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Drainage for tomato plant?

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  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    With gro bags you're not actually getting that much bang for your buck. Sometimes it's better to buy two normal and use those than one grobag. 
    If you are going to use grobags though, put them on their sides and give them a bash, slice along the top which was the side and put your plants in like that, they'll have a deeper root run. Also slice holes about an inch or two above where it rests on the floor to provide a reservoir. 
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 5,661 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    -taff said:
    With gro bags you're not actually getting that much bang for your buck. Sometimes it's better to buy two normal and use those than one grobag. 
    If you are going to use grobags though, put them on their sides and give them a bash, slice along the top which was the side and put your plants in like that, they'll have a deeper root run. Also slice holes about an inch or two above where it rests on the floor to provide a reservoir. 
    I don't use gro bags as grow bags... Just the content
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    You = a general you not a specific you :)
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • Dustyevsky
    Dustyevsky Posts: 2,547 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Homepage Hero Photogenic
    Emmia said:
    Farway said:
    Emmia said:
    kimwp said:
    Good idea to feed the plant (with tomato feed) as well. 
    I'd fill the pot with the contents of a tomato growbag, to give them a good start.

    https://amzn.eu/d/8xReksX
    Gulp, at that price I'd just buy toms from M & S  :D

    Getting good toms needs feeding though and that costs...
    Not if you grow your own feed! Comfrey's free. If you haven't room, guerilla garden it on some unloved council land.  >:)

    "There is no such thing as a low-energy rich country." Dr Chris Martenson. Peak Prosperity
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 5,661 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 14 June at 3:30PM
    Emmia said:
    Farway said:
    Emmia said:
    kimwp said:
    Good idea to feed the plant (with tomato feed) as well. 
    I'd fill the pot with the contents of a tomato growbag, to give them a good start.

    https://amzn.eu/d/8xReksX
    Gulp, at that price I'd just buy toms from M & S  :D

    Getting good toms needs feeding though and that costs...
    Not if you grow your own feed! Comfrey's free. If you haven't room, guerilla garden it on some unloved council land.  >:)

    You clearly don't live in a flat with a patio in London...
  • Dustyevsky
    Dustyevsky Posts: 2,547 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Homepage Hero Photogenic
    edited 14 June at 5:31PM
    Emmia said:
    Emmia said:
    Farway said:
    Emmia said:
    kimwp said:
    Good idea to feed the plant (with tomato feed) as well. 
    I'd fill the pot with the contents of a tomato growbag, to give them a good start.

    https://amzn.eu/d/8xReksX
    Gulp, at that price I'd just buy toms from M & S  :D

    Getting good toms needs feeding though and that costs...
    Not if you grow your own feed! Comfrey's free. If you haven't room, guerilla garden it on some unloved council land.  >:)

    You clearly don't live in a flat with a patio in London...
    I don't, having chosen to relocate from Kilburn to the West Country 56 years ago. My comment was intended for a majority of the population, not a specific minority, who've also made choices.
    "There is no such thing as a low-energy rich country." Dr Chris Martenson. Peak Prosperity
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    You can make your own feed if you want to though, collect weeds as you walk about, stick them in a small bucket with a lid and fill with water, leave for a few weeks and you have our own feed with probably more trace elements than a bought one.
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • YoungBlueEyes
    YoungBlueEyes Posts: 4,886 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Photogenic
    edited 15 June at 8:48AM
    Re compost - this year I've started using a brand called Erin. It says it's "reduced peat" rather than peat free so I'm hopeful. Bit early to pronounce it better than the usual nonsense but it does look+feel+smell better than the stuff I was buying previously (big purple bags from the orange diy shed). 

    Edit - it's from my local garden centre and not dear at all.
    I removed the shell from my racing snail, but now it's more sluggish than ever.
  • Bargain42
    Bargain42 Posts: 7 Forumite
    First Post
    After punching the holes out I usually put a few sheets of paper in the bottom to stop compost falling through. It's a good alternative if you can't find  suitable sized stones to completely cover the holes.Seems to work well for me anyway!
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I've never been sold on this putting stuff in the bottom to stop stuff coming out, or to improve drainage or whatever. I put nothing in mine except the compost, it always drains fine, and no compost falls out. The only way it wouldn't drain was if the roots filled it up and blocked it. And as I've found with letting them do their own thing, they don't do that either...
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
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