Growing Tomatoes In Dutch Buckets

Dutch buckets allow tomato farmers to grow large vining varieties and train them up from the bucket.

Growing tomatoes in dutch buckets. Tomatoes cucumbers beans peppers and eggplants all grow well in dutch bucket hydroponics. Tomatoes have traditionally been the most popular crop for dutch buckets and in fact most commercial hydroponic tomatoes are produced this way. Install support in the form of a stake or a tomato cage into the bucket right after planting. Poke the stake into the soil about 2 inches from the plant so you don t injure the roots.

In this the nutrient solution is pumped to plant roots through drip emitters and then drained back to the reservoir. You can fit two peppers into each 5 gallon bucket. But first i need to look back at what was learned from the last crop. The most popular crops for bato buckets are large and or vining crops like tomatoes most hydroponic tomatoes sold in stores have been grown in bato buckets cucumbers peppers and eggplant.

When your tomatoes are planted in 5 gallon buckets you can grow a half dozen plants in as few as 10 feet and can even line them up along your foundation on the driveway near your garage or in a. The seedlings are generally started in rockwool 1 5 cubes and when the plants are 8 12 tall and ready to be clipped up to the plant support systems they are ready to transplanted in a dutch or bato bucket. Many of these crops can be trellised and trained upward creating rows of tall towering plants which are easy to access and monitor. These guys can really grow wild if you let them.

Grow one plant per bucket and use a stake or cage to support the plant. Maintain regular moisture levels in the soil throughout the season to prevent diseases that destroy fruit. Basil grows well at the base of a tomato plant. As the plant grows attach it loosely to the stake with gardening twine or tomato clips.

It s time to start a new crop of hydroponic tomatoes in the dutch buckets. The seedlings are normally started in rock wool 1 5 inch cubes and when the plants are 8 12 inches tall and ready to be clipped up to the plant support systems they are ready to transplant in a dutch bucket system.