ask gardening LJ

[hammercock]

I'm trying container gardening again this summer. This time I have 3 Topsy-Turvy planters and a potted sweet basil. The sweet basil is growing like gangbusters...most successful basil I've ever had, in fact

Comments

[donnad]

Yellowing of the leaves could be any number of things, inspect the dying off parts for insects or mold. Obviously if you find mold, it's overwatering. If it's insects you may also find distinct brown spots. It could also be underwatering or inconsistant watering

[hammercock]

I don't see mold or insects. I've watered it enough that the excess drips out of the drainage holes at the bottom, which is why I hadn't considered that it could be possible to overwater. How much should I be using? Should I not water for a few days to compensate?

I'll check it again tomorrow to check on the yellowing pattern. I don't think I've been getting the leaves especially wet, but maybe I'm mistaken.

And I didn't know that about Monsanto owning some of those varieties...ugh. *sigh*

[donnad]

As long as the water is draining properly it should be fine. The rule of thumb is stick your finger in the soil, if the top inch of soil is dry, you need to water. Continue to water daily, once a plant gets used to being watered often, if you stop, it'll stress the plant causing leaf and fruit drop and sometimes it can kill the plant

[kjc]

Donna's got a much better handle on the yellowing than I, but I wanted to mention, one thing about tomato plants is that they require a LOT of nutrients to make good fruit. Smarter gardeners than I recommend that they have 18" of soil - it's the nutrients in the soil that make the fruit healthy. (Sun & water have their part, but the nutrients go right to the fruit.)

One thing you can do is use fertilizer, but I recommend going with something sea-based (seaweed or fish emulsion) or if you have friends with worm poop, use that. I can give you a bag o'poo!

[hammercock]

I have used some liquid plant food, but perhaps I should add some worm poo! I'd gladly take some off your hands. How exactly do I use it?

[surrealestate]

I don't really know, but I can note that my friends who use those topsy-turvy planters are always giving them away because of poor results, even the very experienced gardeners. So it may not be anything you're doing wrong.

(I had several at one point because of the giveaways, but after reading the poor reviews, decided not to bother and ended up passing them along.)

[plumtreeblossom]

Yep, I had complete failure with topsy-turvies. The idea is good in concept, but Idon't know many people who have done well with them.

[hammercock]

This is my first time ever trying them.

[donnad]

I actually had pretty decent luck with the topsy turvy's, certain tomatoes don't do well in them, my sunglods failed in the T-T planter, but the patios did okay. I don't use them now because I have raised beds. I used one last year, and it did okay. the thing about the T-T planters is you don't have to worry about tomato horn worms. :)

[quietann]

Not a fan of topsy turvy planters here, either...

I had very poor results with patio tomatoes (in whisky barrels) this year and ripped them out and replaced them with regular tomatoes just before we left for the UK. Will see how they are doing when we get back in a few days.

[hammercock]

I'll be curious to find out how your tomatoes are when you return!

[tisiphone]

The yellowing could be overwatering or wrong watering, as said. Are you feeding them? If not, I'd recommend it. Also, if the blossoms got disturbed for some reason it might not fruit. I'm also not fond of topsy-turvy planters, they just don't give you the results. Plain old buckets all the way.

[hammercock]

I am feeding them, but perhaps not enough? I think I'll feed them some more tomorrow. Maybe I'm overwatering. I've watered enough that the excess drains out the bottom, so I'd thought that overwatering wasn't possible, but I accept the possibility that I'm completely mistaken about that. I've only ever grown anything once before, 3 years ago, and didn't have much luck then, either, because it was the least sunny June in Boston since records had been kept, and even then our previous porch only had dappled sunlight. I tried growing squash that year, too, and never got a single fucking fruit.