pot

Nine Palms Ranch Trial, 2008

Team members: Betsy Fisher

Summary

Many of the container tomatoes did as well or better than the in-ground tomatoes, including the indeteterminate (full-size) varieties. Container gardening with full-size tomatoes is something we can recommend.

Overview

Eight tomato varieties (Azoychka, Carbon, Flashen, Henderson’s Winsall, Howard German, Siletz, Spears Tennessee Green, and Sprite) were grown in black 15 gallon plastic pots. Three of these varieties (Flaschen, Siletz, and Sprite) were also grown in black 5 gallon plastic pots. The trial was to compare the flavor and production from container tomato plants to in-ground tomato plants

Soil preparation

The potting soil mixture was Sunland planter mix and 1/3 horse manure.

Seeding and transplanting

The seeds were started in March and transplanted into the pots in May.

Watering

The pots were hand watered twice a week.

Fertilization and pesticides

They were fertilized once with Whitney Farms organic fertilizer. No pesticides were used.