This years tomatoes

[NorthernRaider]

God knows what I'm doing wrong but I bought four identical plants and put em in 12 inch pots as per last year. One is huge with multiple fruits another is only about a foot high with two strands of fruits, the third just grew massive amounts of foliage but no fruits and the 4th one just died !!!

Growing my own food is consistantly disasterous I could not survive after TSHTF if I had to rely on growing my own grub.

[Sunna]

your lucky,iv nothing yet just yellow buds , it was slow last year too

[Rush2112]

it's trial and error NR. I've found growing in pots or containers to be very difficult. maybe keeping a log of what variety plants you have, what fertilizer was used how much and when, when they were planted, pests, etc. First thing I'd look at is did you put the pots in the same locations as last year? If so sounds like maybe some kind of insect or desease issue. I grow tomatos for the OH. Some tips I've picked up along the way:put large rocks in the bottom of the pot, and then some smaller rocks on top, and then the soil mix. use mulch to hold in moisture, too much fertilzer can result in lots of foliage but little fruit. When the first blossoms appear, trim off all foliage below that point. a good tomato fertilizer is high in phosphoric acid such as a 5-10-5 formula. Towards the end of the season I notice some caterpillars start attacking the plants, i've given up trying to fight them, cause the plants arent blooming any more anyway, so just harvest remainder of the fruit, even if its still very green.

dont let it drive you crazy, sometimes the crop just isnt there. if it happens two seasons in a row, maybe try a different variety of tomato. good luck to you

[Barneyboy]

yellow buds for me at mo

[Steve]

My tomatoes are looking variable, luckily I have a few varieties. Gooseberries are going mad, cherry trees look good too, butternut squashes are promising, field beans are late, peas are good, chili peppers look great, fennel is massive, mint is reliable as ever, raspberries are good, apples are not showing anything at all, various squashes are average, cucumbers are fine.

[Rush2112]

first yellow buds is good time to give the fertilizer boost.

[Steve]

(22 June 2013, 20:38)Rush2112 Wrote: first yellow buds is good time to give the fertilizer boost.

True. I used to use Tomorite ( which is very good ) but at the moment I have a plastic container full of water and some ancient dried sheep shit I chipped off the barn floor - it's taking a while to dissolve but I hope it will feed the toms and squashes.

[Skean Dhude]

I've been having problems as well. I found though that trying them in those upside down containers worked well.

My problem is that growing things in containers seems to stunt them and many die. After an event I will keep them in containers till the threat is reduced and then I will plant them in the ground. They seem to do much better on their own.

[Rush2112]

(22 June 2013, 20:45)Steve Wrote: True. I used to use Tomorite ( which is very good ) but at the moment I have a plastic container full of water and some ancient dried sheep shit I chipped off the barn floor - it's taking a while to dissolve but I hope it will feed the toms and squashes.

that sounds really good for the plants, like compost tea. and best part-its free for you. i bought a sack of cow manure this morning, would rather have sheep or chicken as i understand they have more nutrients, but all they have is cow.

steve, if you dont mind me asking, do you water with mix every time or maybe a couple times a week? i've never tried that and would be afraid of maybe over doing it.

[MaryN]

I'm having no problems at all this year. Three different types of toms and all growing nicely with plenty of setting flowers. I use tomorite too - it does the job.