A Tale Of Two Tomatoes

Cindy decided to experiment with her tomatoes this year by trying a Grow Box for some of them, and planting others in several of the raised beds.

Grow Box

The Grow Box is basically a planter box that incorporates soil and fertilizer above a water reservoir.  Cindy bought three of them and put two in front of the garage door, where they will get maximum morning sunlight, and one on the west side of our 100 gallon water tank.

Then she started planting the tomatoes she had started from seed and been raising in the mini-greenhouse behind the garage.

Seedling Tomatoes Ready to Plant

And the tomatoes started to grow.

Garage Grow Boxes With Optional Supports

And grow.

All the seedlings, both those in the Grow Boxes and those in the raised beds were looking sturdy and healthy.  As part of the experiment, she planted pairs in different places, one of a pair in a grow box and one in a growing bag in a raised bed to see whether there was any noticeable difference in how they grew.  All the plants were started from seed at the same time, exposed to the same amount of sun in the mini-greenhouse and planted in the same soil in both the raised beds and the grow boxes.

So, approximately three weeks from planting the seedlings, there is indeed a noticeable difference in the pairs of plants.

These are the plants of the Purple Bumble Bee Tomato from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Purple Bumble Bee in Raised Bed

Purple Bumble Bee in Grow Box

The plant in the raised bed is about 18 inches tall; the one in the grow box is approximately 32 inches tall and much bushier.  Same variety of plant, same soil.  The two possible differences are that the plant in the bag in the raised bed is on a drip watering system, while the one in the grow box has constant access to the water in the reservoir at the bottom of the box.  Cindy fertilized the one in the bag with her usual fertilizer, but used the nutrient patch cover that comes with the Grow Box.

Both plants are looking very healthy and already have blossoms forming, so in a few weeks we may have actual tomatoes from them to compare.