The shambles that was the early season is behind us. I now have 13 decent size plants, including three grafted plants I unexpectedly received from Suttons to try out. The latest job has been to pot all the plants on to their final 9L pots and to set those up in their final growing positions in the greenhouse. I decided in the end that I would go to the trouble of setting up the reservoir watering system I first tried last year. That’s a rather grand name for a few plastic tubs and a few planks, but it seemed to work. The basic idea is to use capillary matting to supply the plants with water on a consistent basis. The roughly triangular pieces of matting are poked through holes in the plank, far enough so that they reaches the bottom of the tubs which I have filled with water.
These are then poked in turn through the bottoms of the 9L pots I’m using.
The matting needs to surround the rootball but otherwise the process of transplanting is the same as normal.
If the watering system works the way I expect, these plants should grow on well in the protected environment of the greenhouse. I need to provide some support for them, but there isn’t enough clearance for long canes. I’ve decided instead to use string, following the roofline. I’ll be able to wind the plants around the string and they’ll be able to grow all the way up to the apex of the roof.
The plants all seem quite at home in their new accommodation, I am hopeful of getting a decent crop, and most importantly of avoiding the dreaded blight. No fruit has set, but there are some flowers, so the signs are good.
Based on my experience last year, a full tub of water lasts about 4 weeks, plenty of time to cover for holidays and forgetful gardeners.
I’ll be back with another update in a few weeks, hopefully involving fruit!
The Propagator 
Nice tomato plants. I hope you have a bountiful harvest. I was not so lucky with my first attempt on tomatoes.
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Your tomato plants are looking splendid. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of tomatoes from them!
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Hope so! time will tell.
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Indeed!
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I can almost smell those tomatoes…
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No fruit yet!
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Get a move on!!
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I’m going to try this with the red cherry tomato that I just acquired – thank you.
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Good luck!
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This technique seemed like it was becoming popular again about the time I graduated from college in 1990, but I did not hear much about it afterward. I went to growing citrus trees back then, so had no use for it. Your system, which might seem to be rudimentary to you, actually seems to be less flimsy than the professional grade system that we were using decades ago. What I did not like about that system was that it was so expensive, and so disposable. (We learned that it was durable, but no one bothered to tell us how many years we could expect out of one system. It seemed rather flimsy to me.) Our industry wastes so much plastic anyway, and I really did not like wasting even more just to grow a few plants, not only because it was more plastic, but also because it seemed like the cost of growing the plants could not be recovered.
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Yes you can buy a kit here but it’s about $60 for a 4 pot kit. This cost me about $25 for enough to handle 13 pots.
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That might be an acceptable cost for a home garden, but not for a production nursery. I have been very fortunate that our materials last for many years. We still use flats that are as old as 1974! (There are not many of them left.) The main continuing expense (besides our labor) is the electricity for the bottom heat.
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This is a cool solution to the blight! Do you hand pollinate, then, or do the bees get to come in?
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At this time of year the door and vents are open so bees can and do come in. I am assuming that will be enough but i could hand pollinate if needed.
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This means I am not 100% protected from blight but I figure much less likely to succumb if indoors with a draught rather than outside and fully exposed.
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This is so interesting but I’m not sure I could be organised enough to remember to poke the stuff through the pots before I planted the toms….
I am also growing my cordons across the roof of the greenhouse – our greenhouse is one of those tiny octagonal ‘form over function’ jobbies, but MrOG has set up a system of strings and cup hooks that is quite ingenious!
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What a clever idea, Mr. P.
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We’ll see! The ultimate proof will be in tomatoes!
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I came back from a long weekend to find my tomatoes have outgrown the string and the fence – I hope the same for you soon. I also came home to an invasion of beet leaf miner so have spent the morning cutting back Swiss chard and beet leaves sadly.
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