lloyd writes
Now you mention it is that not the way with all crops, they require
rotation? I wonder who does in their own garden?

I do. Even when I was only growing a few things, I'd move them around
from year to year.
--
Kay

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:50:54 +0000, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹
wrote:

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:25:16 +0000, Paul Luton
wrote:

The folk wisdom, is that tomato plants do not do well if grown in the
same soil for several years - whether due to specific nutrient depletion
or pathogen build up is not clear.

I've grown tomatoes in the same greenhouse soil for at least 18 years.

At the end of the season I skim off the top 2 inches and chuck onto
the garden. Then I sterilise the glass and soil thoroughly, leave for
3 weeks and then turn over the soil. In February I add 6x or similar
compost and perhaps a couple of bags of sterilised topsoil and
lightly dig over again with a few handfuls of Growmare for luck.

Tomorite and Miracle-gro are administered at the fruiting stage.

Touch wood quickly, I've had satisfactory crops with minimal pathogens
until now

What's that in this context, and how do you know you have it? You're
scaring me now maybe I should stick to tins!

lloyd writes

What's that in this context, and how do you know you have it? You're
scaring me now maybe I should stick to tins!

Only things which will affect the tomato's growth, not things which are
dangerous to you!

If you're getting good crops of tomatoes, there's nothing to worry
about.

--
Kay

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:16:36 +0000, K wrote:

lloyd writes

What's that in this context, and how do you know you have it? You're
scaring me now maybe I should stick to tins!

Only things which will affect the tomato's growth, not things which are
dangerous to you!

If you're getting good crops of tomatoes, there's nothing to worry
about.

Phew, I'll put the tin opener away then.

On 31 Dec, 17:10, lloyd wrote:
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:16:36 +0000, K wrote:
lloyd writes

What's that in this context, and how do you know you have it? You're
scaring me now maybe I should stick to tins!

Only things which will affect the tomato's growth, not things which are
dangerous to you!

If you're getting good crops of tomatoes, there's nothing to worry
about.

Phew, I'll put the tin opener away then.


®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹ wrote

"At the end of the season I skim off the top 2 inches and chuck onto
the garden. Then I sterilise the glass and soil thoroughly, leave
for
3 weeks and then turn over the soil. "

What do you sterilise the soil with?

David Hill

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:19:00 -0800 (PST), Dave Hill
wrote:

On 31 Dec, 17:10, lloyd wrote:
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:16:36 +0000, K wrote:
lloyd writes

What's that in this context, and how do you know you have it? You're
scaring me now maybe I should stick to tins!

Only things which will affect the tomato's growth, not things which are
dangerous to you!

If you're getting good crops of tomatoes, there's nothing to worry
about.

Phew, I'll put the tin opener away then.


®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹ wrote

"At the end of the season I skim off the top 2 inches and chuck onto
the garden. Then I sterilise the glass and soil thoroughly, leave
for
3 weeks and then turn over the soil. "

What do you sterilise the soil with?

I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. It's still available on-line
though. You're supposed to use it for sterilising pots and hard
surfaces.

Of course, if you really sterilise your glass very thoroughly and you
put your pots on the soil and sterilise them very thoroughly it is
inevitable but some of the sterilant must reach the soil.


--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:52:15 +0000, lloyd wrote:

Great success last year, well they grew for me so that is a rarity in
itself. Couple questions. I think three plants in a bag is too much,
perhaps two would be better? Could I dig a hole big enough for the bag
contents and then grow from there, or does the bag itself have some
protective role too?

What do you think?

I've got some green plastic "crowns" which are designed to go on top
of grow bags, pressed into a hole cut in the plastic, and filled with
compost to give greater depth. You can achieve the same effect by
using a 2 litre plastic pot with the bottom cut out. Place these on
top of the growbag , fill with compost and plant in them. I'd still
only put 2 plants to a bag.


Pam in Bristol

On Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:22:00 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:52:15 +0000, lloyd wrote:

Great success last year, well they grew for me so that is a rarity in
itself. Couple questions. I think three plants in a bag is too much,
perhaps two would be better? Could I dig a hole big enough for the bag
contents and then grow from there, or does the bag itself have some
protective role too?

What do you think?

I've got some green plastic "crowns" which are designed to go on top
of grow bags, pressed into a hole cut in the plastic, and filled with
compost to give greater depth. You can achieve the same effect by
using a 2 litre plastic pot with the bottom cut out. Place these on
top of the growbag , fill with compost and plant in them. I'd still
only put 2 plants to a bag.

Thanks Pam but I'm going to plant my toms this year and see how we get
on.

"lloyd" wrote in message
...
Great success last year, well they grew for me so that is a rarity in
itself. Couple questions. I think three plants in a bag is too much,
perhaps two would be better? Could I dig a hole big enough for the bag
contents and then grow from there, or does the bag itself have some
protective role too?

What do you think?

I always empty them into large pots and grow them from there!

Alan

"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:25:16 +0000, Paul Luton
wrote:

The folk wisdom, is that tomato plants do not do well if grown in the
same soil for several years - whether due to specific nutrient depletion
or pathogen build up is not clear.

I've grown tomatoes in the same greenhouse soil for at least 18 years.

At the end of the season I skim off the top 2 inches and chuck onto
the garden. Then I sterilise the glass and soil thoroughly, leave for
3 weeks and then turn over the soil. In February I add 6x or similar
compost and perhaps a couple of bags of sterilised topsoil and
lightly dig over again with a few handfuls of Growmare for luck.

Tomorite and Miracle-gro are administered at the fruiting stage.

Touch wood quickly, I've had satisfactory crops with minimal pathogens
until now although I do grow mostly resistant F1s

What are 'pathogens'?

Alan

"lloyd" wrote in message
...
Great success last year, well they grew for me so that is a rarity in
itself. Couple questions. I think three plants in a bag is too much,
perhaps two would be better? Could I dig a hole big enough for the bag
contents and then grow from there, or does the bag itself have some
protective role too?

What do you think?



Tried growing tomatoes in a growbag one year - ants took a liking to the
compost and built a whopping big nest in it :-(

Bill

On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 22:09:36 -0000, "alan.holmes"
wrote:


"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:25:16 +0000, Paul Luton
wrote:

Tomorite and Miracle-gro are administered at the fruiting stage.

Touch wood quickly, I've had satisfactory crops with minimal pathogens
until now although I do grow mostly resistant F1s

What are 'pathogens'?

In this context, air and soil-borne fungus spores, wood lice and ants.

--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹ wrote:
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:19:00 -0800 (PST), Dave Hill
wrote:
[...]

What do you sterilise the soil with?

I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. It's still available on-line
though. You're supposed to use it for sterilising pots and hard
surfaces.

Of course, if you really sterilise your glass very thoroughly and you
put your pots on the soil and sterilise them very thoroughly it is
inevitable but some of the sterilant must reach the soil.

What's wrong with telling him it's (presumably) Jeyes Fluid? Just
because it's not an approved method any more doesn't in any sense limit
your freedom of speech, or constrain what he does in his own garden if
it doesn't contaminate the environment or produce for other people.

I recommend very cheap black buckets (from Aldi, for example) for
tomatoes, with big drainage holes and half the contents of a growbag in
each. (Leave the handles on.) I have a feeling that growbags are too
shallow to give a cool root run, though I may be quite wrong.

I _do_ feel sure, though, that three tomato plants is too many for a
bag, unless one's wet-nursing is of textbook standard. Growbags are, in
my experience, definitely the cheapest way to buy in growing medium in
smaller quantities, but the stuff varies a lot in quality: sadly, I've
found the peat-free ones to be the worst, but I'm prepared to put up
with that. They're a nice size for a golden oldie like me to handle, as
well.

--
Mike.