The best way I found to water tomatoes underground is some PVC pipe with holes drilled in it and then covered with one leg of panty hose and buried as deep or deeper than you bury the roots of your plants (by the time I set my tom's out they are usually buried at least 2 feet deep, I start from seed and constantly set them deeper and deeper so they develop huge roots). I also start the hole earlier and deeper than I am setting the plants and mix in some goat or rabbit manure, mix it with some of the soil (the plant roots will eventually find that food) and backfill.
Don't drill any holes in the above ground part of the pipe, just cover the top opening with some foil or a PVC cap to keep bugs and dirt out. The pantyhose will prevent the soil from clogging up the holes below ground and allow free flowing water and manure tea. I also add 3 Tbsp of Epsom salts to help add magnesium and other trace minerals. (not more often than once every 3 months)
If you are growing beefsteaks, then try adding one pipe on each side of the plant. To feed the tomato roots, you can cut a soda bottle in half and use it for a funnel, the opening will fit inside the pipe to make it easier to feed and water them. I also remove the suckers as I see them and if they are large enough, I root them in a small glass of water and plant them out too to add to my garden.
My largest tomatoes this past season were 18 inches around! (quite meaty and there were tons of them)
By Virginia from Brownsville, OR
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I am a little confused about your post. You said you start from seed and set them deeper and deeper. I don't understand that at all. Do you mean you start them inside?
He starts the seeds indoors long before they can be planted outside. As the seedlings grow he repots them in larger and larger pots, and setting them deeper into the soil with each transplant so that the roots are continuously being placed deeper than the last time. By the time the plants are ready to be placed outdoors the roots should be much deeper than if they were just seeded and left to their own devices.
Yes, you probably are the only one who doesnt get it. She starts them from seeds and as the plants grow, she adds more soil to bury the plants deeper.
Not true. I didn't get it either. No mention of 'pots'!
Chemicals used in PVC plastic have been linked to increased risk of breast cancer in women. Are you sure it is safe to use PVC pipes to water tomatoes you're going to eat and/or feed to your family? Is there an alterntive to PVC pipes we could use instead?
Don't understand your construction on this. Where do you put the upper tube. Need diagram.
Construction? Its a piece of pipe that is stuck in the ground to pour water into.
A question I have, is that can you plant the tomatoes in the same spot each year? I thought you need to rotate them.
Need a photo to see just how this is done, please. i.e. the hole size. Thanks so much.
Soaker hose works just as well and less work and inexpensive.
Really? A piece of pipe is about 3 dollars. It will never dry rot, get a hole in it from being hit with a rake or hoe. Dogs, rats, insects cant chew holes in it.
I have been using the PVC pipe watering method for the past four years on the same location - never rotating. I have always had excellent results. Nearly all of my tomatoes, this season weighed between one-half to one pound, and produced
Yes this is great. What I do is when I get my plants at Walmart. I plant the whole plant in the ground. That is right the whole plant, the entire plant becomes a root ball. I did not believe it at first, but I started out buring my plants deeper and deeper each year. So one year I planted one all the way and wow boy it grew the best one. Try this and you will be supprised.
I was thinking of do your system does this air prune your tomato roots, it seems like it would, supply air to the roots. this would help your plant produce more tomatoes.
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