Boy, did I open a bag of worms when I wrote a recent story about how I tank with tomatoes. Not worms per se, but smaller wigglers, those nasty nematodes.
It appears from my loaded inbox that every other Orange County gardener who has current tomato troubles ran outside to pull up their plants to check for root knot nematodes. (They cause knotty growth on the roots.)
Anyway, if you read my follow-up story today in the Orange County Register, there is sooo much more that can make the tomato grower miserable - virticillium wilt, fusarium unit wilt (what?), tobacco mosiac, plus the dreaded tomato cutworm, mildew, too much water, not enough, calcium deficiencies, and more.
But it doesn’t stop us from trying, does it?
So, here’s the plan: Lets get a conversation going about tomatoes. Are yours ready to pick up a prize at the Orange County fair, or more likely ripe for the compost heap? (Not recommended I hear, if they’ve got viruses.)
I’ve invited tomato expert Scott Lathrop from Laguna Hills Nursery, who wrote the book on growing tomatoes 12 months out of the year, to check our comments and questions every hour or so and offer solutions.
Offer your solutions. Share your troubles. Go ahead and brag if you must and make the rest of us feel bad. Participate in the rant by clicking comments below.
Tomato resources:
So, here is my first question for Scott. Is this just a bad year in general for tomatoes or what? Not enough bees, too cold in the spring?
Ok so is it way to late to start tomatoes this year? And should we try the upside down hanging baskets? I live in Hntg Beach and last year I grew grape tomatoes in my front yard and had tons.But as everyone else because when I plant them in the ground same results. I want some Beef Steak tomatoes can I even grow them here? Thanks So glad I read about this .Thanks for doing the blog
I’m thinking it’s not too late to start. Tomatoes love warm weather and grow very fast. So if the weather holds you can get a solid crop in as late as October.
When Scott jumps on, he’ll tell us what type of tomato to start now.
Alas. For lack of sunny space, I resorted to container planting on a wood deck using the best potting compost. The plants grew wonderfully. Better Boys, Beefsteak,Beefmaster,Early Girl. I got a first batch of great tomatoes then the plants started to yellow from the bottom up. Every nursery I took samples said I was overwatering or under watering? Tried both watering less and more but the problem just got worse. I am pulling the plants today and will check for nematodes. I did plant a roma & betterboy in the ground and they are fantastic.
Keep those articles coming. I really enjoy them.
Keep
I solved my tomato problems by only growing cherry tomatoes in the same place every year. The leaves turn yellow, but the plants continue to produce fruit well into the fall. The fruit is as sweet as candy!
Just a thought for Alfred. The potting soil may have been too rich with bark and other materials that hang on to moisture. Tomatoes want water, but they also want fast drainage.
What about trying cactus mix next time?
After a few years of tomato crop failure growing them in the dirt on my patio - due mostly to a virus, I tried something new. I couldn’t fumigate the soil and was advised to replace it - not easy as it is an enclosed patio except for the ‘roof’.
I bought some used 15 gallon containers from the nursery, dug holes in the patio soil and got rid of the topsoil. I then filled the containers with really good planter mix (I can recommend one)) and planted the plants. Put extra drain holes in the containers.
A bonus is that I am removing the patio soil a little at a time and will replace it.
They are all doing well except for the dreaded ‘whitefly’ (another topic to be sure)
Others may want to try this.
Another thought for Alfred. Beefsteak, Beefmaster and Better Boy are determinate tomatoes. Determinate means they grow to a certain height, produce a single crop, then die.
Indeterminate means they grow on an on getting very tall, and producing tomatoes on and off through the entire season.
Early Girl can be both. There are determinate and indeterminate types.
Mr. Tomato - recommend your special potting soil for us. And also, what do you think about cactus mix? Is that worth a try?
Hi all you tomato farmers!
Contrary to some growers……… it has been a great year for tomatoes! With warm weather, the plants have grown fast and we have seen much less disease problems than usual.
If you are growing in an inland area, you may have had alot of blossom drop with fewer fruit. This has been due to extreme heat in the early part of the year. We expect heat in the 90’s mid-July through the end of summer, but we got those high temps in June! Tomatoes tend to abort flowers at high temperatures and resume setting fruit again as the temperatures are more moderate in late summer and early fall.
You can still plant tomatoes now through August. These late plantings are “Winter Tomatoes”. They tend to set fruit while the weather is warm but as the days grow short and temperatures drop, the fruit seems to take FOREVER to turn red. Expect ripe fruit in December and January. “Champion” has proven to be a good variety for late plantings.
Blossom drop due to hot weather? One more thing to worry about. It seems like the odds are against us, but tomato lovers never give up! A least not the ones I know.
Thanks for jumping on Scott. Scott Lathrop from Laguna Hills Nursery wrote the book on growing tomatoes 12 months out of the year.
Oh yeah. And I am going to try to talk Scott into guest blogging about tomatoes….maybe once a week?
Whitney Farms - be sure it is Uncle Malcolm mix as it has the right amount of Vermiculite in it. Most mixes don’t have enough and are too wet. Not all places have it - I get mine at Green Thumb Nursery at the I-5 Fwy and El Toro Rd. I’ve used it for years and it is very good quality.
Cactus Mix aka Tropical Mix (available at Laguna Hills Nursery) might be okay - good drainage, but it is ‘light’ meaning watering every day in the summer. Tomatoes need LOTS of water.
Also the containers need to be large. 5 gal. are not big enough, which is why I use 15 gal.
Mr. Tomato - Some of the absolute best tomatoes I’ve tasted were grown in 15 gallon drums filled with homemade potting soil, and grown in the shade but with lots of reflected light from concrete.
How do I know how much water to provide? I use a drip hose and turn it on everyday for 5 minutes. I live in Huntington Beach. Also, I have some squash next to my ‘maters that have developed a white powder on all the leaves. How should I treat them? And should I expect my ‘maters to get it too?
Any well drained potting soil will work for tomatoes. Since the tomato is used as an annual or seasonal crop, even the wood/bark-based soils can be used if they contain enough perlite or pumice to help provide oxygen to the roots. Cactus mix is OK, but in my experience, no comercial soil sold has enough perlite or pumice to provide the needed oxygen (except Laguna Hills Potting Soils!)
The ideal potting soil, would be a mix that contains about 50% pumice and either redwood or peat moss. None of these products will break down quickly and can be used more than one season for other plants. Here at Laguna Hills Nursery we recommend our Tropical Mix or our Acid Mix for tomatoes in pots.
Containers also give you contol for correct amount of watering (use a moisture meter) and feeding.
Using the mix over again next year - I put half new mix in and add Gypsum which replaces the calcium the plant uses.
Also, worm castings can help prevent whitefly - it gets into the plant systemically and naturally wards them off. One source for this is the San Clemente Farmers Market on Del Mar - Sundays 9-1. A vendor there is a ‘worm farmer’ and sells it. No there is a vocation !!
Besides Champion tomatoes, if gardeners want to start over now, any other tomato you recommend?
Has anyone covered soil with black plastic sheeting to kill nematodes?
I’m sure your question is for Scott, Cindy - but I have had good success with ‘Red October’ from Burpee.
Its for anybody….and with a byline like mistertomato, you sound like you know your stuff. Any advice on the black plastic?
Any small to medium sized fruit is OK to plant now. Cherry and plum types are both good and determinate types like Celebrity are also goo choices.
Plant transplants now - not seed! The larger sized fruits always seem to take longer to mature - for example “Celebrity” is listed at 70 days and “Beefsteak” is listed at 96 days. Almost a month longer to ripe fruit, even longer in cool weather
This came in my email this morning:
Hi Cindy
In reading your column today I find it hard to believe that so many people have trouble growing tomatoes. In the last 2 seasons I planted 8 Early Girl plants in April. I took off for 3 months leaving my helper to water them just once a week after they showed signs setting their roots. When I returned in early July each plant was 6 foot tall and abosutely loaded with tomatoes about 2 1/4 inches in diameter. (I have pictures of the plants which were planted in wire cages 5′ tall.) I hesitate to tell you this but I’m sure my crop was about 1000 tomatoes each year from the 8 plants.
I live about 1 mile from the ocean in the lowlands that were once river bottom of the Santa Ana River so my soil is very rich. My present crop, 8 more Early Girls, did not grow quite as high (because of a cool spring, I think) and not producing as many tomatoes. My helper wanted me to plant some cherry tomatoes which I did for her. You should come by and see the result. I planted 3 plants, 3 different varieties, and they have morphed into one plant 7′ tall and much wider than that.
I f you would like to come by and see my plants let me know.
Jim Gallagher
Another email from a prize winning grower:
I am writing in response to your article in the Saturday, July 26 Register titled “Tomato trials and tricks”. I was surprised to see so many readers with difficulty growing tomatoes. I have had a very different experience. I acquired a 16′ X 20′ garden plot in Irvine in the Woodbridge Community Garden a year ago. In Feb I started Early Girl seeds at my home and transplanted them to the garden in March. The soil was prepared with a mixture of mulch and manure and I have fertilized occasionally with Miracle Grow and Vigaro tomato food. My plants are large and strong and producing beautiful tasty tomatoes. From my 12 plants I have harvested 300 to 400 tomatoes so far with many more to come. I have been able to share them with friends and neighbors. I even entered some in the OC Fair competition getting a 2nd place for Largest tomato. (Regisiter’s Miguel Vasconsellos visited the WC Garden in recent weeks for an article on July 19th on Gardening. A photo of our grape vines was in the paper, but I think the tomato vines were also photographed at that time.) Judy Harp
I planted, for the very first time, tomato plants in a pot. I never planted tomatoes before The plant is growing and it even has a couple of yellow flowers. How do you know if there are nematodes? How long until I know if the plant will be successful? I am also planting pumpkins in a plant a couple feet away. Can nematodes infect pumpkins?
I don’t think the black plastic will work - Scott will need to advise on this. The temp has to get very hot to ‘cook’ nematodes - like over 125 degrees from what I understand. The soil temp will get hot at the surface, but not enough to go down a foot or so.
I’ve seen shows on TV where they put the soil into a large container under a flame and ‘cook’ it which will kill all viruses and other harmful critters. Unfortunately, I don’t have a device like that, nor do I know where one it.
You probably will NOT get nematodes in your potting soil unless (I’m thinking) they were transported with the plant. To me, it sounds like you are off to a good start, and as soon as the bees find the blossoms, you there. You’ll have tomatoes in the next month or so.
The black plastic method of controlling nematodes is probably a waste of time. As Mistertomato said above, there is just not enough heat to kill the nematodes a foot down in the soil.
Crop rotation is the best method to help control any soil pest. Theory is that if the tomato-loving nematode has nothing to eat, it will not survive. By planting other crops of completely different plants (not related to tomatoes) for a season (or preferably more) the nematodes will slowly die off and be less of a problem the next time tomatoes are planted.
Crop rotation - don’t grow tomatoes or any food plant in the same spot every year. Keep them moving from one spot to the next.
Had all the same problems but then discovered “Big Beef”. They’re the absolute best I’ve ever grown and I have decided that next year they will be the only ones I plant. No luck with Celebrity or any of the other most-recommended types. I, too, think I have the nematode problem in my raised beds. I’ve started to plant my “Big Beefs” in my ground-level flower beds and my tomatoes and abundant, sweet, and perfect.
Good luck.
OMG, what I would do for a big, delish, slicing tomato like Big Beef.
The first year I planted tomatoes in containers I had an infestation of white fly. The next year I started with a good amount of worm castings in the soil. Every 4 weeks I’d mix in another cup per plant. While I did get a few, there was never an outbreak.
You also want to make sure you catch white fly early. I placed the yellow sticky things near the plants to be alerted to any presence of this nemesis. When I would see a few, I’d spray it with insecticidal soap.
I’m going to start my own worm bin as the pure castings can get pricey. The other two farmers markets where I see the pure stuff is the one in CDM on Saturdays from 9-1 and the one in Irvine near UCI, Saturdays 8-12.
Scott, thank you so much for the explanation of less fruit. This is my first year with my own plot of dirt and I thought perhaps there wasn’t enough nutrients in the soil. In the last few weeks the blossoms have started to increase and I’m so happy to learn that this will continue. I’m so looking forward to this summer’s bounty!
Patty - I looked up Big Beef and it is resistant to all kinds of nasty disease. Tomatogrowers.com say Big Beef VFFNTA - translation, V stands for verticillium wilt, F for fusarium (multiple F’s stand for variety a and b). N for nematodes, T for tobacco mosaic virus, and A for alternaria stem rot canker.
So in other words, just about everything except hornworms.
Plus Big Beef is indeterminate, meaning it grows on and on and produces throughout the season.
In addition to my email above: I compost everthing in my back yard including orange peels. My wife, a chemist, thinks that the orange peels acidity may dicourage nematodes as I haven’t had any for years. Also when planting I dig a hole a least 18inches deep and put layers of garden fertilizer in it as I fill the hole up to about an inch or so below ground level. I make my tomato cages from heavy wire used to reinforce concrete patios. It comes in 5′ rolls from Home Depot or Lowe’s. A little hard to work with but worth the trouble. Will last for several years.
I hear marigolds discourage nematodes, and if you think of pungent smells, orange peels fit that bill.
The Marigold myth of nematode control is really just crop rotation. You must plant the entire area with Marigolds and no “nematode desirable” crop for at least one season. I think the research also showed that the african varieties were more effective.
good point! See? We need someone brainy to help us grow the perfect tomater.
Addendum: I have tried marigolds, but never had any luck with improvement. In fact, those plants were as shriveled and as ugly as the tomato plants. As an experiment, I switched to zinnias. Last year and this year, I grew the tall variety of zinnias in between the veggie plants. Last year, I let them get to full height and they crowded the veggies. This year, I pulled them after they got too high. Also, I didn’t want them to drain all the nutrients in the soil. I am wondering if the zinnias cleansed the soil after all, and letting them grow this year as well, did the trick. This year, I’m planning on planting something in the winter to turn under and add nutrients to the soil for spring planting.
supposedly, winter rye does the trick. You can find in online.
My father turned 100 years old on June 14th in Connecticut. I stayed with him 10 weeks to make sure he arrived in great shape…..lives alone, goes to work every morning.
We had lived on 136 acres and Dad loved to garden and putter outside…also grew Christmas Trees. Red Cross, Ambulance Assoc., Scouts, etc would help man the sales in December and keep the proceeds. Dad loves nature, birds & garden. He sits in his little office @ home in the afternoons and watches the stock report, his tomatoes grow and the birds in action. I understand that he is having a terrific harvest. This whole process has brought him Joy, Joy, Joy!!! The upside down tomatoes were found quite a delight by his 100+ co-celebrant friends and relatives.
My gift was to fill his patio with pots, plants, whirley-spinners & cherry tomatoes growing up and growing down. Over the years Dad had sent me advertisements for NYTimes @ the pole/downers. We both love whimsy! And we speak often of “God of the Garden”. In the garden our minds are peaceful and our hearts are full! Also, the Club he has belonged to for 60 years in January erected a beautiful bird house - slate roof, w/ copper spines - in his honor with a plaque “Richard Gretsch’s 100th Birdhouse!”.
At $100+ for an hour of therapy, gardening is quite the bargain & this requires no gasoline consumption. My Dad is sweet & his mind is very keen, but for “seniors” with impending Dementia gardening (esp. Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes) is a perfect way to help the brain and the body stay active!
Long Live Gardening! I love your column! Thank you!
Barbara Schmidt
We have grown tomatoes every summer without too much trouble..but this year was an unusual success thanks to an article my husband Keith read in the Register earlier this year. The article was about using Epsom salt on plants…especially tomatoes. He planted the 2 inch plant we bought in steer manure and used Epsom salt every other week. The plant quickly outgrew the tomato cage we usually use. Keith then attached it to a trellis…..which it outgrown and even broke. It was at least nine feet tall….with lots of yummy cherry tomatoes! Thanks to the Register for the great tip! (Worked great on the chili’s we grew too!)
Kristen Haskins
Cindy -
Many thanks for listing Tomato Casual as a resource for tomato growers.
If you ever have any tomato questions, feel free to throw them our way and we’ll throw them to our casual crew of tomato experts.
Thanks again,
-reggieCasual
love to
I read with interest the first article on your tomato problem, and the following weeks article with viewers responses. Because I live just a mile from the coast, my weather is frequently at odds with best tomato weather.
But the other culprit for the last five or six years has been powdery mildew. It doesn’t look like powdery mildew on any other plant; that visible “coat” of powder. Instead, the tomato leaves become tinged with yellow at the edges or tips, and then brown spots develop on the yellow, and then the entire leaf stem becomes colored. The plant becomes unthrifty. Any tomatoes are usually small. Left alone, the plant dies.
Online at UC Davis, I found the picture of a tomato plant with powdery mildew and it looked just like mine. The only remedy to control the powdery mildew is to dust the plant with sulfur dust. I do this as new growth appears, and I take off the mildew affected leaves. If the weather is good, I actually get some really tasty tomatoes.
Jo Horstman
Cindy -
Can you advise on how much Epsom Salt was used? I’d like to try it.
I also have a good product I have just used to eradicate Whitefly infestations.
Thanks
Mister Tomato,
Can you share what your white fly eradicating product is? I haven’t had a problem here, but having lived through infestations in the past, they are my biggest fear.
Sure can -
First let me say I have used Malathion over the years with some limited success, but not this year - really a bad year. It also smells bad.
I didn’t use enough worm castings when I planted them. It works well, but expensive and you have to use alot.
The product I found is called “Results” and made by Diatect International out of Heber, UT. It is a powder, but can be used by mixing in water. I got it on Monday of last week, and used it every day. By today, they are all gone. I will say that the directions on the label are a bit confusing, so I used about a half cup to a gallon of water in a sprayer.
It cost 20 bucks plus 4 bucks shipping, but the bottle is very large and contains one pound. It will last a long time. Also safe for consumption as well.
http://www.diatect.com
Another question for Scott -
Growing tomatoes over and over in the same place year after year -
How do the commerical growers do it? There is a huge tomato farm along the I-5 in South Pendleton just north of Oceanside. They have been there for as long as I can remember, and that has been a while. Every year, new tomatoes that look very healthy.
While waiting for Scott……Yooohooo? Oh, Scott…..
Just wondering if it’s because they fumigate the soil each year. You’ve seen the black plastic. They stick rods under there and spray soil fumigants. Not quite organic….but whatever. Farmer’s got to do what they got to do to feed everybody.
I’ve planted tomatoes in the same spot for the past 30 years with good results. I do have a nematode problem, but my biggest problem is rats. My neighbor has an avocado tree and the rats come to my yard and eat tomatoes. Also, the birds peck them from above. This year, the rat poison didn’t work. it seems we now have opossums, who also eat the tomatoes, and LOVE the rat poison food bars. I know they’re protected in Orange County. Any ideas?
move?
Ellie -
You might try the square tomato cages - more expensive but sturdy, and wrap them with chicken wire on the outside, or cut the wire into vertical ‘panels’ and attach.
Then put bird netting over the top. That would be about as much as you could do for varmints and birds outside of building a greenhouse.
Wow, lots of interesting comments about tomatoes! I’ve mostly given up on tomatoes as I no longer have any sunny spots to grow them in, but, when I was growing them, I not only had the nematodes, white fly, and powdery mildew,but I also had some sort of mites that just covered every leaf with the very fine webbing that mites make! Leaves then turned yellow, then brown and then the plants finally died leaving only a few shriveled fruits, so I mostly just gave up. The last couple of years I have planted a couple of tomatoes on the west side of my house in a somewhat of a raised planter. They get a little overspray when the grass is watered and a little additional water when I happen to think about it. They only get about an hour or so of sunlight due to the closeness of the house next door, plus the fact that they have a nectarine tree (just a seedling, not a commercial variety so the fruit is not the best) that hangs over the fence and shades the tomatoes even more. When I remember, I keep the tree trimmed back to the fence line so the tomatoes will get the most sun they can possibly get. Anyhow, with all of this neglect and adverse conditions, the tomatoes actually do fairly well. We have about enough tomatoes for my wife and myself, only have to buy one at the store occasionally. Never enough to give away, but then I really don’t give them any attention either. For the cost of a couple of plants each year, we get enough to put on our table for about 4 or 5 months out of the year. Even though I had many, many problems growing them under the ideal conditions, I’ve not had any problems growing these under the worst growing conditions. No whitefly, no mites, no powdery mildew, heck, even the tomato worms can’t find them they are so isolated and hidden! I think last year I did see a little evidence of nematodes on the roots, but it has not slowed them down so far this year. Due to all the shade, they tend to grow very tall and lanky, and they don’t flower as much as they should, but hey, we are eating a few tomatoes every week so I’m not complaining.
I worked at Orange County Farm Supply for 35 years and we continually received advice and questions about growing tomatos sucessfully. I believe that many of the problems your readers experience are from one of the wilt diseases and not nematodes. It is easy to say never to plant in the same spot, but that is not always practical either.
The best tomato crop I ever had was started about this time of year. I chose a spot on the South side of a wood fence, so the plants would have full sun. I covered the area with six inches of redwood compost, mixed in a generous amount of 10-10-10 fertilizer, and then dug aand stirred all this in to a depth of twelve inches. I left this to “cook” over the winter and then planted my tomatos the next spring. As I remember, I used Better Boy and Celebrity, and staked them on heavy wire cages made from concrete reinforcing wire. The amended soil was wonderfully loose and fertile. The tomatos grew up to the hight of a nearby six foot fence, overtopped it and hung down on th other side. I harvested tomatos until December, and had problems finding enough friends and neighbors to use the crop. Some of the Better Boys were five inches in diameter,and the Celebrities were up to four.
After such a rousing success I naturally planted again the following year in the same spot. This crop was less than half what it had been the year before, and by the third year it was miserable.
I am now too old (83) to dig in more compost these days, so I content myself with using containers and upside down planters. I haven’t had a lot of luck there either, mostly because I had problems with hornworms and I didn”t hover over them enough. The old saying applies to both roses and tomatos, “They benefit from the shadows of their growers.”
It is interesting to read all the comments.
I have just about quit growing tomatoes in the ground because of the wilt diseases mentioned by Bob. I did find out from the guys at O.C. Farm Supply that sulfur powder works great on tomatoes for mildew and wilt. It works better than wet sprays that seem to make it worse. I’ve gone to planting the tomatoes in Earth Boxes. If you haven’t tried this product it’s worth a look. Earth Box.com has all the info. I raise the boxes off the ground for better air circulation and spread them out. My crops have been good for three years in a row. My favorites are the black and green types.
Please help me. I have beautiful tomato plants, but when I water them, white flies everywhere, even on my cucumber plant. i was told to use an insect soap with seaweed. I sprayed them heavily, but they are still there. Any suggestions?
Worm castings and tons of them. Find them at independent nurseries. And water them in well. There is a chemical in worm castings, when it is taken up through the roots and goes into the leaves, that whiteflies avoid. It takes a few weeks for the process to happen, so start soon.
Laurie –
See my blog of 7/27. If you have a bad infestation of them, this product WORKS. It will kill the plant if you don’t take strong action right away.
Richard
Me again–Great tips about the Crab stuff. I’m going to get some!(Chitin makes sense, as I’ve used Diatomaceous Earth in the past to get rid of the icky earwigs on our strawberries. It doesn’t hurt earthworms, but detroys the innards of the earwigs.)
I’m an organic gardener, I guess, because no pesticides, and only natural fertilizers. Better Boy tomatoes last year planted on West side of patio, in the ‘kitchen bed’ where they get reflected light, and the hot Western sun in the p.m. Doesn’t seem to have bothered them. The bed contains a lot of peat moss from earlier plantings and some new (bagged) compost.
The plants went in in March. I watered them lightly, about 3 times a week. (Irrigated tomatoes taste watery, and I don’t like them.) They came out as sweet as candy, and I was giving them away weekly as even I, the consummate tomato eater, couldn’t eat that many from only two plants. They overtopped a 6′ ladder after pulling down large tomato cages!
Now–the leaves turned yellow about 3/4 way thru the growing season. But so what? I’m growing fruit, not leaves. They kept producing like crazy. Got a few cat-faced, a few blossom end rot after an unexpected rain, but I tossed those away and all the ones after that were fine. [Please don't hate me.
]
I didn’t grow tomatoes this year because of concerns about nematodes. So I planted Yellow Peppers instead. Clearly, from the appearance of the blossoms, they’re Nightshade plants, too. So I’m not so smart after all! LOL!
[Comment to the grower of gnarly-looking Marigolds--I suspect you needed to water more often. ]
Does any on eelse have problems with blossom end rot? We get beautiful tomatoes until they start to ripen and then POW-blossom end rot. Try clcium , gypsum, alternating planting spots-all to no avail!
Anyone out there have a solution? thanks.
I heard powdered milk works good but haven’t tried it.
Ellen -
Blossom end-rot is due to uneven watering. Try using a moisture meter in the early spring when we tend to get too much rain or not enough and try to keep the soil stable - moisture wise.
You can buy spray for it in some garden centers as well - it will help when you can’t ‘control’ the elements.
Wow.
Thanks Cindy for the information about determinate types producing one crop and dying off. Had completely forgotten. I planted using Whitney Farms premium potting soil. Doesn’t say Uncle Malcolm Mix.
I believe it was from overwatering and not from the mix but next season I will look for the Malcolms mix.
Thank you and all your readers for all their comments. It has inspired me to try again next season.
What is the best soil that is available in Orange County for growing
Tomatoes? (Names & Brands)
Have you heard this before? three years ago i planted 2 green pepper
plants (California Wonder) from seed in a half barrel! The first year I
got alot peppers. At the end of the season, instead of pulling out, I
cut them back to about 16 inches high and left them alone. The next
year they began to bloom again so I left them alone ,threw some steer
manure and 16-16-16 fertilizer on them and got even more peppers.
This year they started to bloom again so I did the same thing and got
even more peppers. The stalks are almost 1 inch thick and they keep
sproutng new growth. I thought that green peppers were an annual
plant. Do I have freaky plants or is this common?
Here’s an experiment some may like to try. I used an old truck tire as
a planter. i cut the side wall out of one side of tire, which is a real job.
Put plastic under tire & poke holes in plastic to allow water drainage.
Fill up with favorite potting soil ( cut tire side up), compost, bone meal. and a little steer manure. Drill holes in two large juice cans and bury in
mixture flush with top of mixture in tire. I grew cantelope and honey dews from seed & started early (late march) Sun keeps tire warm
which gives you warm mixture, which brings your seed up fast. Cool
nights cover tire with plastic till the seeds come up. Water only in cans.
and let overflow water plants. Do not wet plants! Also placed grass
clipping around tire to keep melons from rotting on real ground. Am
going to try snow peas on a trellis in tire from seed next spring. Ain”t
gardening FUN!