Three years of killing my plants before I figured out the real problem

I kept overwatering my balcony tomatoes because the top inch of soil felt dry. Every single plant would get yellow leaves and droop after about 2 weeks. A neighbor from the community garden saw my setup and pointed out my pots had almost no drainage holes. I had drilled maybe 3 tiny holes in each 5 gallon bucket. Now I drill at least 12 holes per pot and I actually wait until the pot feels light to water. Has anyone else found that the standard advice about checking soil moisture just does not work for small pots in hot weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera20h ago

The light pot trick changed everything for my tomatoes too.

fiona_scott4413h ago

The light pot trick is fine and all, but let's not act like it's a miracle cure, @the_vera. I tried it one year and my tomatoes still got blossom end rot because I forgot to water them regularly. It's a nice boost if your soil is already decent and you're paying attention, but a white bucket isn't going to fix bad gardening habits. People get so hype about one little trick and then blame the pot when their plants fail.