Staff Member Answers:

Imagine about a real box without top ok?

You didn't mentioned length, width & height so i prefer
L = 80
W = 60
H = 50

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If this is the bottom viewing on top, you can see the thickness.

So, Talking about bottom plate, 2(times)thickness will be subtracted
from each side.

Actual L = 80 - 2*2 = 76cm
Actual W = 60 - 2*2 = 56cm

But height doesn't contain the top so

Actual H = 50 - 2 = 48cm

So Volume = 76 * 56 * 48
= 204288cm³

Hope this helps. Its really pleasure to help you.

Staff Member Answers:

Zuccini's have a very extensive root system and get quite large. You should go for half a barrel planter and you can have three plants in a mound. The roots of three plants will be crowded, but they will survive as well as one plant in the barrel planter.

Radishes can be sown in any container about a 9 - 10 inches deep. They only need a couple of inches between each plant to produce an edible radish. Onions can be sown like grass in a gallon container and pulled when you need green onions.

For Tomato's and Peas use 5 gallon pots. One Tomato per pot. A dozen or so pea plants per pot. The Herbs Plants need at least a one gallon pot with one plant per pot.

Staff Member Answers:

Check out:

http://www.backyardspaces.com/planters.html

http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=449

http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/article.asp?article_id=60254

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/buildplanterintro

Staff Member Answers:

I think I'd have to agree with answer 2. The creation of a barrel, not only involves a species of wood, but determining the fractions to remove in angles as each stave butts an adjoining one. Then in order to be in the shape of a BARREL, one has to shape each plank, by steaming etc., all similar. Then banding has to be considered.

Certainly a noble cause but a tedious task.

Staff Member Answers:

I recently planted a 4'X8' above ground garden with my daughter and we have a Boston Terrier. The only problem we had in the beginning was the dog walking on the newly planted seedlings. They are very curious and will want to sniff and dig. We eventually had to put a small fence up to keep her out.

The only garden vegetable plant I've heard of that can be dangerous to dogs are onions. I'm staying away from shallots as well. Also, the seeds from a Sago Palm can be deadly to dogs. I had to take my boxer to the vet because he ate one that a squirrel had dropped in my backyard.

I hope your gardening goes well.

Staff Member Answers:

I would think as long as you have a decent amount of warm weather then it would benefit you as the seller to have a pool! Perhaps a pool heater even for the cooler months would be a plus! However owning a pool does give the homeowner extra costs to properly take care of it.

Staff Member Answers:

I have grown tomatoes in pots for a number of years now. Get the largest pot you can, because tomatoes have deep roots. I use a large plastic pot and that works fine. A trashcan, or five gallon bucket would also work. The key is to keep the plant watered--they dry out fast.

Staff Member Answers:

Greetings, I've found that there is a wide variety of factors that contribute to getting a good tomato out of a plant or from seedlings. Tomatoes can be deep planted- that is, plant it with a good share of the green stem underground, leaving about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total length of the plant above ground with a few good pairs of leaves. The furry hairs you see on the stem will turn into roots in the absence of light.

Doing this lets the plant have a deep root system for drought, or for the hot and dry days when you forget to water them.

When you fertilize, make sure that you do not use too much nitrogen- doing so will give you a giant green plant, but flowers won't set, or the fruit will taste yucky. Prune suckers that emerge on the lower part of the plant- a good tomato plant should have all of its leaves easily accessible to the sun. Keeping the lower part clean also makes it more difficult for dirt to splash up onto the leaves, causing various soil-borne diseases.

Water regularly- if you water on an irregular basis, you'll notice that your fruits will begin to crack if they are already on the vine. Watering depends on where you live (Texas here), but a general good rule of thumb is when the soil is dry, water. Just try to be consistent.

Use tomato towers- your little sprout after planting is gonna be tiny compared to the tower, but as it grows, it'll go up instead of sprawling to the sides (tomatoes have weak support on their stems as opposed to peppers or other relatives), allowing more leaves to get sun, which means more growth, and more fruit.

For fertilizers, adding some ashes does well if you have alkaline soil, since tomatoes like acidic soils. Calcium is good for helping flowers, and manure tea is a good treat (only in moderation). If you can't do all that, I've used a fertilizer called tomato-tone. Follow the directions and you'll see your plants beef up nicely. Don't overfertilize during fruiting or it'll kill the taste.

Since you have your plant in a pot, as it grows, transfer it to a larger and larger pot if you don't plan on putting it into the ground, otherwise it won't grow past a certain point, and fruit won't get as big as it possibly can.

For the taste of the fruit itself, it depends on the actual variety- heirlooms have a crazy variety of tastes if you're into trying new/weird tomatoes. If you let a tomato ripen on the vine, it'll have a more sweet taste, if you pick it early and let it ripen, it'll taste more acidic.

Hope this helps. :D

Staff Member Answers:

Are your pots mulched? If so, You will need to water less often. You will also need to water less if you have reservoirs under your containers.

If they are not mulched you may have to water more often.

To check, I poke my finger all the way down, (about 3 inches), into the soil. If I feel moisture the pots do not need to be watered that evening. If the soil is dry, I soak them through with each watering.

As long as you have proper drainage you need not worry about overwatering, and a wilting plant is a sure sign of a water need.

Good luck and Happy gardening

Staff Member Answers:

First answer is for seeds and you said you have plants.
Although it is very late in the season even for florida you might get some fruit. Transplant the seedlings fairly deep. Deep enough to support the long stalk. You can expect some wilting after you plant so give them plenty of water for a few days. Also keep them from wilting enough to touch the ground by staking them. When they lay on the ground too much it kills them. After the wilting process is over just make sure they get enough water and sunshine. Fertilize them according to instructions on Miracle Gro
When they start getting heavy with fruit you gotta stake em up on poles. Stick the pole in the ground beside the plant and tie the plant to the pole but not tightly just enough to keep it from falling.
Good luck

Staff Member Answers:

Usually you don't put a plant into a pot more than a few inches in diameter bigger than the one you are transplanting from, but in the case of a tomato plant i don't really think it matters, i would put it into the biggest pot i had. Definately DO NOT put them into the same pot however. They are gonna get huge, tomato plants can easily get 5ft tall. You should consider putting a tomato cage around it while it is still small. It may look silly when you do it but before you know it it will be too big to put the cage on without breaking the branches,and it will start falling over. You can stake them up too but i always felt that was more work. Give them some miracle gro every couple of weeks and ta dah.........tomatoes!

Staff Member Answers:

You need two thing to look at. 1, are they drying out from the weather or are the plants using up the water themselves. Are they growing fast and have fruit, this will make the plant use more water. If it is possible. Buy a light duty cheap hose and fix it to the pots and up around the hanging plants some how. Zip tie it good and secure. Now take a really small straight pin or needle and poke a really small hole in the hose and turn the water on low. As long as you get a little tiny stream coming out you are good. It means more water is going on the plant then what its loosing. You may get some cheap coil hose from the dollar store. Shut it off at night and turn it on in the morning. Have you coffee outside some time and admire what you are growing. That's what so nice about gardening. If you can't do that. Then put some wood mulch or a plastic bag over the soil to slow the evaporation rate down. I don't like to much plastic because it will spot the tomatoes bottoms and make them rot.

Staff Member Answers:

Those things are nothing but a gimmick. They do not contain nearly enough soil for tomato plants. So, yes, if you are already using it put in as much soil as possible. If used properly it will grow a plant and produce fruit but compared to a conventionally grown plant it will be small and will yield fewer, smaller fruits.

Staff Member Answers:

Too much fertilizer will brown the tips
give them a good soaking with h2o then let them dry out 2inches under the soil line (could be a week, maybe sooner if they wilt make it a 1inch under soil line)only fertilizer 1 time a month half strength,they dont need as much as u think

Staff Member Answers:

If the leaves are not wilting or turning brown, we can probably rule out sun scorching.
Black is the word that worries me, generally if you've got black on your leaves you have disease. I would not eat any tomatoes until you find out what is doing this. Pay very close attention to your tomatoes, inspect them and look for anything unusual, this could help you in figuring out what is happening.
If the leaves are actually more of a purple color, it could be cold temperature stress. Have you had any cool nights (below 55 degrees F) that would have possibly caused the damage?

Staff Member Answers:

Here you are hun

http://www.ehow.com/how_2363758_plant-dried-soup-beans.html

if you started it to early for outside planting, you can keep rinsing the new shoots off with cold water and when the shoots are long enough, use it for bean sprouts,,,,yup its just that easy...to plant in the garden you need to put it out same time as your tomatoes and things...it will grow fast and just soak it a few days before you plan to plant it. Soaking simply buys you a week it will not need in the garden to start the process of sprouting. You dont need to worry about how the sprouted beans fall when you plant them, the sun will bring them to the surface ok

Staff Member Answers:

A 30 pound bag should be enough.

Staff Member Answers:

Why don't you just use the 5 galon bucket system? Go on the net and search "upside down tomato planting". You will also see the topsy turvy tomato planter you are looking for.

Staff Member Answers:

I have been growing tomatoes and other stuff like this for years. I use a 5 gallon bucket and cut a hole in the bottom. I have added cucumbers in additional holes in the side so I have more than one thing growing in the same container. I find that cutting about a 1" hole in the bottom of the bucket, and then making an X cut across it allows you to bend in the points when placing the plant in and then they go back and hold the roots inside. The hole should be larger than the size of the main stalk of what you are planting. You can use Krylon plastic paint for fancier containers.

Staff Member Answers:

You're such an idiot. Don't you know that those commercials are scams and their products are often made of cheap things that break easily like plastic. I didn't know people actually fell for those commercials.

"only 19.95 must be eighteen or older to order!"