You see, last year was the first year for us growing tomatoes in those Topsy Turvy tomato planters. I thought we did rather well and kept the plants slug and disease free all year, but hubby had seen some at his work that were more productive than the ones we had at home. He decided to buy some of the more expensive garden soil to give us results like theirs too. (we all know I can't possibly make a good mix of my own...)
He bought whatever was on sale at the time of soil purchase, which just happened to be Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Who would have thought that 3 large bags wouldn't be enough? With the temps warming up so incredibly fast, I decided to start planting my tomatoes even though frost danger has yet to be completely gone. We bought 29 seedlings in all, most of them were different kinds sold in 4 packs (except the Mortgage Lifter that was sold in a pack all by itself). There are currently no favorites or least favorites, but he did request no grape or cherry tomatoes in the mix this year. Apparently they're too small. 
We have 14 hooks for tomato planters on my grape arbor, but last year we only used 10 bags so I had to go buy more. Unfortunately they didn't have the same style that we already had. I'm a little OCD when it comes to things matching and stuff so I bought 7 more (all on rebate for less than $2). I decided if all of the planters on one side matched it would look good so this is sort of a two pronged type of experiment. On the first side of the experiment, we can test the older model of bag against last year's model. The old ones will be planted on the back side of the trellis (because they're not as nice to look at now that the color is faded) and the new bags will be in the front. Both sides get equal amounts of sunshine and water. All of them except one is planted in the Miracle Gro mix, the last one is planted in Schulz Moisture Control. The front and the back bags are each planted with two tomatoes of the same variety in the same position. So one the fifth hook from the left as I'm facing the arbor both front and back bags will have the variety Super Fantastic planted in them.
The second side will test the Shulz soil against the Miracle Gro. It is going to be compared only to the tomato variety that is the same as it is which is Super Fantastic so we can see if one has better fertilizing qualities or soil moisture retaining abilities in them. Hey, I'm not trusting my memory on this one, hence both the picture and the blog post showing the variety to check. It is easy to tell the difference when you actually look into the bags, but I am too short and don't want to have to climb up and down ladders all of the time just to peek at the soil.
Any guesses on which soil is the better soil???
Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy
3 comments:
It is interesting to read about the Topsy Turvy. My parents did not do well with tomatoes in theirs. I'm looking forward to reading more about your experiment
I am new to your blog, but I found myself wondering about the potting soil, just last Saturday. I planted pots for my mother-in-law and it was time to change the soil. The two brands are right next to each other and I couldn't tell from the label, so I purchased the cheaper one-Schultz! I will be back to check on your results!
Finally, a fun experiment that will answer two questions! Which is the better potting soil, and can the topsy turvy grow a decent yield of larger variety tomatoes? For the last few seasons I have seen friends and family fail miserably with the topsy turvy, and anxious to see the results. Well done!
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