Newbie stacker questions

Okay, bear with me as this is my first post on this forum and indeed my first real attempt at gardening of any kind!

I've read as much as I could here and in other forums and decided to go with some of the NJ self-watering stack pots. Bob's coconut coir and fertilizer are on the way.


- Is it necessary to sprout seeds and transplant given that I'm in Arizona and it's already very warm and (always) sunny here? Can I just plant seeds in the pots they're going to end up in and tend to them there?

- Bob told me he typically puts fertilizer in the water about once a week for his plants and waters the rest of the time. But I think others on here have said they use a weak fertilizer solution every time they water. Opinions on this?

- For 5 gallons of coir is the proper formula 1/2 C dolomite lime, 1 T epsom salts and 2 C fertilizer? Our tap water has tons of calcium. Does that make any difference?

Thanks for any advice! :-)

Jake I can't answer all your questions, but tomatoes and peppers are about the only veggies you really need to pre-sprout and then plant seedlings with. Most everything else grows directly from seed in warm weather. Good luck! You made a great decision going with the Stacker and coir from Bob!

Congratulations Jake. You are moving up in the gardening world with the stacked planters. I may be able to help with some of your questions.

As to the dolomite lime: Like you, I live in an area of high PH water. I use some dolomite lime with the peat based mixes that I use to adjust for the acidity of the peat. For my coir/perlite and predominately perlite mixtures, I dont use it.

As to the fertilizer issue, I have used basically the same 7 day cycle as Bob uses.

Your last paragraph is a little confusing. It doesn't matter how many gallons of coir mix you have in the containers. What you do is mix a certain amount of Bobs fertilizer and epsom salts PER GALLON of water and then water all your plants with that. You can figure out the formula for 5 gals,10 gals, 30 gallons or whatever. I use a 32 gallon heavy duty trash container for that. I think it is made by RubberMaid. Anyway it cost about $14 and can be sqush fitted into the trunk of my pick-em-up Plymouth Neon.

I was stationed twice at Williams AFB there at Chandler so I am familiar with your weather. You should be able to direct sow in your containers. Most vegetables pop up real quick if that is what you are planting. I have a spot right in front of my mobile home that gets bright indirect light all day but never direct sunlight and it is my best propagation spot during the real hot summer months. But at this time of year in my area I am direct sowing my stackers. Lots of overcast and cool days are slowing stuff down but I do have some sprouts showing.

I just went out and snapped some photo's to show you.
These 4 stackers on a table are all direct seeded and are starting to sprout. I plant quite a few seed in each plant site. When they sprout and grow strong enough for transplant, I will prick them out and pot them on as necessary. I can leave one little sprout in that site if thats what I wont to grow there. The point is that each stacking pot makes a great propagation tool.

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I was confused. I thought I was supposed to mix in some of the fertilizer and salts with the coir when preparing it before planting. This is all new to me.

Interesting to hear about hot summer experience. One of the things that appealed about container gardening is being able to move things. I was guessing that a spot in the shade on my patio might be much better in a few months when it's burning hot. There's plenty of light to go around! :)

Nighttime photo but them little green squigglies really are Garlic Chives. They were sowed Feb 25. Weather has slowed them down but they are fighting through it. I love the ease of direct sowing even here on the back edge of winter when I know a bad weather spell may damage things. My motto is, "Whatsoever ye shall sow, ye may have to sow again."

Well shucks! Posted the wrong picture above....which was globe basil. I love those little fragrant stinkers. I like to scatter them all over the garden area where I can brush them with my hand and stir up that basil smell. They make a little ball, or globe, about 10 inch diameter. Here is the photo of the garlic chives. They are good for eating plus they make nice white flowers.

This 4 pot stack has 9 brussel sprout plants plus 7 Alysum flowers in its 16 plant sites. I like to mix flowers with the groceries. And alysum can stink up the whole yard if you plant enough of them and scatter them around. Got kind of a honey/hay smell.

You are right about that Arizona sunshine and certain ones of your plants may enjoy some afternoon shade during the hottest part of the summer. Last year, I moved some of my containers around so they got some tree shade. But them saguaro cactus dont throw much shade(:-)) so your shaded patio may come in handy.

One other thing...Tomato and pepper seed are cheap........sow them direct outside and see what the results are. Here are some I sowed in one of Bob's 5 gallon grow bag and covered with a distilled water jug as a mini greenhouse. In your case, I dont think the jug will be needed as you are not likely to get a frost out there. I sowed 4 sweet 100's in the right hand pot and 4 gardeners choice tomato's in the left hand pot. I got three of each........so far. Cool weather set in after they were sown. That's carrots seeded into the two 4 gal nursery pots behind the tomato's and they are beginning to sprout.

Brussels sprouts in that? Is it possible? I would think the trunk would take up half that space they're growing from. I guess with fuel you can grow fire.

Ray..........last summer I put 2 (maybe it was three, cant remember for sure) tomato plants, about 3 big bushy calundula plants, a couple of red rubin basils plus some other plants in a five pot stack, 20 plants in all and they all did fine. Most of the stuff you read and the advise you get is by dirt farmers and it doesnt always apply to stacked planters and what amounts to a hydroponic fertilizing regime. I bought those brussel sprouts thinking they were bok choi cabbage. I also thought I bought a 6 pack which turned out to be a 9 pack. Well........what the heck. I have never ever grown Brussell sprouts before in my life but I have over 90 of those pots to fill so we will see how it goes. They should do fine.

I think it's great!! I love to experiment as well. How'd the tomato plants do? I will tell you from the limited knowledge I have that Brussels Sprouts grow a thick stalk and can get heavy. I have grown them(poorly) before. A good plant gets a 3ft stalk, mine never got taller than 2 feet :(

Ray......the tomato's on the grow pole did better than the ones growing in 5 gallon nursery pots sitting at ground level. That doesn't necessary prove anything as it was not a controlled experiment. Different grow mixes were used, watering regime of the poles was probably more consistent on a day to day basis, etc. One thing that seems noticeable to me is that the farther up the stackers something like tomato's are planted, the less they are bothered by bugs. No slugs, cut worms, snails. I did find some hornworm damage and found one hornworm up there on the tomato's.

So you are saying I definitely need to try some stackers? Yup, I agree :) I love your vertical gardening.....I'm gonna try a few this year.

Yep.......you got a heck of a garden growing there. It just wouldnt be complete without some grow poles.:-) Tomato's are easy to grow in a grow pole. Their roots will grow from one pot down thru the drain holes into a lower pot. I wondered why the strong gusty winds in this area didn't just rip those tomato's out of that one pot and that is the answer........the roots use two pots for roots and that locks them to the pole. So make sure you have at least one pot below the one you plant a tomato in. The amount of grow mix in two of the type pots I use is equivalent to that in a 4 gallon pot. So when some people commented about my big old bushy tomato's growing out of that "dinky" little pot, they didn't know that the tomato had grabbed control of two pots equal to a 4 gallon nursery pot. When you dismantle that pole, you will need to run a butcher knife between pots to cut the roots. All plants roots do not migrate from pot to pot but tomato's sure do. And I have had some five pot poles planted in sweet pea flowers this year where all five pots are locked together by co-mingling roots.

Determinate type tomato's are recommended by the grow pole companies that have experimented with them. Staking is easy. The center pole of the stack can be extended a little higher than normal and you stake the tomato to the extended pole.........or........if you plant them in the upper pots, you can just let them drape down. This year, I wont to plant indeterminate sweet 100's in two upper pots up about 6 foot high and let them drape. That should get interesting.

Those big 6 hole stackers Bob calls the vegetable producers sure look like winners. Im guessing that each one of those pots will hold at least 6 gallons of grow mix. Stack 5 or 6 of those suckers on a pole and you could really mass produce some stuff. In your climate, and with succession planting, you could probably keep that grow pole pumping all year long. Whoops!! Im getting overexcited again.......hyperventilating again.......excuse me.......I gotta go breathe in a bag!! These grow poles are gonna be the death of me yet.:-)

I just got my 24 inch stacker pots. I'm going to be figuring out what to put in them tomorrow. I plant on direct seeding everything into them. I've got 5 to stack/ 3 holes each. Big and roomy!

I've got chives and onions in my smaller stackers/ 12 inchers/ 3 holes each tray.

I've noticed that the chives are a lot slower to sprout than my Japanese bunching onions.

Welcome Desert Jake, I'm in a really hot climate during summer, too and in the same 9a (or 9b) zone as you are. Can't be sure about my zone, too many microclimates where I am.

You are going to love the stacker pots, nice and clean, you can put lots into them and it's very controlled.

Ray_

Here's a couple of stacker pics to get ya going The one on the right is 6-12inch NJ Stacking Planters on a pole with 75 bean plants in them. The ones on the right are the Veggie Producers. One stack has 30 Georgia Collards planted in them (they just sprouted)

BocaBob

Here are some inside my pool area sitting on 5 gallon pails. The one on the left has 18 Romaine Lettuce plants in it.

This is a stack of 15 inch NJ Planters with English Peas sprouting

Thanks! Hoping for some good results.

I'm still shocked that you grew tomatoes in those grow poles. That is awesome! I have some Ace 55 tomatoes(determinate) a few weeks away from transplanting. So I now know where there next home might be :) Good luck with those Sweet 100's....they are a crazy, viney plant. Well, most all cherry toms are.

LOL! Take a deep breath! Ya, BB's VP's look good. My climate is good(not hot and not cold) but I just need more sunlight. Some areas only get 5 hours while some get 9 hours. Too many trees and 2 story house around here.



You're killing me over here! These look perfect for my limited space.

Breathe in a sack, Ray, when you start hyperventilating with a bad case of stackeritus.

Jay: Have you seen the next two weeks weather forecast for Crestview Florida? I think I'm in luck after all. It only hits 38 degrees twice and at night only, during the days, it's about 70-80 degrees, does that mean I'm wide open for planting now?
Like in cukes and maters and maybe direct planting my corn seed into EBs?
joy

....if I hyperventilate, I'm gonna just take a knee and yell at the sky!

Joy.......When I was ten years old.....back in the year of our lord 1942 of the last century, I could harness my own mule, hook him to a cultivator, and cultivate up and down......up and down...up and down....row after row of young corn. Acres and Acres and acres of corn. But all I learned about corn is what it is like to stare at a mules butt for hours and hours. Believe me, that is a mind searing experience without gaining any horticulture knowledge whatsoever about corn. LOL. Sorry I cant help. Im not very knowledgeable about vegetables of any type, except maybe a little about tomato's. All I really know is that direct seeding outside at this time of year is a gamble. Give it your best shot........seeds are a cheap form of recreation with some culinary rewards........if you are lucky.

Jay: Then maybe I'll wait on the corn a bit, how about the tomatoes and cukes? Think I can do them now, the toms are in the greenhouse and the cukes are in my inhouse greenhouse, and they are almost 1/2 a foot tall already. LOL
joy