August 2015

The tomato plants have grown amazingly this year... The new method of planting two plants in a growbag with a large hole on the growbag base and using grow rings to 'earth up' the roots has really made a huge improvement to yield. The plants are dripping with large toms. Harvesting began in mid June but I am now picking around 300g daily.

Outdoor tomatoes have just about caught up with the greenhouse ones... These are a different variety of smaller ones. Just starting to ripen, so the greenhouse gave about 6 weeks head start I would guess.

I pinched out side shoots and deliberately left a few to get large. Put them in a pot of water to root and then potted them up into pots and kept them in the shade until established... I'm experimenting... For the past three years in Spring, I've cleared my greenhouse and found that the previous year's tomatoes have been still alive! They seem to have grown slowly through winter with no watering! I suspect had I have watered a little... They would have sprung into growth... I might put these into large pots in the greenhouse over the Winter this year... Just keeping them damp but not wet... Placing a large tub of water might stop overnight frost (if the water freezes it gives off enough heat to stop frost damage - a truck used in cellars to store fruit over winter)

Tomato Planting Complete

The tomato plant in its planter...

Strip lower leave stalks...

Fill planter with compost....

The tiny hairs on the stem will form new roots... In theory, more roots... More tomatoes.

The Greenhouse 2015

This year I have researched different methods of tomato growing in the greenhouse and I think I have found the best option.  I have in the past grown tomatoes in the greenhouse borders, in pots and in grow bags and a combination of pots and grow bags.   All gave OK results.   But I suffered from the usual ailments due to watering, both under and over watering.

This year im trying out a new method...

I'm using good quality grow bags as usual.  At the end of the growing season I use the spent contents as a soil conditioner in my raised beds.  However, this year I am only planting two plants per grow bag, as opposed to the normal three (never grown four per bag, perhaps this is better for patio grown plants).  Firstly I turned over the soil in the greenhouse border...

And dug in some farmyard manure and fresh soil conditioner both bought from a garden centre.

I wouldn't use last year's grow bags due to risk of disease...

Once dug in I cut two large rectangles in the base of the grow bag...

This will allow the deep water-seeking roots of the tomato plant to reach down to look for water.  After positioning the bag over the prepared soil, I placed my growing/watering pots in the top of the bag cutting holes to size...

I ruffed the grow bag mixture and placed two plants straight into the pots after removing the seed leaves...

Tomatoes are tropical plants that want to creep along the ground, every little hair on the stem is a new root in the making...

I am not filling the growing pots until the tomatoes have grown above them this year.  This will then allow nutrient seeking roots to form in the pot (at the level I will be applying the tomatoes food).  Hopefully the large rectangle in the base will allow for good drainage and a good supply of water to the plant in the soil underneath the grow bag... I will see what happens!