2-liter bottle upside down tomato planter
14.5 years ago cheap, peppers, tomato, upside down planter
Though my first attempt at an upside down tomato planter worked out great, I have a habit of forgetting to water the plants everyday. More commonly when we have decent rains when only the hanging tomato planters need to be watered. So this year I have modified my design a little to make this a little easier. As a bonus you can create this new version much quicker and minimal tools.
Materials required
- Empty 2-liter bottle
- Spray paint
- Drill or hot nail
- Chopstick or 1/4 in stick
Step 1 — Cut off bottom
There is a natural ridge at the bottom of the two liter bottle, simply cut at this ridge and remove the bottom.
Step 2 — Attach water reservoir
Take the removed bottom, flip it over, and insert it into the bottom of the bottle until flush with the top.
Step 3 — Drills Holes
First you need to drill a small hole in the bottom of the reservoir (the bottom you cut of) Use the smallest drill bit you have, this will reduce the water flow coming into the planter during rainfall and/or manual watering. With this reduced flow there should be much less soil loss during watering.
Second you need to drill two holes about 1/4 inch from the edge with a 1/4 inch drill bit. It is a little difficult to get enough pressure against the plastic to make this hole without causing the plastic to collapse. To take care of this place a small piece of wood on the floor and drill the holes from the inside.
Step 4 — Paint planter
You want to protect the roots from being exposed to direct sunlight so you need to cover the outside. This can be done with contact paper, duct tape (as I have done in the past) or for a fast cleaner look just quickly add a quick coat of spray paint to the outside. It is probably best to use paint that is made to adheres well to plastic, though in my case I had some nice multipurpose light green paint leftover from another project that with a few hard rains appears to be holding up well.
Step 5 — Secure with stick (chopstick) and fill with soil
Now add your plant (tomatoes and peppers are my favorites) to the bottom (previously the top) of the planter by carefully pushing the roots through the hole or alternatively you can the plant out from the inside. If your plant is too large to do this safely you may also cut a larger opening in the bottom, but I would recommend wrapping a sponge or coffee filter around the plant to assist in keeping the dirt in the planter.
Fill your planter with a mixture of 1 part perlite to 2 parts (potting mix, peat moss, coconut coir) with the top 1/2 inch being only (potting mix, peat moss, coconut coir) After a couple of waterings, this 1/2 inch layer will compact and restrict the water flow for a slower and more distributed watering.
Use the thinner end of your chopsticks to thread it through both holes and both sets of plastic, attach a piece of twine attached to bother ends, and hang wherever the plants can get some good full sunshine and you should have plenty of early tomatoes this summer.
Tags: cheap, coffee grounds, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, upside down tomato planter, vegetables
Earth Day in the garden
14.6 years ago cilantro, cold season crops, garlic bulbs, onions, peppers, tomato
I decided to take the day off to catch up on some things at home and as I ended up outside of course I went right to the garden.
We have seen a few warm days here in the Northwest and in my area we haven’t dipped under 40 degrees at night so seemed like a good time to plant a few of my tomatoes spending their time this winter in the grow box.
Above are a New Yorker and Persey both of which are new for me this year. They have been growing great even with my neglect during their youth. I also have some Green Zebras, Husky Cherry, Sweetie Cherry, and Yellow Cherry. I did attempt Red Brandywine but the seeds I got appear to be duds.
Given it is always good to have a Plan B so I have twins of these tomato plants still in puts which I can bring if a cold snap comes and kills off the plants I ambitiously planted in the ground.
Elsewhere in the garden I have some herbs: Parsley and Oregano, with Basil being an unfortunately casualty which I will plan on buying from the store and try again next year.
Next I checked out my larger garden bed to see my peas, cilantro, onions, carrots, lettuce, strawberries and garlic
Lastly I checked out the peppers in the grow box which they will stay until we have some warmer nights (at least 50 degrees) otherwise can cause significant stunting of growth. So until then they will remain happy in the grow box and given they are still pretty small, still plenty of room to grow…
Tags: cheap, cilantro, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, growbox, herb garden, outdoor plants, pepper plants, strawberry plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Life in the growbox
14.6 years ago indoor growbox, peppers, tomato
Right about now the temperatures outside should be increasing and I should be thinking about start hardening off my summer plants over the next few weeks.
Unfortunately we seeing hail the past few days along with some pretty cold nights. Looks like even though I was fairly pessimistic about my last frost date I may have another battle of tomatoes/peppers over taking the growbox or bring them out into the elements a little too early…
To make a little room I did move my herbs (oregano/parsley) out to the cold frame with the basil struggling to survive in the growbox I will give it a little time to bounce back.
Tags: cheap, growbox, herb garden, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Free tomato seeds
15 years ago cheap, free, seeds, tomato
If you head over to Campbell’s Help Grow Your Soup site you can get some free tomato seeds and while you are at it vote for a barn which Campbell’s will give $250,000 to restore. So free seeds for you and one dollar for a barn restoration.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, tomato plants
Garden Salsa recipe
15.3 years ago cilantro, garlic bulbs, harvest, onions, recipe, tomato
Big moment this week, I was able to make salsa entirely from ingredients. I normally don’t use cherry/grape tomatoes for salsa but my Early Girls are not that early this year and have not quite turned red.
CVG Garden Salsa Recipe
- 2-3 tomatoes (or 12-15 cherry/grape tomatoes)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 small onion
- green onion
- 5 sprigs of cilantro
- tablespoon vinegar
- 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded)
- sugar
Directions: Coarsely chop tomatoes (removing seeds, though if I few sneak in it is not a big deal), onion, and green onions and add to bowl. Finely chop garlic, cilantro, and seeded jalapeno pepper and add to mixture. Add vinegar to bowl and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes and add sugar until salsa does not have a spicy aftertaste (normally 1-2 teaspoons) If you like the spice skip the sugar and include seeds from the jalapeno.
Tags: cilantro, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, pepper plants, salsa garden, tomato plants
How to fertilize/side dress tomatoes/peppers in your garden
15.3 years ago alfalfa pellets, compost, fertilizer, peppers, tomato
When your fruiting plants are flowering and bearing fruit this is a good time to give them a little extra boost. Though you don’t want to throw any old fertilizer at them at this point. You want them to get the nutrients they need to produce high yields of produce, though you don’t want to shock them with an abundance of nitrogen to stimulate new vegetative growth when you would rather the plant expend its energy making you food.
The solution to this problem is to provide your plants with a low dose of balanced fertilizer. I couple of my favorites are compost and alfalfa pellets applied every couple weeks while the plants are blooming/fruiting. This ensures the plants have all the nutrients they be lacking without throwing the plant into a growth spurt.
If you have a little extra time take the compost and add some water and let it sit in the sun for several hours and water or spray onto the foliage for a great dose of compost tea.
If you forgot to apply a little bone meal when you planted your peppers/tomatoes this is also a good time to sprinkle a handful under your plants and work into the couple inches of soil to provide your plants with a boost of phosphorous and also a little calcium to help prevent blossom end rot.
Hopefully with these tips you can help your green tomatoes turn into bright delicious red tomatoes.
If you want to learn more about the chemistry of organic fertilizers I have a whole post on that subject
Tags: alfalfa pellets, cheap, compost, organic vegetables, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
