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I’ve still got loads of tomato and pepper plants waiting to grow on, so rather than waste them, I decided to build up several large planters and maximise every bit of growing space I’ve got available.
And to keep the compost costs down, I’ve gone back to one of my favourite tricks, using layers of cardboard.
Using Cardboard to Fill Large Containers
Large planters can take a huge amount of compost to fill, especially when you’re setting up several at once.
So instead of filling the entire containers with compost, I layered the bottoms heavily with soaked cardboard.
Each planter ended up with multiple layers, all thoroughly watered to help them start breaking down faster.
Using cardboard like this has a few benefits:
- Saves a surprising amount of compost
- Helps retain moisture
- Slowly breaks down over time
- Adds organic matter back into the container
Once the cardboard layers were in place, I added horse manure and compost on top before planting everything out.
Planting Tomatoes in the Greenhouse
Even though it’s now May, I’m still not fully trusting the weather.
The forecast over the next week or so is cooler, wetter, and not exactly ideal for tomatoes. So rather than risk planting them outside too early, I’m keeping them protected inside the greenhouse for now.
The first container was planted with three Costoluto Fiorentino tomato plants.
Before planting, I removed the lower leaves and planted each tomato deeply, helping encourage stronger root development along the buried stems.
Companion Planting Around the Tomatoes
Rather than leaving empty space around the tomatoes, I decided to maximise the planter by adding:
- Dwarf marigolds
- Dwarf kale
The marigolds should help attract pollinators while also helping deter some of the pests that always seem to appear once tomato season gets going.
The dwarf kale went into the corners of the planter, giving me another crop while the tomatoes are still relatively small.
It’s all about getting as much productivity out of each container as possible.
More Mixed Containers
After finishing the tomato planter, I repeated the same cardboard-and-compost setup for several more large containers.
These were planted with a mixture of:
- Flowering sprouts (kalettes)
- Beetroot
- Pak choi
- Dwarf kale
The idea is to combine crops with different growing speeds.
The quicker crops can be harvested while the slower-growing sprouts continue developing underneath. It’s a great way to keep containers productive for much longer.
Keeping Everything Protected a Bit Longer
For now, all of these containers are staying inside the greenhouse for another week or two.
The frost risk is definitely reducing now, but in the north-east of England there’s always the chance of one last cold snap.
The QuadGrow tomatoes and peppers are also still under their cloches while they establish properly.
Once the temperatures improve further, I’ll remove the cloches, add the mulch caps, install the canes, and fully transition everything into summer growing mode.
Greenhouse Growing Is Starting to Ramp Up
At this point, the greenhouse is really starting to fill up:
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Kalettes
- Beetroot
- Pak choi
- Kale
- QuadGrow systems
- Companion flowers
There’s still plenty more to do, but it finally feels like the summer growing season is beginning properly.
Now the big question is whether the new QuadGrow setup actually improves the harvests this year… or whether I’ve completely overcomplicated everything!
That’s all part of the experiment.
Watch the full video here 👉
Goes LIVE 6pm 20th May - https://youtu.be/rpBOwOzcz4M
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https://www.tiktok.com/@gardenandvine
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