Tuesday 27 March 2012

Tomato pots

For my Birthday, my Mother-in-law (advised by her daughter / my wife) bought me some really great containers for growing Tomato plants. They are made by the leading garden supplies company Stewarts

These ones are officially called "Balconnieres"  but we normally call them "Planters" or simply "Tubs".

A big rectangular container:


That sits in a "saucer"


Put the two together...


The tub has a perforated base that separates the compost from a water reservoir below


The reservoir is filled / topped-up by means of a tube that protrudes above the surface of the compost. Any excess water drains into the saucer via two overflow pipes.


The large regular shape of this container lends itself to the use of my cane-support brackets:-


This set-up will make it much easier to maintain a consistent level of moisture in the compost. The fluctuation between too-dry and too-wet can promote disease in Tomato plants (such as Blossom End Rot), and increase the likelihood of the fruit cracking.

I can hardly wait to get planting now - although my tomatoes are only a couple of inches tall at present and it will be several weeks before they are ready for planting-out.

18 comments:

  1. That is a perfect gift for a gardener!

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  2. I love how the support bracket fits right into the balconniere (I love this name). Great gift!

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  3. Nice gift. I'm not a big pot fan as I never remember to water when I should. But I do appreciate them for my mints.

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  4. I have had a couple of these pots for several years now - I use mine for patio fruit trees - the insert does warp after a while but still does the job

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  5. Ahhh! You see. This is what I need. I have very poor results with tomatoes. Nice tip!

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  6. The tomato pot looks really good. Don't you just love getting practical gifts for the garden! I know I always do.

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  7. That is cool! My wifes aunt wants to container garden, I will show her this!

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  8. Nice pots - what sort of size are they? I always find scale difficult in photos.

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  9. I’ve never tried these as I’ve just used the usual long grow bags with my tomatoes but might try some in these to compare this year...

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  10. They look great. They should help in giving the plants just the right amount of water. I usually get presents to do with gardening too.

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  11. Lucky you! With these perfect pots we'll be expecting great things Mark ;D

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  12. Liz, those new Tomato pots come in 3 sizes - 30, 35 and 40cm square. I think mine are the 35cm ones. (I'm away from home so I can't measure them!)

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  13. Nice Gift - I'll be watching to see how they do!

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  14. Those look very good, especially the cane support bracket. I must sow my seeds.

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  15. Hi Mark,

    Just come back from the local garden centre with 3 of these on your suggestion. I also got the little stand with wheels to place them on so I can move and turn them in the greenhouse once the tomato plants are big. Only thing was I forgot to get the cane support brackets so will have to have another trip out to the Garden centre at some point...poor me!

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  16. The tomato pots seem like scientific, lab equipment to me. Can't imagine finding such containers here. You must let us know how the tomatoes do.

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