I combined the halos and growbag watering trays last year, it worked very well. Two plants per growbag. (Two melon plants in one growbag, actually. Two tomatoes in another.) One of the old-timers on our allotments has been using this combination for years.
I am sure the MPC will be fine Pokhim it's what most of us amateurs use we don't all have space or need to use specialist mixes for different things.
Aster-I agree I think limiting to two plants per bag combined with Halo is the way to go. They show 3 on the bags but the compost just dries out too fast, and does not have enough feed to support 3 in my experience.
I Norma!ly plant out my tomatoes into used flower buckets from Morison's etc. They give good depth
for root growth and I use a 6ft cane in each bucket. I feed with high potash feed and alternate waterings with seaweed extract and a!ways have good results and plenty of fruit. I grow my plants outdoors in a sunny spot as the greenhouse is used for cucumbers.
I'm trying halos for the first time this year. 6 from eBay plus three route 'training' bags (I have no idea what these are for but the chap included them in the sale).
is a watering tray just one of those long plastic trays wide enough for a grow bag, or is it more fancy than that with spikes?
i looked on YouTube and saw a couple of folks doing three per grow bag but now I think I will go with just two.
I use MPC, and pots. Pot on as they grow, and bury them well each time (up to the first set of leaves) to encourage rooting higher up. Contrary to popular belief, they don't need a lot of feeding. Only feed when the first truss sets, and they only need a couple of feeds after that.
Good ventialtion if they're undercover to prevent pests and diseases. You can remove quite a bit of foliage later to help prevent mildew etc. Consistent watering is also important. They don't need to be kept moist, you can let them dry out quite a bit in between waterings, but stick to whatever regime you started out with.
It's when you create soft, sappy growth that you're more likely to get issues. I grow mine much harder now, after listening to Italophile's advice on here in the past.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tootles, I use Hozelock watering trays, each tray has four spikes that you need to thread with wicks and will fit one growbag. It has a water gauge as well, so that you know when to water. Just make sure that you don't pour feed into the reservoir - I did that the first season and then we had a heatwave and the water with the feed started to stink, it was horrible. I contacted Hozelock about it and they were baffled, apparently they never heard of it happening. But since then I've only poured water into the tray and any feed goes on top.
With two big tomato plants per bag you get about two days between having to refill the reservoir. If you want to extend that a bit, you can fill the reservoir full up and at the same time water from above to soak the soil. That gives you an extra half day or so. (That's once the plants are big and producing tomatoes.)
Last year, the Which? reports said that Verve multipurpose compost (B&Q own make) was just as good for seeds as the special seed composts. I used it for everything (seeds, potting on) and was pleased with the results. The tomato seedlings didn't show signs of magnesium deficiency, as they have done some years. This year Verve wasn't quite the best in their tests, but did pretty well all round, and it's much cheaper than some of the special mixes by the big brands, so I'm using it again. This year's batch (well, the stuff I bought) was nice and dry - so not too heavy! - and seems quite fine-textured.
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I planted a few tomato seeds in a small seed tray with a clear plastic lid last month and the first shoot appeared a week ago. It was growing well for a few days but then the cotyledons just shrivelled-up, one night leaving a perfectly intact stem.
At first I thought something ate them, but this was kept inside and there are no slugs in the soil. The cotyledons just seemed to decay and after a few more days there's literally nothing left of them, only the stem, which is still standing.
Any idea what went wrong, and I take it the stem will not grow into a proper plant now, even though it's so-far showed no signs of dying?
Once the shoot appeared, I took to taking the lid off during the day and leaving the tray by a window for more light, then putting the lid on again at night. One night, I put the lid back on with the cotyledons looking very healthy, the following morning I took it off and they were completely shrivelled.
Posts
I combined the halos and growbag watering trays last year, it worked very well. Two plants per growbag. (Two melon plants in one growbag, actually. Two tomatoes in another.) One of the old-timers on our allotments has been using this combination for years.
I am sure the MPC will be fine Pokhim it's what most of us amateurs use we don't all have space or need to use specialist mixes for different things.
Aster-I agree I think limiting to two plants per bag combined with Halo is the way to go. They show 3 on the bags but the compost just dries out too fast, and does not have enough feed to support 3 in my experience.
Best to cut the gro bag in half and turn each bit on its end bucket shaped.
I Norma!ly plant out my tomatoes into used flower buckets from Morison's etc. They give good depth
for root growth and I use a 6ft cane in each bucket. I feed with high potash feed and alternate waterings with seaweed extract and a!ways have good results and plenty of fruit. I grow my plants outdoors in a sunny spot as the greenhouse is used for cucumbers.
I'm trying halos for the first time this year. 6 from eBay plus three route 'training' bags (I have no idea what these are for but the chap included them in the sale).
is a watering tray just one of those long plastic trays wide enough for a grow bag, or is it more fancy than that with spikes?
i looked on YouTube and saw a couple of folks doing three per grow bag but now I think I will go with just two.
Can cucumbers go in grow bags too?
I use MPC, and pots. Pot on as they grow, and bury them well each time (up to the first set of leaves) to encourage rooting higher up. Contrary to popular belief, they don't need a lot of feeding. Only feed when the first truss sets, and they only need a couple of feeds after that.
Good ventialtion if they're undercover to prevent pests and diseases. You can remove quite a bit of foliage later to help prevent mildew etc. Consistent watering is also important. They don't need to be kept moist, you can let them dry out quite a bit in between waterings, but stick to whatever regime you started out with.
It's when you create soft, sappy growth that you're more likely to get issues. I grow mine much harder now, after listening to Italophile's advice on here in the past.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tootles, I use Hozelock watering trays, each tray has four spikes that you need to thread with wicks and will fit one growbag. It has a water gauge as well, so that you know when to water. Just make sure that you don't pour feed into the reservoir - I did that the first season and then we had a heatwave and the water with the feed started to stink, it was horrible. I contacted Hozelock about it and they were baffled, apparently they never heard of it happening. But since then I've only poured water into the tray and any feed goes on top.
With two big tomato plants per bag you get about two days between having to refill the reservoir. If you want to extend that a bit, you can fill the reservoir full up and at the same time water from above to soak the soil. That gives you an extra half day or so. (That's once the plants are big and producing tomatoes.)
Last year, the Which? reports said that Verve multipurpose compost (B&Q own make) was just as good for seeds as the special seed composts. I used it for everything (seeds, potting on) and was pleased with the results. The tomato seedlings didn't show signs of magnesium deficiency, as they have done some years. This year Verve wasn't quite the best in their tests, but did pretty well all round, and it's much cheaper than some of the special mixes by the big brands, so I'm using it again. This year's batch (well, the stuff I bought) was nice and dry - so not too heavy! - and seems quite fine-textured.
Last edited: 16 March 2017 17:01:22
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I planted a few tomato seeds in a small seed tray with a clear plastic lid last month and the first shoot appeared a week ago. It was growing well for a few days but then the cotyledons just shrivelled-up, one night leaving a perfectly intact stem.
At first I thought something ate them, but this was kept inside and there are no slugs in the soil. The cotyledons just seemed to decay and after a few more days there's literally nothing left of them, only the stem, which is still standing.
Any idea what went wrong, and I take it the stem will not grow into a proper plant now, even though it's so-far showed no signs of dying?
Once the shoot appeared, I took to taking the lid off during the day and leaving the tray by a window for more light, then putting the lid on again at night. One night, I put the lid back on with the cotyledons looking very healthy, the following morning I took it off and they were completely shrivelled.
Last edited: 20 March 2017 09:09:11
I would not bother putting the lid on at night.