Hello,

I grow tomatoes in a small g'house in large tubs. The tubs are well-drained
and filled with decent compost and gravel at the bottom. My toms almost
always split and this year seems to have been worse than ever. Its not a
major problem, they taste fine, but they dont last as long. I know that the
problem is irregular watering, or overwatering as they start to ripen. .

My questions, will it help if I used 'ring culture'? ; would it help if I
mixed water retaing granules in with the compost? ; is it worth setting up
some sort of auto-watering system ?

My G'house stands on a concrete base so I cannot plant them in the ground

Thanks for all ideas

K

"dido22" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I grow tomatoes in a small g'house in large tubs. The tubs are
well-drained and filled with decent compost and gravel at the bottom. My
toms almost always split and this year seems to have been worse than ever.
Its not a major problem, they taste fine, but they dont last as long. I
know that the problem is irregular watering, or overwatering as they start
to ripen. .

My questions, will it help if I used 'ring culture'? ; would it help if I
mixed water retaing granules in with the compost? ; is it worth setting up
some sort of auto-watering system ?

My G'house stands on a concrete base so I cannot plant them in the ground

I did see an article on TV about a water efficient way of growing
strawberries where they had an automatic watering system with moisture
sensors to keep the moisture level just right.

I don't know how expensive such things are, but this seems the best way to
ensure a constant level of moisture.

Alternatively, you may be growing varieties which have a tendency to split
anyway - worth checking to see if there are better varieties to grow.

HTH

Dave R

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:29:14 +0100, dido22 wrote:



My questions, will it help if I used 'ring culture'?

as long as you can water from the bottom and feed from the top it really
doesn't matter. Gravel to increase humidity is good.

; would it help if
I mixed water retaing granules in with the compost?

yes

; is it worth
setting up some sort of auto-watering system ?

yes. Two Watts and Elliot do an inexpensive drip-feed system.