Have you heard about these Wall O Water things? Lots of people use them here. They’re little plastic tents you fill with water and put them around your seedlings so you can put them outside sooner. Anyhow, I thought I’d try a few of them this year. Also I read that you can grow tomatoes in five-gallon buckets. Since they’re cheap and a cheery orange color, I thought I’d try them, too.

The buckets needed holes put in them for drainage.

I decided to put them out in the parking lot (junkyard) because last year when I put them on the deck, it became too shady as the trees got their leaves. Once I put them out in the parking lot, they did a lot better. Unfortunately it was too late in the season and I didn’t get any ripe tomatoes before it got cold again.

It took us a few minutes to figure out how to assemble the Wall O Water because the directions were for using them in the ground, not in pots. We put the stakes in, then pulled the Wall O Water over them, tucked in the excess, then filled the channels with water.

Then we planted the little seedlings inside. I did two per bucket. They’re cherry tomatoes so two per bucket should be fine.

They didn’t want to close on top like they’re supposed to, to form a sort of teepee. So we just tied them up with twine.

This is what the one in the picture above looked like after just a week of being in the Wall O Water. The others are also doing pretty well. Not sure if these are doing better, worse, or the same as the ones in the house.

Here’s the inside setup: (more…)