Tomatos and peppers

[Quattro Pete]

I'm growing tomato (bush goliath) and pepper (jalapeno) in planters on the patio this year. They are finally getting ready to be picked. Due to lack of proper garden space, this will have to do.

I'm looking for ideas to grow stuff in planters for next year. Any suggestions?

 

[RooflessVW]

We grow jalapeno, habanero, cayenne, and banana peppers. Looking to add some ghost next year.

 

[simple_gifts]

A woman @ worked used to whip up a bunch of salsa with ingredients she grew in her yard.

She would bring in chips and by noon two or three jars were consumed.

Maybe you could target items that all could be turned into a final product?

 

[PimTac]

If you like eggplant, add them in next year.

 

[Kruse]

Take a food-grade PLASTIC 55-gallon drum and cut four upside-down "V" notches in the barrel with a Sawzall, about 3/4 of the way up, 90° from each other. Take a hand torch and heat the uncut part of the "V" and get it warm. Bend the "V" outwards so that it sticks out at about a 45° angle, perhaps slightly more. Fill your barrel with your favorite fertilized soil or fertilized potting soil and put one tomato plant in each one of the "V"s that you cut into the barrel. Plant another 3-4 plants on the top of this barrel.
You now have your own compact tomato factory and the best part of it is that you can move your tomato plants indoors to the garage if you have a chance of frost or freezing.
Well, provided that you have a lot of grunt or a pallet jack....

Edit: Make sure this barrel is a clear barrel and not a black one. You might want to cook your plants before you eat them, not while they are growing.

 

[Drew99GT]

Subbed. I also have a "deck garden" in pots this year; 4 tomato plants, 2 zucchini, one yellow squash, and 2 jalapenos. Already harvested a yellow squash, 4 jalapenos, and many tomatoes. I over-watered the zucchini and they almost died....

I know one major change I'm making next year: bigger pots and I'll never use Miracle Gro potting soil for vegetable plants. The stuff is terrible, holds no moisture and is full of "filler", sticks, bark etc.

What kind of soil did you use Pete, and what size pots? Also, what are you using for fertilizer? The pots I'm using are about 10 inches in diameter and the same in depth. Just too small for the root systems, especially the squash plants.

I'm gonna try and find some large planters made specifically for patio gardens next spring.

I like the deck garden even though I have a huge backyard because we get so much hail; I can move the pots under the porch if we have storms in the forecast. They'd be destroyed by now without doing that!

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I have two 20L (5 USG) pails in the sunny part of my yard with tomato plants. I've been harvesting more than I can eat for a month now. Lots of pizza / pasta sauces prepared and in my freezer already. Usually give them a drink in the morning before the sun gets too hot and away they go. i'm picking all the ripe fruit as soon as it is ready and the next day there will be more already ready for harvest. Crazy.

I have people commenting that I must have a "green thumb" but nothing could be further from the truth. This is only the third summer I've grown tomatoes and the first attempt at kitchen herbs which are also doing OK. I am a somewhat neglective plant grower but my indifference seems to just jive with adequate watering versus some people's over-watering tendencies.

Summers here are hot and dry and unless there is a thunderstorm no real rain, certainly not for days in a row. Maybe a light sprinkle a few times a month. Highest Sunshine Hours in Canada and if it weren't for the winters where daylight hours fall to 9 hours or so would be amongst the highest in North America.

July average is 325.5 hours Sunshine out of a possible 496 Daylight hours (16.40H/day). Sunrise today is 5:13 AM and sunset @ 9:11 PM; we've been getting high 80's / low 90's for temperatures, which is well within the norm for July.

So I have to water or they will starve of moisture.

Previously I tried specialized "tomato" fertilizer blends that you dilute and mix with the soil. It seemed to me the plants didn't last although they had a nice bloom at first. This year just plain black topsoil with a bit of potting soil at the top, working better.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
What kind of soil did you use Pete, and what size pots? Also, what are you using for fertilizer? The pots I'm using are about 10 inches in diameter and the same in depth. Just too small for the root systems, especially the squash plants.
The tomato is in a 15" (5 gal) pot. I used some potting mix from Walmart, but I don't recall the brand. I then added some Jobe's Tomato Fertilizer Spikes, and some mulch on top.

The jalapeno is in a 10" (2.5 gal) pot. Here I used some Baccto premium potting soil mixed in with Dr Earth organic 4-6-3 fertilizer. The peppers are plentiful, but pretty small - maybe a bigger pot would have helped, not sure.

 

[CT8]

The Tomatoes and peppers look wonderful.

 

[123Saab]

Build custom boxes out of non pressure treated lumber. We had a lot of them on a concrete back yard when we lived in Brooklyn.

Put legs on them so we didnt have to bend over much while tending to the plants. And they look nice too.
You can also cover them with plastic or glass lids and extend your growing season quite a bit. Winter Salad is nice

Now we have raised beds in our vegetable garden, but they are more permanent. Life in PA.

 

[dirtymudder]

We used 5 gallon buckets some years ago. The problem was the sun would dry out the dirt quickly. It was a balancing act with constant watering.

 

[andyd]

In order to successfully harvest tomatoes I had to kill a few critters and enclose the 3 plants in a walk in cage of bird netting and wire fences. PITN Plenty of buckets and wood to make porch planter. Thank you for some good ideas.

 

[JHZR2]

Horseradish.

Ive always wanted to try to do one of those little lemon trees.

 

[Smokescreen]

My 2 fave veggies...yum !!