Last year I grew some cherry tomatoes in containers in this half barrel. I didn’t plant them directly in the soil already in the barrel for two reasons. There was still a stump of a dead apricot tree there and the soil would need some major overhauling if it was to grow tomatoes worth anything.
This year the stump is gone but the same old tired soil still inhabits the barrel. I knew I still wanted tomatoes in this barrel but didn’t want to fool with old soil. I remembered how a friend once grew commercial tomatoes under black plastic. Their roots loved the warmth, it kept weeds down and helped keep the soil moist (he had drip irrigation). I also remembered hearing how some greenhouse growers would simply line bags of soil in the greenhouse, cut them open and plant the tomatoes inside. The idea was that the soil was only used once (good for tomatoes, cuts down on disease) and makes cleanup a snap. I decided to mix the two techniques for my mini bush cherries this year.
The pics were taken with the cell phone cam.
A bag of potting soil with slow release fertilizer included. I cut 4 openings and poked a couple of holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage and planted the toms.
It would have been a little easier if I had laid the garbage bag before cutting and planting but it worked out find in the end. They are watered in and ready to go.
As a Master Gardener in FL this was a favorite method taught to novice gardeners for growing tomatoes, minus the black plastic. The diseases were so prevalent in the soils there that most tomato plants didn’t have a chance unless you used chemicals on them, then you may as well buy them at the store. There may even still be a link on the UF website showing how to do it. We just cut 2 x in the top of a large bag of black cow composted manure and put a recomened variety of tomato plants in. For looks it could be covered with mulch. It was a favorite method for people who lived in condos or townhomes.
I love it! I am going to do that with potatoes this year and see how that works out.
I am going to keep this comment short because I have tried to comment on your blog probably 20 times before but I am always considered spam 🙁
I’ll cross my fingers and try again. Keep up the good gardening!
Debbie, I didn’t know that but it is encouraging to know that it will probably work. I would imagine that before too long the foliage would cover the bag even without the black plastic. I think the tomatoes are enjoying it right now though as we have had a rather cool spring thus far.
Mark, Spam? I suppose my spam filter is over zealous at times. Glad you made it through though. I do try to check the spam queue sometimes but I get literally thousands of garbage messages a week, way too many to go through on a regular basis.