This is a quick update on the growth and function of my self wicking 5 gallon bucket container tomatoes. My other videos show you how to construct this syste…
Question by Bob: Watering Tomato plants, but not sure how often and want to know the proper period between watering HELP???
Have young tomato plants on my deck in large planters and puzzled as to when and how often too water. Also how much water is required?
Best answer:
Answer by Bill G
If its really sunny and warm where you are, they usually could use a daily watering. Do it early in the morning so its not too hot and the roots don’t get scorched.
You can usually check the soil in your pots to see if its getting too dry, but once a day is usually enough for tomato plants.
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Im glad it worked well. I am working on a new idea that requires less parts. Maybe just a towel and a hole.
Gary, this is awesome. I intended to make 2, ended up with 9.
Couldn’t be easier and all of my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are thriving. Thanks for the great ideas – keep ’em coming!!
Thanks for the idea
I cut up an old cotton t-shirt for the wicks it was just enough.
This is such a great idea. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing. This is what I needed all along.
Yes. Anything that wicks. You could also forgo the sponges and just make big cloth knots on each side of the hole. That simplifies it even more.
Great idea! Can you use cheesecloth and sea sponges? I’d like to avoid dyes etc. in the materials. Thanks for posting these videos!
Simple keeps it easy. Effective. There are more elaborate designs but you have to change the soil every year…. so you can change the wicks too.
Very impressive,i thought it would be a bit more complex,but it so easy a child could do it.New idea acquired…yoink.
Great! I am very happy when things work as planned. I hope it continues to go well.
Thanks for this video. I planted a black cherry tomato two weeks ago with this system and I haven’t had to top-water it yet! I live in NW Florida and this time of year I have to water my containers at least every other day, so two weeks without top-watering is pretty amazing. Thanks again.
This looks nice, it’s a significant achievement and should make a difference for many people. If anyone is interested I have a movie about making a homemade precision watering can for small seedlings: watch?v=BFbSz1RHZeE
I just checked on it every couple days. My finger fit into the hole to see where the water level was.
I love your videos Gary, have learned many valuable garden tips from you.
Thanks for sharing
Blessings
Depends on size of plants and heat but it high heat times about every 2nd or 3rd day. The hole container gets watered and I refill the reserve. When the plants arent at full maturity and the days are in the low 80s or less, I filled it about 1x week. The key is having the system for high heat and full plant maturity.
How often do you actually have to water with these? Just trying to determine if it’s worth it to buy those extra buckets, etc.. Your videos are very helpful. Thank you!
It works. The cloth and sponge has to be changed each year. But I am not convinced it was any better then just having it sit in a tray of water. It worked in the high July and August heat as it bought me 3 days of moisture. I want to try a new design this year that I am still pondering.
Now that you had a chance to use the self watering system, what do you think of it?
John
I used Miracle Grow Moisture control garden soil. You could go with potting mix. But I don’t think you need a pure mix. Quality garden soil is good. I tried to design something simple and cost effective. And the end of the year, the soil is spent. Dump it and replace the sponge and wicks and you are good to go for next year. New soil of course. You can even just knot the wicks on the outside of the 5 gallon container (the sponge hole) and skip the sponge if you want.
Of all the hundreds of self watering container videos I find your’s is the simplist to construct. I’m going to try it. One question about the type soil. Does it matter if it’s potting soil or potting mix. The latter is lighter but also dries out faster. Which did you use and recommend?
wow this is great! Works exactly like an oil lamp. Will you transplant them to ground or they will stay in the bucket the whole time? Thanks.
This is the first year of this design. I don’t think there will be an issue of the buckets sticking together. Of course when the tomatoes are large, lifting will be hard.
The water, I flood out when I fill them. Kinda rinses it out. I haven’t top watered these tomatoes and I flooded the water out 2x since planting. While they are little I do lift the bucket 1x a week to see if the water look fine. So far excellent.
The goal was to give me some help come July and August here. This should work.
your garden looks awesome! How often do you change out the water in the lower buckets? Do you ever have a problem with the buckets sticking together ? I want to try your set up next year, thanks for the update
Larry
Are your pots mulched? If so, You will need to water less often. You will also need to water less if you have reservoirs under your containers.
If they are not mulched you may have to water more often.
To check, I poke my finger all the way down, (about 3 inches), into the soil. If I feel moisture the pots do not need to be watered that evening. If the soil is dry, I soak them through with each watering.
As long as you have proper drainage you need not worry about overwatering, and a wilting plant is a sure sign of a water need.
Good luck and Happy gardening
Depending on the temperatures, the less watering you can get away with, the better your tomatoes will taste. This applies more when the fruit is actually beginning to mature and ripen. I have my tomato plants in the ground and actually wait until they are slightly wilted before I water them, this causes the sugars to condense and results in a sweeter fruit.