Sadler19
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 5:34 pm

Tomato soil

I need help with soil for my tomatoes. I am currently growing tomatoes in containers and in a raised bed. They are doing very well right now. My question is what to do with the soil once they are finished for the season. What should I do with the soil in the buckets? Toss it, burn it, add it to the compost pile, add it to a seperate compost pile, etc.? How can I amend the soil in the raised bed to make it usable for other vegetables? I can't find this info on any gardening sites.

User avatar
feldon30
Senior Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:42 am
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Contact: Website

In a raised bed, assuming 8" or so deep soil and no weed blocker on the bottom, I just dig down and look to see how loose the soil is. If it's pretty heavy, then I add things to loosen it up. Every year I add at least 80 lbs of compost to a 3x12 bed, 120 lbs of compost to a 4x16 bed, not to mention organic fertilizer. I want loose, rich soil.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Feldon you've mentioned compost amounts by weight before -- could you convert that into inches (depth of layer) or cubic foot or 5 gal buckets full....?

Sadler19
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 5:34 pm

Thanks for the reply Feldon. I put newspaper, cardboard, and weed blocker in the bottom of the raised bed. I have several compost piles from which I can add. I was wondering if the soil is contaminated from the tomatoes. What about the buckets? Could I empty them all into one pile, add compost, and mix it real well?

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

What do you plan to grow there this season? If rotating out and growing non-solanacea (no tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers), you should be fine using existing soil (no tomato contamination) and just adding more organic matter and nutrients.

Here's a thread in which I asked what should follow tomatoes:
:arrow: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 96#p154596

Regardless rainbowgardener plants tomatoes in her raise bed from year to year, only adding more compost, I believe?

User avatar
feldon30
Senior Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:42 am
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Contact: Website

applestar wrote:Feldon you've mentioned compost amounts by weight before -- could you convert that into inches (depth of layer) or cubic foot or 5 gal buckets full....?
Sorry a 25 lb bag of Black Kow cow manure is about 1 cubic foot. I typically add two bags per year to a 3' x 12' bed along with other amendments as I can find them. Sometimes I'll track down bagged sheep manure or leaf mold compost, although they tend to be pricey. I try to change things up as apparently, adding the same animal manures year after year can build up salts.

This year for my new garden (starting from zero! :( ), I tracked down some rabbit manure and bought 100 lbs for myself (nearly four alfalfa feed bags filled to the top). Later this year I will be putting notes in the nearby horse farm mailboxes asking them to contact me if they want to offload some aged horse manure. I'd rather not wander onto their property and test the owner's marksmanship as most of them have "No Trespassing" signs on their front gates. :shock:

And finally, I will be chasing down as many bags of leaves as I can find to run through my blower/mulcher. I am hoping to add at least 4 inches of shredded leaves and 2-3 inches of compost this fall!!
Last edited by feldon30 on Sat May 10, 2014 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
feldon30
Senior Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:42 am
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Contact: Website

Sadler19 wrote:Thanks for the reply Feldon. I put newspaper, cardboard, and weed blocker in the bottom of the raised bed.
In my first garden, I put down weed blocker. After a season, I dug down and ripped it all out. I realized that even though the underlying soil was sticky gumbo clay which was not conducive to plant roots, if I took away the barrier, then over the years I could improve that soil. When I left, I'd improved the soil several inches down. Of course you will need to be sure that the soil underneath is safe and can be improved.
Sadler19 wrote:I have several compost piles from which I can add. I was wondering if the soil is contaminated from the tomatoes. What about the buckets? Could I empty them all into one pile, add compost, and mix it real well?
I've grown tomatoes in containers only twice, so I am not up on the best practices for soil reuse, etc. I've heard that you might only need to replace 1/3 of the potting mix with fresh mix, as long as you mix it well. I've also heard that adding compost to container mix causes it to break down faster, requiring more of the mix to be replaced year after year. But I am not an expert on container growing by any means.

As for the raised beds, it sounds like you are concerned that if you grow tomatoes once in a bed, that there will be residual diseases left behind. Well, tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers are all members of the Nightshade family and do share some similar diseases. But there are other diseases like Fusarium and Verticillium which are common to almost all vegetables.

I know people talk a lot about crop rotation, but personally, I grow tomatoes in over 50% of my garden, so the recommended "wait 3 years before growing nightshades in the same spot twice" advice is not helpful to me -- I'd have to leave 3/4 of my garden beds fallow every year! I just keep adding compost every year and move things around a bit, but it's certainly not the kind of crop rotation that some recommend.

Sadler19
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 5:34 pm

Thanks so much for the reply and for your time.



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”