watering tomato seedlings

I second the request to see designs of all the self-watering beds/containers!

I can't believe how well your seedlings came up given that it was your first time! Rock on!

OMG I'm so exhausted right now! But things are coming along nicely. Most of the (larger 5 gallon) containers are finished and the reservoirs for the raised bed have been dug. I'm praying we finish tomorrow. I'll probably end up adding another bed later, but not this time.

In digging for the reservoirs, we've noticed the soil on my property is very dark and loose. It's that way all over the backyard, probably because we quit using chemicals on it and stopped taking care of the grass and kind of let nature take over. It's had a several years of leaves and green leafy materials feeding the soil. You can even pull dandelions up with no problem, it's so loose. The whole taproot comes up, no problem. I'm going to have it tested, to see. If it's good enough, I'll probably plant some things straight into the ground, like the blueberry bushes.

Tomorrow I will take pictures of all the steps (I hope I don't forget!), and I'll have Michael write up a description of what he did, in case anyone is interested.

jjlonsdale wrote:I second the request to see designs of all the self-watering beds/containers!

I can't believe how well your seedlings came up given that it was your first time! Rock on!

Thanks so much! Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am! I did a LOT of research and reading about it though, so I'm sure that's why. Still. I'm quite shocked. I really didn't expect it.

Ok, as a fellow Georgian, I just have to say that I am very jealous of your soil. How did you escape the plague of Georgia red clay soil?

I live in the coastal region, in Savannah.

When you transplanted your seedlings did you put them in the seed starting mix or MM?

Kinda sounds like the old marsh area with fill dirt are you anywhere near Hunter Army Air base are?? :scratch: I spent a few years in Savannah most of the river front is old old fill. stay away from the saltmarsh dirt, Are the Gnats still a spring & summer problem? Grow Onions you have the best weather for them Good luck keep us posted please

R&R 1011 wrote:When you transplanted your seedlings did you put them in the seed starting mix or MM?

When I transplanted them, I used Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil. I used that because I was nowhere near ready to make up my MM or to build the beds/containers and I wanted to give them a good mix of composted materials. Here are some updated photos...













These will be the underground reservoirs. The yard slopes down here, so the bed will be deeper in the back than in the front. The reservoirs are not finished yet. Should be finished tomorrow (keeping fingers crossed).





Self-watering 5 gallon buckets. I collected pickle barrels from Publix every few days for several weeks. I also have a bunch of 3.5 gallon buckets we will make into containers as well, for plants other than tomatoes. (The 5 gallon ones are all for tomatoes.) I will, of course, fill them with MM much closer to the top, once the plants are in.







The frame for the raised bed, upside down. As you can see, one side is longer than the other, because the ground is on a slope. Michael still has to cut the 3' end boards that will adjust the bed. We weren't able to finish tonight, because we ended up running around all day looking for ONE PART that, of course, HD or Lowes didn't have, so we eventually went to an actual plumbing store. We also got the cedar at an actual lumber yard, and it was half the price than if we had bought it at Lowes/HD.



Another shot of the underground reservoirs.




I swear the plants grew an inch overnight last night, and another inch today. OK, maybe not an inch, but close. They are getting HUGE. I can't wait to plant them. I will give away the ones that are left over, which will be quite a few.

OH, and the ones that puppy sat on recovered just fine. Tomatoes sure are resilient!

HillbillyBob wrote:Kinda sounds like the old marsh area with fill dirt are you anywhere near Hunter Army Air base are?? :scratch: I spent a few years in Savannah most of the river front is old old fill. stay away from the saltmarsh dirt, Are the Gnats still a spring & summer problem? Grow Onions you have the best weather for them Good luck keep us posted please

I live on the southside of town a few miles from the base, but I'm not really near a marsh. Not close enough to matter, I wouldn't think. And YES! The gnats are still HORRIBLE!

WOW! That's a lot of tomato plants! lookin' good!