Hi Linda,
I don't have theories, I have gumball ideas. Sometimes they turn out to be good gumballs, other times they turn out to be sourballs. ha The buckets are 2 1/2 gallon. The question in my mind was about root development. I planted 18 tomatoes in the buckets, and at the same time planted tomatoes in large McDonalds coffee cups (My friends in Memphis have an ongoing "cups for claud" program) and in 8 oz. styrofoam cups. I used Scotts premium potting soil and added one cup of pelletized lime per cubic foot of mix. No additional fertilizer has been added. All have been bottom watered with 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide added to each gallon of water. All of the tomatoes were planted like the little one you see above and potting mix was added as the plants grew. As you can see in this photo, all the plants have about the same growth, but have different amounts of mix to develop their root system in. When I plant them in the garden, I'll take a picture of their roots for comparison. You would think a more developed root system would mean a stronger healthier more productive plant, wouldn't you? Time will tell. In answer to your question, the bucket has a 9 inch diameter at the bottom, a 10 inch diameter at the top, and is 9 inches high. The circumference at the bottom would be approximately 19 and 3/16 inches, 20 and 1/4 inches in the middle, and 21 and 5/16 at the top. Hope this helps. Claud.
Now tell me about Linda's theory.
