A review of four container systems used to grow tomatoes.
In April, I posted about four container systems for growing tomatoes. These included the EarthBox, SmartPot, AutoPot and the highly advertised TopsyTurvy. (Click here for part 1 of this review)
In that first posting, I covered the methodology I would use to conduct the test, so I won't go into detail about that or the claims made by the various manufacturers. However, I will just mention, that I tried to make the comparison as fair as possible by planting the same variety of tomato in each container, using seeds planted on the same day, and putting the containers in close proximity to each other so that they would receive the same sunlight.
After 3 months testing, here are the number of tomatoes that have set on each of the plants in the test:
Autopot - 39 tomatoes
TopsyTurvy - 16 tomatoes
SmartPot - 21 tomatoes
EarthBox - 30 tomatoes
Autopots:
I've used these before and found them to be very effective in growing tomatoes. Autopots are a hydroponic container where the plant is given water and nutrients via an external reservoir. My test pot was placed inside a greenhouse, so it was the first to both set tomatoes and also to produce harvestable fruit. To date, the tomato plant grown in the Autopot has set 39 fruit, the most of any of the containers systems tested.
While effective, the AutoPot system also requires more maintenance; the valves in the AutoPot can be finicky and you need to check that they are functioning and clear any clogs that might occur. Additionally, the watering schedule can be time consuming. With other containers, watering is straight forward -- just use your garden hose. But with Autopots, you water and feed simultaneously. This means that you need to fill the systems reservoir with water, measure out the proper amount of nutrient solution, and mix it. The frequency with which you need to do this depends on the number of plants you are growing and the size of your reservoir. I have 6 plants hooked up to a 15 gallon reservoir and need to fill this every day or two.
The AutoPot does seem to yield more tomatoes, but it is also more expensive to maintain because you need to continuously buy nutrient solution. I'm tracking the cost of nutrient solution and tomato production to determine the true cost of running this system and will report about this in a future posting. But I strongly suspect that it will be more expensive on a per tomato basis than other systems, but possibly considerably less expensive than buying tomatoes at the store or farmers market.Bottom Line: I like and do recommend AutoPots. But given the cost and maintenance requirements, Autopots will work best for gardeners with limited space or those in a city environment where their access to soil, compost etc. is limited.
TopsyTurvy:
I've seen forum postings where people complain that they could not get their tomatoes to set fruit using this container. I did not experienced this problem. However, the TopsyTurvy has set the least amount of fruit of any of the container systems tested, about 16 fruit so far.
Prior to testing this product, I was under the impression that plants would grow like traditional tomatoes, just upside down. In point in fact, tomatoes, like all other plants, want to grow upward towards the sun. The plant in my TopsyTurvy has sections growing upward and downward depending on the weight of the branch.
After testing the TopsyTurvy for over 3 months, I just don't see any advantage to this system versus other types of containers. It takes work to hang the TopsyTurvey and wet soil in the TopsyTurvy make the container very heavy, raising the possibility that one day it might come crashing down. It is not self watering or self-fertilizing so there's no labor savings on that front. And while you don't need to weed when using the TopsyTurvy, the same is true of all other container systems. Worse yet, the TopsyTurvy does a pretty lackluster job producing tomatoes -- in my test, the TopsyTurvy set 25-50% less fruit than the other containers in this test.
The Bottom Line: Not recommended.
SmartPot:The SmartPot is a simple fabric pot. It's closest to traditional plastic or ceramic containers. The manufacturer claims that more air circulates to the roots and that the pots stay cooler. So far, 21 fruit have set on the test plant. The smart pot is very easy to maintain; water once a day and fertilize periodically based on the plant food manufacturers instructions.
Easy to set up, light and cheap, this seems to be a reasonable substitute for traditional clay or plastic pots. I did not have a traditional clay pot in this test, so I can verify the manufacturers claims that plants do better because the SmartPot drains better and keeps roots cool. That said, I don't have any reason to believe that this would do worse than a clay or plastic pot.
The Bottom Line: The SmartPot is probably best for
gardeners who want the option to move pots around or store them easily
in the winter (fabric is light and folds when not in use). I would feel
comfortable recommending these to a friend. Recommended.
EarhBox:
This is a self watering container. All the fertilizer the plant needs for the year is added at the beginning of the season. To water the plant, you fill an internal reservoir via a tube on the top of the planter. When the reservoir is full, additional water spills out through a exit valve. This lets you know the planter is full and prevents over-watering. In practice, I've found that I need to fill the reservoir every day. So far, 30 fruit have set on the plant in the EarthBox.The EarthBox was more expensive than both the TopsyTurvy and the SmartPot. It required a little bit more effort to set up than a traditional clay pot, but not that much more. Watering is easy, but not less frequent than traditional containers. The EarthBox does seem to produce more fruit, probably owing to the nature of the system which provides a consistent supply of water and fertilizer. In my opinion, it's also an attractive container.
The Bottom Line: The EarthBox provides a good balance of easy-of-use, cost and performance. Highly recommended.
Comments