Growing tomatoes, 2015, Part 2 soil mix for containers

Tomatoes are heavy feeders.  In the ground they may develop root structures as deep as eight feet.  The plants can easily grow eight feet above ground.  Containers will limit the depth, of course.  With a good soil mix and careful feeding at least two of my plants exceeded eight feet this year in containers.

I used a mixture of one half potting soil and one half of a mix of amendments that I made myself..  Several brands of potting soil were used, depending on what friends found at local nurseries as they shopped for me. (Potting soil  is one thing that I could not find online--way to heavy to ship!) Here are pictures of two of the brands.

The second half of the mixture is made from one third coir fiber compressed in a block and re-hydrated. Pictured here

I bought this from Greenhouse Megastore on line.  Their prices seem reasonable and their shipping time is reasonable as well.  They carry a wide variety of containers and soils amendments.  Here is their url

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/

The next component of my mix is perlite, about one half the amount of re-hydrated coir fiber.  Perlite expands in water and holds water for the plants. It is available at most nurseries and home supply stores.  It is also available at the Greenhouse Megastore and on Amazon.  Seedlings especially love this and will send rootlets out from the main root to connect to the perlite.

The last component of my mix is vermiculite.  Vermiculite also holds water and releases it to the plant.  It expands like a sponge when it is wet and will help transfer water to the roots of the plant so that plants have a good source of moisture.  It is available from the same sources as the perlite.


I used a bucket to make my mix in. Hydrating the coir fiber first is essential, because that will give you the base for your measurements of the next ingredients.  Either hydrate the whole block in something like a wheel barrow, or water the block and scrape off the hydrated amount into the bucket.  I could not handle the whole block and I did not want to waste water wetting it down over and over in between making the mix, so I chose the slower method of scraping it off.  Fill your bucket a little more than half full.  Add more water until the coir fiber is well saturated but not gloppy.


Now add the perlite. It is a very good idea to wear goggles and a mask when you do this for the perlite is dry and dusty.  Water it slightly and then stir it in.

Do the same with the vermiculite that you have done with the perlite.

These measurements aren't precise; it was all done by eyeball on the bucket.

Make sure the mixture is well mixed.  Use it to start seedlings or to transplant plants.


(edited on November 7, 2015)

Growing tomatoes, 2015, Part I

The harvest is in.  I lost count of how many tomatoes my plants produced, but for about three months I ate tomatoes everyday and shared them several times a week with friends whom I share meals with.

All of my plants were (and still are) container grown so that I could tend them in my power wheel chair.

Gardening has always been an empowering activity to me, connecting me to the earth and to my ancestors, many of whom were farmers.  This summer I found it amazing to pick my dinner, plan my dinner around what I had in the garden and eat simply and humbly.

It was even more empowering to me because I started out with two big drawbacks.  First, I am a power wheelchair user and I like to say that I live my life on wheels.  Second, the drought in California made gardening difficult.  I had been putting off my garden for several years because of the drought and this year I decided that if it was going to happen while I could still do it, it had to be now.

The plants did not take as much water as I thought they would, bringing my water bill up only a few dollars.  This was good.  A soil mix that held conditioners that hold water helped a great deal. A separate blog post will cover this.

Here are the varieties that grew in my garden this year.

Anais Noir, a beautiful heirloom that is so delicious! This tomato started it all for me when a friend gifted me with a perfect tomato from her garden in Santa Barbara at Christmas.

Sandul Moldavon, another heirloom that ripens to a rich, tomato red.  it tasted like the tomatoes of my Midwestern childhood and nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Sweet Solano, a yellow tomato, slightly more acidic than its larger, red cousins, but delicious none the less.  A bonus is that in spite of its small size, it produces lots of seeds for saving for next year.  Great tomato for salads or for lunch or for a quick snack.  A bit large to pop in your mouth right of the bush.

Purple Cherokee, was finicky in my garden.  It seemed like it thought it must go to seed right away and worked on producing one tomato that was ginormous.  Didn't weigh it after picking it so that it would stop hogging all of the plant's energy, but should have. It ripened in a paper bag, spilled forth an abundance of seed when I cut it and was absolutely delicious.  I dried part of it so that it will come out of the freezer in the winter to brighten a winter meal.


Black Vernissage, a purple tomato, bigger than a cherry, smaller than a small tomato.  Absolutely delicious flavor and lots of seeds.  Did have a problem with browning leaves (verticulum wilt?) and the plant died before the others.  To be fair this plant was in too much shade.  More sun next time!  See the plate above the small purple tomatoes are these. Yum!


Sungold, a highly regarded yellow cherry tomato did not do as well for me as I had hoped that it would, but to be fair it got a late start, could have used a bigger container and more sun.  Next time! Don't think I have any pictures.

Riebenstraube is a beautiful grape tomato.  I love it.  Planted late, the plants took off and are still healthy and strong.  Lots and lots of flowers, lots of clusters and now the weather is getting a bit too cold.  Picked them today will see if they ripen in a paper bag.