On 5/7/10 10:30 PM, EVP MAN wrote:

Lasagna gardening seems very popular these days! Why not in a bucket
then? That will indeed be this years experiment for me. Last year I
put a tomato plant in a five gallon bucket. It done well at first
producing nice fruits, but as the season progressed, the fruits got
smaller and smaller. I came to the conclusion that all the nutrients
were being washed from the soil because plants in buckets need much more
frequent watering. This got me to thinking a bit. Why not try lasagna
gardening in a bucket? What I plan on doing is this: drill drainage
holes in the bottom of a five gallon pail. Then cut a ring of cardboard
to fit inside the bottom of the pail. I will then put a thin layer of
grass clippings followed by a layer of top soil, dehydrated cow manure,
compost and then granular slow release fertilizer. I will repeat this
until the pail is filled all in very thin layers. I will only water the
tomato plant very sparingly in the morning only when it looks a bit
wilted. Hey, if lasagna gardening works so well in a bed, why not in
a bucket? It's just on a smaller scale. Your opinions please

Rich


Unless you are growing cherry tomatoes, patio tomatoes, or other
tomatoes with small fruit, a bucket is just not large enough. Tomato
plants can send their roots 10 ft down into the soil. A 15 gal can
(left over after planting a tree) might be sufficient.

If you are concerned about retaining moisture without drowning the
plants, consider my do-it-yourself potting mix. See
http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html. However, even
if you only use organic fertilizers, the excellent drainage of this mix
will generally mean you will lose nitrogen during the growing season.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary