Best watering/growing system for tomatoes?

[wildeyed]

I have mine in raised beds. The best watering system I have used is drip irrigation. For the past number of years, I have been trying to hand water using rain barrel water. I use large soda bottles with small holes drilled in the bottom to dribble the water onto the roots. But it is not enough or drains too fast or something because the plants are struggling. It is also high maintenance, so I am more likely to skip watering chores. I am thinking of buying an electric pump for the barrels so I can water more easily. Anyone have experience with this? I was hoping to find a solar system so I could be completely off the grid for water. Or maybe build high stands for the barrels and use gravity?

I tried containers one year, but after it got really hot, again, had problems keeping up with the watering. But it was nice not to have the weeds!

One way or another, I need to have a plan soon. If I wait until the last minute, it is not done in time.

[HopeHoops]

1. Agreed on the drip irrigation - best thing for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and most other nightshade

plants (except potatoes). Potatoes like wet leaves, the others don't. Most drip systems also have sprayer valves on short posts.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. If you don't have time and discipline to hand water tomatoes, definitely go with a drip system.

Being semi-retired and a nut about making observations (also allowing my driveway to be taken over by hundreds of pots), I hand water them every day - twice a day in the heat of the summer....if I didn't, they would get into trouble very quickly. Allowing plants to wilt with young tomatoes forming invites blossom end rot.

I just love growing them in containers - total control over the soil quality and I can grow them where the sun is best. Alas, we lose our driveway!

[wildeyed]

3. Have you tried a bottom water system?

I have seen them made commercially, but I think it would not be too hard to build.

http://www.gardeners.com/Terrazza-Trough-Planters/PatioPlanters_Cat,16027,default,cp.html

We have a large deck so this might work. If I put wheels on it, I could roll it to a less hot spot once the season was in full swing.

Here is an easy do-it-yourself plan. I have some extra storage boxes and some scrap lumber, so I will try to build the watering system, then use the lumber for a stand/cover and paint it to look nice.

http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

This should work well for tomatoes and peppers, right? Do you have recommendations for a good patio tomato variety for the south? I saw in another thread that you are working on small plants.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. Can't do bottom water because I've got 400 pots, typically!

would cost a fortune....it does enough as it is!

[Gormy Cuss]

5. If you could pump water into a drip line system it would make the watering chore easier.

I've seen gravity-fed drip systems but don't have experience with them. Some are as simply as rain barrels on platforms with the lines attached to the spigot.

Since you also would like to cut down on the weeds, are you using mulch? Clean straw (i.d. most seeds removed) is an easy and effective way to reduce the soil temperature and it will eventually decompose into the soil. Newspaper or paper mulches work in a similar way. Since you're trying to reduce the heat on the soil, avoid black plastic/synthetic mulch sheets. With any of these mulches though it's good to leave a few inches of bare soil around the stem.

Lastly, the best way to reduce heat stress is to have a strong root system. If you buy plants, choose shorter stemmed ones with no roots coming out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. Whether growing from seed or transplanting, start out with fertilizers higher in phosphorus (the P in N-P-K) than the other nutrients. This will promote root growth. Once you have a decent looking stem switch to a more balance fertilizer.

[wildeyed]

6. I think I am going to build the bottom water planters for the maters.

Then I can just fill the reservoir with rain barrel water. They will have the constant moisture they need and I can move them to the shady side of the deck during really hot weather.

I like straw mulch best too. Some years I use shredded leaves since I always have a ton of them, but that does not work as well.

I am still contemplating what to do about the raised beds. The wood is rotting so I either need to rebuild or get rid of them. I am bad about maintaining the garden, particularly in August. It might be better to down size and go mostly container. I could also put them in the driveway. Two benefits to that. I will see them several times a day as I go in and out, so less likely to neglect, and the chickens will not be able to get at them when they free range. Hmmmm.....