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rashomon_gw

Do basil and tomato do better in peaty soils?

rashomon
9 years ago

I would simply ask which plants are best not in Tapla's 5:1:1 soil but specifically I was curious about Basil and Tomato as an example (because I grow them a lot).

I'm sure many of you use 5:1:1 for Basil and Tomato, and I look forward to hearing your experience, but I ask because I live in a small apt and my containers aren't too big. In case you wonder what that has to do with it, I've noticed Basil and Tomato drink a lot of water without hesitating to tell me when it needs more and promptly perking up after another drink. (And I've only ever used straight peat mixes for both)

This leads me to believe Basil and Tomato must have super-roots which don't mind some water retention. My concern with going 5:1:1 is will that make them dry out too quickly? I wouldn't be able to compensate with larger containers.

Advice?

Comments (7)

  • oxboy555
    9 years ago

    A picture of the soil that you have in mind would help. "Peaty" is a very subjective word. I think we can all agree that nothing should be planted in that MiracleGro ultra-fine jet-black crap.

    It also depends on how much you want to water too. I'm not a fan of "thirsty" plants indoors because of the tendency to overflow saucers. If you plant the tomato plant deep in the pot to grow more roots along the main stem, you'll want to watch out for the perched water that often inhabits the bottom 1/4 or so of pots. A good chunk of the roots in that case would be marinating 24/7 in peat pudding. Not good.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    I think good tomatoes can be grown in any medium. As long as you can figure out needs. But as you mention we all have different circumstances and such. I'm often away so I like to use a 3-1-1-1 mix. Next year I'm going to try a 3-1-1-1-1 mix The former mix includes compost. In 5-1-1 with no nutrients I tend to give them too much. I have found that overfeeding leads to weak growth and disease susceptibility. I also use DE to help in water retention. So does the extra peat help retain water(more peat in a 3-1-1 mix). But I could use a little more air, so next year I will try a pine, peat, DE, compost, perlite mix (3-1-1-1-1). The perlite really does help with structure, and air flow. the DE does too, but when saturated with water, it pushes the air out. perlite will not saturate.
    I have only grown basil once so I can't say what's best. I'm growing three plants next year, all in different mixes.
    I'm not around much in the summer, so having compost with organic fertilizer works for me as they can take what they want, and it's harder to overfeed them. And when I am here I don't have time to add fertilizer each time I water.
    So everybody needs to know soil basics, and go from there.
    Using 5-1-1 for me was not good, it was me. I could not be around to water enough, and it was hard to always have time to fertilize properly. Often skipping it, and the plants suffered. With DE and compost the plants stayed moist longer, yet were not drowning. I also added extra bacteria and fungi to make sure the organics were broken down. Worked well for me, but your mileage may vary. DE is Diatomaceous earth, not food grade, as large as perlite.
    The best I found was Napa floor dry 100% DE. Sold at Napa auto parts store. Cheap stuff too! Any compost is fine, but I don't like mushroom compost, too basic. I used this on some peppers too. I decided to overwinter some of them, and when moving to different pots discovered worms in the pots., Earth worms that is. So all is very well!
    {{gwi:48154}}
    {{gwi:26283}}
    {{gwi:52123}}

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    Yeah, it's the end of the year. I'm in zone 6 so the frost will be coming soon. I went out and picked any showing some color. I still have about 30 green ones on the plants.Well not counting cherry tomatoes. About 50 of those left.

    {{gwi:52124}}

  • rashomon
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Those look really nice!

    Good thoughts on going 3:1:1, I didn't consider adjusting for my own needs. I can always experiment (as much as I'd want to know before any failures)

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    It's hard to tell what will work, or even what the problem is. For example in hotter areas pot color could be killing roots, not your soil mix. Darker colors absorbing more heat. And water absorption can be controlled somewhat by type of pot. Plastic stays wet longer, Clay dries quickly. So you can make adjustments that way too. I myself use fabric which dries quickly so my mixes might even be too wet for a plastic pot. So trail and error seems unavoidable for all of us. I like fabric pots because of the air pruning of roots. I use root pouches which are rather cheap. A 10 gallon fabric performs like a 20 gallon traditional pot. So that is a factor too. Greenhouse Megastore sells them dirt cheap! Pun intended!

    {{gwi:26282}}

    Notice here how the color is better in the fabric pots. Treated the same, same soil, fertilizer, etc. Root pouches are impressive in performance. From right to left, the first three pots are traditional, and the 4th pot down is fabric, Oh, and That's Jesse keeping the squirrels away.
    {{gwi:26285}}

  • jane__ny
    9 years ago

    Where is the fabric? I can't tell, all looks like plastic pots.

    I have had luck growing tomatoes and basil in plastic pots mixing MG with small wood chips and perlite. Grew very well with no problems.

    Its easier to buy large bags of MG and use that as the peat in the mix.

    Love to know more about the fabricl

    Thanks,
    Jane

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    The first three are plastic, the rest fabric, in the other photo all fabric. You can tell by the color too, notice the greener plants. I buy them here

    Here is a link that might be useful: root pouch