Tomatoes: Grow them in buckets to improve soil, reduce problems and increase harvests

For several summers, John Erman has harvested bushels of ruby red tomatoes – all grown in buckets done in a special design he first created about a decade ago.

His bucket-in-a-bucket planter idea, made with one whole 5-gallon bucket and parts of another one, allows him to garden without worry.

Voles and moles can't get to the plants, his design allows plants to "feed" themselves and weeds can't compete with his crops.

Best of all, Erman's buckets produce fruits earlier than normal because their potting mix – no soil product used because it hardens, he says – warms quickly.

"Soil in the buckets warms faster than soil even in a raised garden, and that's what you need – warm soil," he says.

"I planted 10 buckets of corn just the other week and the seeds germinated in four days and were two inches high in no time."

A gardener all his life, Erman, 87, spends most of his days doing what he loves best. He putters in a 9-by-14-foot greenhouse, rides his 21-speed bike and continually checks on his garden.

"I’ve always liked to tinker with things," he says. To prove his point, he gestures toward a PVC stand holding a sprinkler that gets water from a 35-foot-deep well; the stand can be propped at different angles to get water where it's needed.

"I’m always making or fixing something."

At first glance, Erman's bucket design looks complex, but the concept is simple. The first bucket is used whole, as is; the second bucket is cut into pieces that fit into the whole bucket. A "shelf" holds potting mix; a reservoir feeds and irrigates the plant. A 1/2 -inch overflow hole cut 6 3/4 inches from the bottom keeps the water-fertilizer reservoir in check. He's made more than 100, each costing about $5, and given away many.

Initially, Erman's buckets were all white. Then a friend with a science background told him research has shown that the color green heats up quicker than other colors, so Erman is growing melons in green buckets from Dunkin’ Donuts. The melons are faring fine, but the tomatoes are neck-in-neck when it comes to producing fruit first.

"I’ve got melons about the size of a grapefruit, but the tomato vines are just loaded," he says.

For soil, Erman prefers Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix. For fertilizer, he mixes water-soluble Miracle-Gro, according to directions on the label, and pours it into a PVC tube that leads to the bottom reservoir of each bucket planter. During the hot heat of summer, those reservoirs have to be refilled almost daily. Each planter needs about a half gallon of water, he finds.

"I water (at) about 5 p.m. each day, this time of year, so the plants can cool off and soak it up over night, while the night is warm," he says.

"Warm nights are good for plants."

In Erman's garden buckets of tomatoes, melons and peppers thrive along with string beans planted in the ground. Next year he wants to convert his entire planting space into container gardening because it's easier to manage. Many of his plants come from Charlie's Produce and Nursery on Route 17 in York County.

For slicing tomatoes, he favors Big Beef because they grow to a medium size and develop no white stripes inside that turn hard. He also grows smaller Husky Cherry Red tomatoes. Some of those tomatoes are planted in 12-by-24-inch pots with concrete reinforcement wire wrapped around them as supports for the plants as they grow.

Once the planters are in place – he lines them up in rows just like a garden is planted – he feeds each new transplant a special concoction. His recipe is one tablespoon each of Rich Earth, bonemeal, Ironite, Plant-tone by Espoma, processed hen manure, lime and 5-10-5. He shakes it all together in a small container and then puts two tablespoons of the mixture in each bucket, followed by an additional one tablespoon when the plant blooms.

Erman believes you can never harvest too many tomatoes because you can give them away, so he grows six additional Big Beef plants around the edges of a round compost pile that's about 5 feet wide and 24 inches tall. Chicken wire contains the aged mixture of leaves and horse manure. Red potato plants are planted on top.

Next year, Erman plans to grow everything he can in containers because they are more manageable.

"Container gardening, I have found, is the way to go," he says.

HOW TO MAKE A BUCKET PLANTER

What you’ll need:

*5-gallon buckets, 2 per planter (Bucket A and Bucket B)

*4-inch drainage piping (plastic with holes in it)

* 1 1/4-inch PVC pipe

*Saw to cut plastic (jigsaw recommended)

Cutting directions

Bucket A stays whole; Bucket B becomes parts.

1. On Bucket A cut 1/2 -inch overflow hole 6 3/4 inches up from the bottom.

2. On Bucket B cut 7 inches down from the top edge, and cut all the way around the bucket (becomes "spacer"). Then cut 5 inches off one end and cut 1 inch off the bottom (which is the rim) all the way around (becomes "shelf").

3. Cut a 7-inch piece of 4-inch drainage piping.

4. Cut a 13-inch-long piece of 1 1/4 -inch PVC pipe with 1 beveled edge.

Assembling directions

1. Place 7-inch spacer in

Bucket A.

2. Bore one 3-inch hole in center of shelf.

3. Bore 11/4 -inch hole in outer edge of shelf.

4. Bore 12 to 15 1/2 -inch holes in bottom of shelf.

5. Place three holes equal distance apart for 4-inch drainage piping and fasten shelf and piping together with plastic ties.

6. Install shelf.

7. Install 11/4 -inch PVC filler tube.

Your bucket planter is ready for potting mix to be added (shelf holds potting mix above bottom reservoir that contains fertilizer-water mixture).

Posted by Kathy Van Mullekom; [email protected]

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