots haven't you?  

[NigelB]

I have,  but this really isn't an attempt at any kind of scientific experiment.  So there's no need for any 'bad news'. 
The pot-grown toms haven't been doing all that well but even so the comparison is valid enough to me. I've grown enough plants in my time to recognise one that is bigger, healthier, and faster-growing than just about anything I've ever encountered. 
Here's the picture for comparison.



The strain is either Alicante or Gardener's Delight....  I thought I had it right, but now I'm not so sure.... Still, they are the same strain and all the seeds were planted/chitted at the same time.


On a slightly different line of thought for a minute, there have been a couple of comments about how I'm going to 'all that trouble' to raise a hydroponic plant and you know, it really isn't 'all that' much effort at all, to be fair....
I might even stick my neck out and say it could even be easier than using compost.... In the greenhouse that is, I'm not trying to compare it to anything grown in the garden.

These are the things I have been learning and thinking about as I have gone on...
Firstly, those Toms in the pots are really rather root-bound, which has probably slowed their growth down. That doesn't seem to happen in hydro. The bucket I'm using now is the one I started with, and the one I'll finish with, so there's no mucking about re-potting at various stages throughout the plant's life.

Secondly, no mess! Clean fingernails for a change! Imagine that! Hooray! 

Feeding is easy-peasy too. It doesn't take long to learn how much of the nutrient solution it takes to get the EC reading right, and while doing that and setting the Ph might seem a lot of work, it's no more than adding a measured amount of food or Ph-Down solution, stirring vigorously and taking a reading... Lather, rinse, and repeat. 
After that, just swap the 'old' bucket for the new one and you can relax for a few days while you figure out how to support such a heavy and fast-growing plant..
I think I'm going to have to cut a piece out of the wood covering the bucket so I can pour the feed in without moving the whole thing while I fix some wire to the......... Hmmm
Thinking.......  :blink: That's the hardest part of all...........

[JayG]

I'm still following your experiment with interest Nigel! 

Couldn't help noticing the large saw in your latest pic; is that in case the growth gets out of hand?   

[Spana]

Would a string tied to the plant and then to the roof not work?

Are the two in pots getting any feed?  If no, why not feed one of them and leave the other without.

I just love this, can I come and help please