This year was my first attempt at gardening. I have always had an interest in it, but never actually done it. I planted four roma and two celebrity tomato plants in custom-designed 6-gallon buckets.

Needless to say, my bucket design worked flawlessly: Ten 3/8″ drainage holes in the bottom, covered by 2″ of rock, covered by a piece of plastic window screening, covered by 2″ of soil with the root base sitting on top, and another 12″ of soil to fill it in, and then about 2″ of bark mulch on top to make it look pretty and retain moisture. I used nylon zip ties to secure the cage to each bucket, and prevent it from falling over with the weight of the plant.

The plants developed a very expansive root structure, strong stems, lush green leaves, and many small fruit (at one point I counted 75+). There were no signs of mildew in the buckets, and they retained all their soil, yet let the excess water drained out easily. You could smell the plants as soon as you walked outside!

Their demise came early though. Nematodes, which are microscopic worms found in certain topsoils, began to infest the plants. They penetrate the stem, set up camp, and start robbing nutrients from the plant.

I saw the plants begin to suffer, and figured they weren’t receiving enough water. So I began to water more. Lots more. I unknowingly overwatered them to the point that I caused “blossom end rot”. (Where the bottom part of the fruit rots)

So now our first-year tomatoes reside in our garbage can. I did learn quite a bit though, and will be much better prepared for next year. And I even got a few tomatoes, albeit small ones, and they were absolutely delicious!!