Looks to me like you have a great container garden growing there. Good job!

What did you end up using for a growing mix and what are you using for fertilizer and how are you applying it?

I used a ratio of 7:2:2 of fines:peat:perlite. The original mix recommended in the earlier post was 7:2:1:1 of fines:peat:perlite:vermiculite but I didn't have any vermiculite. I figured out the right ratio of lime and Osmocote 14-14-14 based on some other postings but foolishly didn't note it down (maybe it was 1c of Osmocote for 20 gallons of fines).

I've also supplemented twice with MG 24-8-16 by simply adding a teaspoon directly into the watering hole. I did this in mid-May when growth actually kicked in and again when I started getting flowers about 3wks ago and the weather got hot. In the second watering I also directly fertilized the cucs with an additional 1gal of MG I had in a watering bucket left over from other fertilizing chores.

I have 9 more tomato plants growing in Mel's Mix in raised beds that are roughly comparable developmentally to what I have in the SWC, despite the fact that the SWC get somewhat less late afternoon sunshine as they are close to a inner corner on the patio. I know cucumbers have a reputation for fast growth but I have to say that after the second fertilization and some summertime heat they seemed to explode from 6" to 4' in about two weeks while generating huge numbers of blooms. I have very high hopes that the SWC can provide optimum conditions for a very thirsty plant.

Looking back at the original posting I see that there were some concerns about whether the adjusted soil mix would wick enough for seedlings w/o deeper root systems. The cukes, pepper and toms were all planted as seedlings although the cukes were less than a week old (given their reputation for not enjoying transplanting) and seemed fine - the under-planted nasturtiums were planted as seeds and had no problems germinating (100% germination, I think). The lettuces were direct seeded and I did need to top water them - this was easy because their pot was shallow and uncovered.

I know there are a lot of designs out there for SWC but I'm very happy so far with the nested buckets - using the top as a plastic mulch has been VERY effective and I've only had to fill the ~1gal reservoir a handful of times since mid-May. I imagine as the tomatoes grow they will respire more water and refilling will become an issue but so far they have been nearly zero maintenance. The nested buckets were also nice since they took about 10 minutes each to make and were easy to put the cages into - next time I'll clip the cage wires and wire tie the lowest rung of the cage to the bucket top itself, but so far so good on stability (obviously this only works for bush or determinant tomatoes). By comparison, the petunia in the hanging SWC needs daily filling of the reservoir. Weirdly, I have the exact same container with a miniature trailing rose sitting on a low wall and it's actually over-moist and I never top it up, just relying on rainfall. I don't know if this is a result of the extra exposure to wind and sun that the hanging container gets or whether the petunia itself is using the water.

Sounds like a sound program to me, Mark.
Weirdly, I have the exact same container with a miniature trailing rose sitting on a low wall and it's actually over-moist and I never top it up, just relying on rainfall. I don't know if this is a result of the extra exposure to wind and sun that the hanging container gets or whether the petunia itself is using the water.

I have also noticed this in some cases. The idea of a SWC is that it will require the addition of water less frequently than the same volume of soil in a non SWC. Usually I find this true, but there have been exceptions and to date I have not determined why.

I have 3 pots of petunias growing in non SWC. All are plastic hanging baskets. One is in the container and mix the store had it in, the other 2 are in 50% turface 50% bark fines in the same sized container. While the petunias in my mix are showing better growth than the one in the store mix (quite heavy) the ones in my mix do not require water more frequently. So better growth, but roughly the same water needs. Go figure.

I have also noticed this with tomatos. In a SWC container that holds 2 cubic feet of mix and has a 4 gallon water reservoir at peak season I will water it more often than a whiskey barrel half holding 3.5 cu ft of potting mix. The surface area of the SWC is less than the WB half and both are in full sun. Again, go figure. Seems they should require about the same amount of water.

Sorry to hear about your polfast. Check out mine in picture Im000461.

http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=233917316/PictureID=5232844606/a=53147246_53147246/t_=53147246

Your container garden looks great! I have some pictures of mine on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening in the Desert

Looks great.

I have a question about the lettuce SWC. Is that a bowl shaped pot that's about 20" across? If so, how did you set that one up to be self watering? I made up a bunch of SWCs, but haven't figured out how to do it with a bowl like this.

Yes, it's about 20" across. I used a SWC kit from www.gardeners.com - I think I used the small size. The soil basket didn't actually extend all the way to the edges of the planter but this doesn't seem to have been a problem. If you look closely you can see the black watering tube to fill the reservoir sticking up - given how well this has worked, I'll probably use a hacksaw to cut down the tube so it's flush with the soil and looks nicer.

As for my Polfast, I wouldn't qualify them as unsuccessful - they were just much less vigorous than my other tomato seedlings (some cherries, brandywine and mortgage lifter). I don't know if this is a characteristic of determinants (Polfast) versus indeterminants or whether Polfast just isn't particularly vigorous. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, I suppose.

Hi Mark,

Your season may be over but here in Florida we're just getting into our fall season. Between you and JAG I'm sold on converting from traditional nursery containers for veggies to the nested buckets for my spring crops since the buckets are readily available for free everywhere and virtually indestructible. Can you give us an end-of-season wrap-up of how it all turned out? I'm also interested in the idea of SWC blueberries, how are they doing?

Bummer, guess I've lost advice from this successful northern veggie grower until next spring since he doesn't have an email address listed :-(