2025 Bedding Plants Forum

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I don't know how many members grow Tomatoes, Peppers, & Eggplant. I'm going to blog the progress & process as I grow ours for anyone interested.

On the left is Bonnie Green Bell Peppers that I bought 6 weeks ago as little cell pack with 3in plants inside. On the right is 4 week old Creole Tomatoes purchased the same size as the peppers. Both are potted up with recycled bag potting mix. I just add extra Pearlite & Vermiculite for improved drainage. At this stage I keep the plants a little on the dry side to prevent dampening off but feed with a 50% mixture of Miracle Grow. Full strength is too hot for these young plants.

Self Watering pots are next when I up pot so I don't water the plants from the top greatly reducing the spread of disease. The remarkable thing with the Bell Pepper plants is I only grow new ones every 2-3 years. Harvest slows with cold weather but the plants live and produce for years. I have kept a single Tomato plant alive for 4 years by constantly rooting suckers. I had a volunteer cherry tomato that came up and was so superior to any offered in stores I just kept it going. I finally lost it.

I've turned the garden over to my wife to handle. I have figs, fruit trees and clearing land for everything to handle...:Rofl

We garden out of a raised bed on our deck anymore. Your stuff looks amazing. Still a little early to start here.

Well I think I have drank the Tea here so I'm going to give it a try. Self watering planters seem to really work with Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, & Eggplant. The tomatoes are going to be my first try. Here I will be explaining how I made these self watering planting buckets.

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So first off you need a planting container and a water container. I purchased new white buckets for their heat reflection properties. For planting I'm using old buckets from my shop. First off holes for the wick (5/8in poly rope) to drape thru. I'm using a step drill bit to punch a 7/8in hole so there is slack around the wick preventing water restriction due to too tight a hole around the wick. I'm using the design of a Hurricane Lamp wick Holder's design.

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The best price for the 5/8in rope was Lowe's @ .98c / foot. I spread the holes for the wick out so more contact of the soil to the rope was achieved.

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The particular design I decided to copy uses 4-1/2in blocks screwed to the planting bucket to elevate it far enough above the water container to allow a larger reservoir of water for the wick to be in. This eliminates purchasing 7 gallon buckets for water containers. The bottom bucket or water container is 7 inches difference between the 2 bucket bottoms so a hole is drilled 5-1/2 inches up the side of the bottom bucket so a air gap of 1-1/2 inches between the water reservoir surface & bottom of the planter bucket.

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I'm using leftover electrical pvc as it is UV stable. You cut the pipe on a angle where it goes in the bucket so it fills the reservoir easier. A holesaw was the easiest way to cut the holes. I added a little extra length to make it easier to fill with a water can.

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I gathered everything together where I planned of setting up the Bell Peppers & Tomatoes first. Using recycled potting mix augmented with some manure / compost mix to plant the Peppers first as I wanted them in behind the tomatoes. Here Bell Peppers like a bit of shade. After planting the Peppers in some 12 gallon pots in the back I caged them up and zip tied a piece of wood across the top to tie the cages together.

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Getting on with planting the Tomatoes I first mixed extra manure compost into the new bag potting mix before adding some to each planter. After removing the Tomato Plant from it's pot I placed it in the planter very deep. Now deviating from my normal Tomato planting I didn't remove the lower leaves but buried them deep with the plant roots.

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I did this with the Tomatoes when in the cell pack as tiny plants. I mean they were 4 inches tall. Well the root ball was really massive & dense when I popped the plants out to plant them in the bucket planters. So I carefully filled the buckets almost to the top burying the lower leaves. These will turn into roots. They have the little hairs just like the plant trunk.

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After lining up the self watering planters like I wanted they are now secured with numerous zip ties so wind doesn't move the cages after the plants grow. A follow up post will take place as necessary to show success or failure. Tomorrow I will dress the Tomatoes well with Bone Meal to provide the extra calcium needed to prevent Blossom End Rot on the fruit as it ripens.

Very cool. I haven’t seen this rope design wicking container before. :popcorn

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Very cool. I haven’t seen this rope design wicking container before. :popcorn

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Fusarian Wilt is such a problem here I can't grow tomatoes in the ground anymore. I've ran out of spots to rotate tomato plants to. The Wilt is in the soil and it is very difficult to kill. Wilt is spread by water splashing from the ground to the undersides of the Tomato plant's leaves.

The world renown NCTOMATOMAN said he mainly just plants tomatoes and peppers in containers now because he gets much better results. Great guy and knows his stuff. I went and seen him years ago at a Tomatopalooza event. I kept my seeds from all the varieties I tried and the year after I grew almost 100 types in my garden...lol. That was crazy.

I just followed your link. Thanks for posting Bud.

We still have a raised bed garden in the back yard that we did some modifications on this year to widen the walkway that my mother-in-law made way too narrow when she lived down here (now she lives back up north). We aren't planning to do any root veggies like taro, Japanese sweet potatoes, etc., although we still may do okra, eggplants, beans, and other Chinese veggies. I can't remember what my wife and the kids came up with--I'm just the grunt who tills it up and sets up irrigation.

Although I mixed a healthy does of the Manure / Compost mix into the bedding medium of these plants it seems Miracle-Gro is still needed. I'm just about done with the organic methods of feeding the plants here it continues to let me down. I have to buy the bag stuff as we do not generate enough stuff to compost.

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I have over a dozen tomatoes set already. Being careful to read the leaves and not feed too much feed has still been needed for continual growth.

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As each flower sets on the bell peppers we get a fruit. Fried bell pepper rings & stuffed bell peppers are devoured aggressively here when the peppers are homegrown. Time for a systemic insecticide & fungicide as next week lots of rain in the forecast.

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Check out the Ichiban Eggplant plants Bon Temps grew from seed. He has a little shed where it looked to me where he grows all his set plants. Gifting me these 6 with firm instructions; " They don't like the cold!". I got the message. BTW that is gallon pots. the plants have grown well. I grew them on top of one of the freezers in the shop so the soil was always warmed. 2 full spectrum grow lights hung right over the top. Here in this photo they are getting their first 1 hour glimpse of sunlight to begin the "hardening off" process.

Awesome

I'm a bit slow getting a garden started this year due to chemo infusions. Things come up that need attention over the garden too. I'll over work myself one day and have to relax a few after. I start seeds instead of buying plants as much as I can. This year it's Black Krim, Better Boy and cherry tomatoes in a raised bed and containers not yet big enough to transplant. Black Krim are the hardest seeds, plants to find. The label may say it's Black Krim but end up with something else and brands/growers of seeds/plants doesn't matter.
We have Homestead Nursery at Coldwater, MS, about 20 miles south of Horn Lake. They are a supplier for landscape companies and open to the public. They offer soils by the scoop and bag. I noticed their seed starter soil has bark in it, not in past years. I get a scoop of Garden Pro, mix it with kitchen waste/leaf compost, manure and cotton hull dirt when needed and store the leftovers in buckets.

Looks good. Wife has a few things out in garden but a ton of seeds planted. I turned the garden over to her. I have my own plants to kill….:Rofl

Most of our plants and seed are in the ground. It’s just a matter of watering and watching them grow.

I have my own plants to kill….:Rofl...That's me...Not sure we gonna kill any this year.

I broke out the scissors after hauling the Possum off. Thinning the Tomato plants so air blows thru is necessary around here with the high humidity.

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I cut a pile of leaves & suckers off.

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I don't know if you can tell but here is a picture of the thinned Tomato plants. Once they dry this morning I will treat them with a systemic fungicide with some aspirin added.

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I can taste the B+BLT sandwiches now.

What's the extra "B" in the BLT sandwich? extra bacon?

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

What's the extra "B" in the BLT sandwich? extra bacon?

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YES!!!!!

The only way we found to deal with wilt is thick straw bed under each plant. I’m gompnna check out the link.

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Originally Posted by Rojo

I broke out the scissors after hauling the Possum off. Thinning the Tomato plants so air blows thru is necessary around here with the high humidity.

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I cut a pile of leaves & suckers off.

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I don't know if you can tell but here is a picture of the thinned Tomato plants. Once they dry this morning I will treat them with a systemic fungicide with some aspirin added.

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I can taste the B+BLT sandwiches now.

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ok Asprin? Is it for your coon and possum headaches? :dono:dono

I have to watch mulching here between the heat & fungus it makes the plants wilt much faster or the roots rot first. Very, very humid here and with the heat steams everything.

The aspirin triggers tomatoes to turn on there immune system. Kinda makes them fight infection before they have one.

Thanks sir!

I know about using Epsom salts, and powdered milk, but can you explain how your using aspirin.

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Originally Posted by S10CHEVY

I know about using Epsom salts, and powdered milk, but can you explain how your using aspirin.

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Tomato plants have a immune system just like we do. You get a shot to trigger your body to produce antibodies and aspirin triggers the immune system in tomato plants. I crush a 325mg and dissolve it in water then spray the plant. It must be un-coated aspirin. I will put one in a gallon of water along with liquid fertilizer and water the plants with aspirin too.

My wife would read up on drugs to add to each plant when planted so they would grow better. 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon Epsom salt, 1 teaspoon powdered milk, 3 antacid pills (calcium carbonate), 1 82 mg aspirin. She'll most likely find something else to add before I plant this year.
I set buckets with holes in bottoms between plants. Filled with kitchen waste/leaf compost. Other buckets are under the house dripline for rainwater for their watering. All my watering goes into the buckets with holes. Try not to use city water. Every 3 weeks the drugs are added again to the buckets with holes along with a half cup of 2-6-6 fertilize.
I checked the beds yesterday. All planted last weekend. Flowers are up about 2 to 3 inches. Veggies are cracking the ground. Need to make a trellis for the cucumbers.

Bon Temp's really grew some fine Ichiban Eggplant seedlings. When he ask if I wanted some I almost trip getting to them. Now I've posted some of the progress but their roots were starting to run out of the bottom of the pot.

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I decided to go a full 10 gallon pot for these as I plan on over wintering them in my shop with the Citrus trees.

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Nothing special on the potting medium.

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Sitting on the concrete it's hard to get perspective on their size but after transplanting in the 10 gallon pots you get a better idea how much they have grown. Numerous blooms have formed just waiting on the carpenter bees to pollinate.

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Here is a little update on the Creole Tomatoes. The six plants have a combined 82 tomatoes set so far. I use a old electric tooth brush to pollinate the tomatoes with. You just place the vibrating brush head on the major stem all the blooms are attached to. Check back in a few days to see almost all the flowers pollinated.

We have been watching these bell peppers swell for some time now. I had to cut 8 for stuffing. We stuff the peppers with Italian Sausage & Couscous then top with all kinds of cheese before baking.

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Recipe and preparation post to follow.

Nice peppers

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There are several doubles in the pots. I didn't divide them to slow upward growth. I can taste the Eggplant Parmigiana now.

Can't believe it, but Wal-Mart doesn't sell just straight aspirin. Everything is coated. Thoughts anyone?

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Originally Posted by S10CHEVY

Can't believe it, but Wal-Mart doesn't sell just straight aspirin. Everything is coated. Thoughts anyone?

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I think I picked mine up at Walgreens. The problem is all the stores are using AI for inventory management and stock product that fits the profit / retail space used / percentage of turns modeling. Walmart has dropped a huge amount of their offerings. They do not stock a plain 9in pie tin anymore. You have to buy a pie shell premade to get a tin from them.

I really believe that AI will be the worst thing ever to come along. You already see lower inventory at stores but it won't matter because AI is taking over JOBS and people won't have the money to buy anything. JMO The thought of what it will replace scares the dickens out of me.

3 times a day watering and all the bedding plants look cooked. I had this piece of old shade cloth I had sewn for something else so I spread it over the plants today. It really helped more than expected. I also used one of the big gates to shade 1/2 Bon Temps' Eggplant plants.

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The Eggplant plants on the left get shade pretty quick from a Pecan tree.

The Millennial Gardener swears by shade cloths. He uses them on his figs and garden area during June, July and August.