May 1st - My Pampered Tomato Plants are Doing Fabulously!

by Rick
(From Container-Gardening-For-Food.com)

So here we are, about to hit May 1st and my main tomato plants are looking as healthy as it is possible to look!

These are the four main plants that I selected for growing inside the conservatory this year.

I selected the largest, healthiest looking seedlings, gave them the best soil, mixed with lots of vermiculite and several different blends of compost and types. I even threw in a handful of crushed oyster shell to provide a slow release of calcium to prevent any blossom end rot issues.

It's interesting to see that the tomato plants I potted at the same time but left outdoors are all looking good, but are nowhere near as large as the ones kept indoors - Just goes to show what difference a bit of heat makes.

All of my tomatoes this year (except those in the hydroponics) are of a heirloom variety. The ones indoors are Dr Carolyne Pinks, and Urbikany, from Russia.

Weather has been a bit gloomy for the past few days, but at least the water butts are filling up again now. I had actually run out of rainwater, so I'm glad I purchased the second water butt, hopefully with 620 liters capacity, low water levels won't be an issue this year.

More to follow...

Rick