Wall O Waterers ???

[dragonfly1113]

For those who have them or have had them.... Do you like them? Did you get your tomaotes two months earlier? And since you cant take them off, how do you keep them from falling over when they get big? I suppose you would have to stake them, right? I bought some to try and was wondering how good they are.
Susie

[ksfarmer]

Not sure what yours are like, but, mine were cone shaped and could be removed when the weather was warm enough to not need them anymore. I used them a couple of years and finally tossed them. Yes, I could safely plant tomatoes earlier, but, no, I didn't realize any tomatoes earlier. Maybe a few days early at best, they still needed the sunlight hours and temps to ripen tomatoes.

[mosepijo]

I love them. Our growing season is from June 15- Sept. 15. Occasional Frost up until that point. Last year, We put the tomatoes in the wall o' waters in March and had tomatoes the end of June. I normally take the wall o' waters off after the last frost and then stake, etc. But last year, The plants grew too tall too quick, outgrew the wall o'waters and I couldn't get them off. I prefer taking them off. My complaint is that the ones I bought 30 years ago are better than the ones I bought last year. I bought 24 new ones and 12 of them had holes in the tubes as I was filling them with water. Another 6-7 started leaking a month or so later and a couple had enough tubes empty that they were wanting to tip over but since the plants were so big I couldn't get them off and I ended up letting the plants tip over. It was the messiest my garden has looked by keeping them on all summer. The instructions do say to leave them on thou.

[DW]

We were not impressed. Some blew out, fell over...We do just as well with putting the tom. & peppers under a milk jug. We have frost late (May & early June) so the protection is a must.

[Woodpecker]

mine constantly fell over. it wasn't worth the money to me.

[postroad]

I had good luck surrounding my tomatoes with water filled clear plastic milk jugs.

[Sharon]

I use them. I put an upside down 5 gallon bucket on the ground centered over the plant with the handle pushed upward and slip the wall-o-water over it, fill it--making sure it is as round as possible for stability, then remove the bucket and add any more water that is necessary. I remove them when the temperature gets warm enough by squeezing out the water as much as needed to lift it safely over the plant (easier with two people). In order to keep them from collapsing it important to keep the water levels up; I usually add water at least once or twice a week depending on evaporation.

Using them does give me earlier yields. I only use them on a few plants because we grow a lot of tomatoes and it would just be to cumbersome. I generally just do a few so we can have fresh tomatoes for the table early while waiting on our big crop for canning.

[hunter63]

I have been using them for quite a few years now, I leave them on all summer.
Doesn't seem to hurt anything, but what you get is frost protection, but they won't really make much difference as far a ripened tomatoes.
I got them at the end of the year, so they didn't cost that much.

Just a personnel preference.

[mosepijo]

I am thinking from the few posts that had them collapse including mine was the fact that the older ones were made with thicker plastic. Because my 30 year old wall o waters are still going with not holes and no collapsing.

[RLStewart]

I start a few early tomatoes in them and they do help. I always have to stick stakes inside mine to keep them from collapsing onto the tomatoes on windy days. Without them around here you have to wait until June to plant tomatoes because we get alot of hard frosts in May. Last year at the end of May we had a bad frost and I had more tomatos planted than wall-of-waters so stuck 5 gallon buckets over a couple and those ones got toasted!

[puddlejumper007]

Postroad thanks you answered my question about using something else be side wallofwater.

[Pat]

I've never used them, but I do a trick to get early tomatoes (that works!)

When you can first buy seedlings... I bury them all but the top leaves in a black 1 quart planting container (I use the ones we buy other "stuff" in). I use a mixture of half compost / half garden dirt. (bringing them inside the shed any night we are down to frost)... the Black heats up the soil and get a good growth. Usually in 3 to 4 weeks I transplant them into 1 gallon black containers (again, half compost / half dirt and bury down to the top leaves ((if possible lol))). Another couple of weeks I transplant into the garden (after all frosts dates are past). When I transplant into the garden, I line the hole with a inch or so of grass clippings... As the grass rots, it again warms of the soil... and when the tomato roots get to it, it's a Nitrogen boost for it.

I usually have tomatoes 3 to 5 weeks before any of the neighbors (or the hard core gardeners).

Been doing this for probably close to 20 years. (I usually put the quart containers on a garden cart so it's easier to take in and out... usually by the time they are in the gallon containers most of chance of frost is gone.

Not only do you get the first tomatoes (and bragging rights)... but over a foot of roots for the plant (so you don't have to water as often.

Pat

[dragonfly1113]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I bought 9 of them and started wondering how to keep them up. Our last frost date is the end of April but I wanted to beat my sister on getting tomatoes. She tries to get them before anyone else. She never starts her own tomatoes and makes fun of the plant that I start from seed (spindly). She always says my tomatoes are so much bigger but we usually get tomatoes within a few days of each other. My seeds just got here so I probably wont have any early tomatoes this year.
Susie

[wwubben]

Originally Posted by ksfarmer

Not sure what yours are like, but, mine were cone shaped and could be removed when the weather was warm enough to not need them anymore. I used them a couple of years and finally tossed them. Yes, I could safely plant tomatoes earlier, but, no, I didn't realize any tomatoes earlier. Maybe a few days early at best, they still needed the sunlight hours and temps to ripen tomatoes.

This is my story too.I will not get them again.

[mary,tx]

I do think they're nice for jump-starting those little spindly starts in the garden.