Tomato is the most popular and trendy fruit to plant for most gardeners. This delicate plant needs regular watering to grow. However, many gardeners don’t have enough time to consistently watch out their plant. Therefore growing tomato in self-watering buckets is the ultimate best option for them.
If you want to grow this delicious popular plant but you neither have an adequate space nor enough time to dedicate to it, we offer you the ultimate way to help you out achieve what you want. Self-watering pots are amazing contraptions, especially for home gardeners who spend most of their time outdoors.
In this post, we will show you how to grow the best tomato plants in self-watering pots. It is not a challenging mission, go ahead and enjoy learning the steps for growing tomato in self-watering containers.
1. Prepare a self-watering bucket
First of all, you need an adequate self-watering bucket. Not all self-watering containers are suitable for growing tomato. It is widely known that tomato is a highly delicate fruit, thus, an appropriate self-watering container is compulsory for growing tomato successfully.
Here you will find the best self-watering containers for growing tomatoes.
You could either purchase or make your self-watering bucket. If you want to create your own, the first step requires that you make a wick out of a used bottle, and cut it to about a quarter of the height of the pot you are using. Using a sharp object, poke holes in the sides of the bottom of your wick.
Afterward, make a pipe out of any PVC pipes, hoses, or copper pipes you have around the house. If you don’t have any, just purchase a PVC pipe. Then, right below your wick, drill a hole in your bucket to prevent flooding and make a barrier by pressing it into the inner center and sides of your wick using window screen or recyclable shopping bags.
Now, take the pipe and place it on the side of the wick. To keep your pipe and wick in place, place rocks all over your wick. Once the rocks are at level with the top of the wick, press the barrier all over them to keep the rocks from mixing with soil
Pack your soil tightly inside the wick and then place your tomato plant inside your self-watering pot. Fill the pot with soil making sure that your tomato plant is buried deep inside your self-watering pot.
2. Add support
For growing tomato in self-watering buckets, it is better to support your plants with tomato cage rather than sticks. An ideal tomato cage measures 14-1/2″ wide by 21-1/2″ deep by 30″ high with 8″ legs. A cage of this size will definitely provide sufficient support for average-size plants.
However, tomato plants may grow to reach a 4 feet height. It’s a good idea to add a center stake at planting time for extra support. If your tomato starts falling on the ground, you could order a cage extension over here.
There are a lot of different kinds of tomato cages. Check out this list at Amazon.com to find what suits you best.
3. Sunlight exposure
For growing tomato in self-watering buckets successfully, you need to expose your plant to a lot of sunlight. Place your self-watering container in a place where it can get healthy doses of sunlight every day. Balconies and windows are ideal locations for full sun exposure.
However, if you live in an area where it is cloudy and rains most days, you can grow your tomato in partial shade. Just don’t let the rain gets to your pot to prevent mold.
4. Watering
While you are at home and you have a free time, you should do the watering yourself. Assign the watering task to your self-watering container when you are gone for work or when you are busy.
Tomato needs regular doses of water. It is best to give them these doses in moderation every morning. However, be careful of overwatering. Although the drain hole on the bottom of your pot can help prevent the accumulation of excess water, overwatering can lead to root rot.
5. Feeding you plant
Tomato is a heavy feeder. You need to feed your plant once every week. You should use slow-release fertilizers. They are the best when it comes to tomato and they help your plant to produce heavily. In order to avoid overconcentration because it is harmful to your plant, dilute your plant feed in water.
These are the best 5 steps for growing a tomato in self-watering bucket successfully. Follow these steps and you will have a nice fresh and delicious crop. If you require more information about growing tomato in containers, there is more information available in this detailed instructions.
If you want to grow other plants in self-watering containers, here is a selection of the most effective and the most decorative self-watering pots.
Enjoy your gardening and don’t forget to share our posts with your friends.