"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Tim Jesson wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
I bought some plants and until now, I have kept them on a
windowsil.
They seem to be thriving I intend to plant them in a basket
(the
old type shopping basket) using polystyrene as a base and I bought
the kind of compost used for hanging baskets.

Should I buy the gel thingies that hold in the water?

I bought tomato feed too. When should I begin to use it?

Apologies for my possible daft questions, but many thanks for any
help!


If you mulched the soil, you wouldn't need the gel - but gel is
fine
and really does work well if you can't water for two or three days.

The feed is targeted at setting and establishing the fruit. Don't
feed
until the first flowers are out. Before then, a general purpose
feed
will give the roots and leaves a good boost. The compost they are
grown in probably has nutrients for 6 weeks or so but most plants
will
be nearer 10-12 weeks at planting out - so a general purpose feed
before planting out is a help.

Only feed weekly otherwise the fruit won't mature as quickly -
especially if the feed is very high in nitrogen such as seaweed
based
products.

actually, in my test group two years ago, there was precious little
difference in yield between plants fed weekly, not at all, daily
and
even grown upside down :-) The tomato is a hardier beast than is
made
out! Most of their problems are in our heads!

Many thanks TJ) I have saved this for future reference.

I will be planting them in a wicker shopping basket using the light
compost used for hanging baskets. Can I can mulch with that? But,
this is all knowledge I will need for when I have the proper
space)

All advice about feeding will be utilised forthwith))

Thanks

O


In a basket like that grass clippings would be a great mulch. They
will keep the water in for the toms and provide a nitrogen supplement
when rotting. Torn paper, shredded hedge trimmings, even bark make a
pratical mulch for this situation alone but better in combination.

I've never been into the 'best' solution for this kind of stuff! Just
follow your nose and see if it works OK. The worst that can happen is
you'll have to water more frequently. For me grass works with tomatoes
because there is a large area relative to the plant stem size. If the
basket were crowded with lots of flowers gel would be a whole lot
better.

I hope the toms do really well :-)

TJ