[orsonwb]

Thought this may be helpful.

[freebird5850]

bflr

[Lil Flower]

BTTT

[WayneM]

Thanks!

[dirtboy]

marking for later

[nascarnation]

Thanks very much!

[Silentgypsy]

Ping

[cweese]

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.

His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,

I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over.. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.

Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son:

Dear Pop,

Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried.

Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.That same day the old man received another letter from his son:

Dear Pop,

Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love you, Vinnie

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you! I’ve pinged JustaDumbBlonde to request notification of the Weekly Gardening Thread keeper. If you haven’t seen it already, I bet you’d enjoy it.

[Peter from Rutland]

Great resource, thanks for sharing!

[Dudoight]

My tomato plants are in bloom!

[colinhester]

Bflr

[Jane Long]

bfl....thanks :)

[csmusaret]

Lime added to the soil at planting time will help prevent blossom end rot.

[knarf]

I can't believe I did not take a good picture of my most amazing invention for easy harvesting of tomatoes.

Alas

By overbuying from my son's high school, a ton of Roma's, I realized I had a problem with so many.

I reached into my memory bank of tricks and pulled out an idea I'd thought of for years, but never did.

Simply;

I planted all my 6" - 12" plants a handwidth apart, right/left - back and for-wards .. about a 2 ft. by 12 ft swath of garden space. (Like I said .. over bought)

I drove bamboo stakes (left over from another idea from the year before) every 16" or so around the perimeter of that swath, and down the middle also.

Got it?

a bunch o'mater's 2ftX12ft, bamboo rods (3/8"-1/2" wide about 3ft high) all through this "patch"

I then took left over deer fence, vinyl clad, 2"X3" mesh, 2'X12' and put it down over these bamboo rods and fastened them with garden tie wire about 16" from the ground.

I did another "bed" another 16" or 18" above THAT.

As the mater's grew, I trained them through the mesh and forgot about 'em.

As they continued to grow, I trained some of the branches through the second mesh "bed"

I harvested my mater's standing up, easily picked from fruit just layin' on a mesh bed whisperin' "I'm done, pick ME", so I did.

There was no problem from lack of light or anything and the ground, after the intitial one or two weedings pretty much stayed weed free.

I'm going to try this this year with my cukes on a larger, more substantial scale.

[Normandy]

Cool thread. Anyone tried these? Hanging tomato plants:
http://www.topsygardening.com/

[Argus]

Thanks

[rightly_dividing]

We are getting some blooms now and some are needing to be staked. Ours were planted Mar 17. We are just north of Houston.

[patriot08]

We have a local weather man who is famous for his tomatoes.
Thought I’d through in his formula:

Dale Nelson’s tomato formula:

There are two Tomato formulas... One formula for sandy soil and one for clay soil. The first time you use the tomato formula use the “Original” formula no matter what type of soil you have.

Original Formula / Sandy Soil
1 cup 10-20-10 (1-2-1 ratio) fertilizer
1/4 cup super phosphate
1/2 cup gypsum
2 cups cow manure
Dig a hole and mix ingredients. Then, add regular dirt on top of formula before placing tomato plant in hole. Otherwise, formula will burn the roots of the plant. Don’t let formula touch the roots when they are first planted. Let the plant grow into the formula. Water regularly. Stand back and watch them grow! Best varieties are Sonny, Bingo, Carnival, Heatwave, Celebrity, Big Boy, Better Boy and President. Best cherry tomatoes to use are small Fry and Cherry Grande. Everything needed is available at any local nursery.

Caution: Please be aware that excessive use of phosphorus in our clay soil over a long period of time can be non beneficial to your plants.

Clay Soil*
1 Cup 21-0-0 (1-0-0 Ratio) Ammonium Sulphate
3/4 Cup Gypsum
2 Cups Cow Manure
Mix these ingredients together with existing garden soil and plant one tomato plant per hole mixture.

*Most clay soils in this area already have too much super phosphate, which tends to stay in the soil for a long period of time. The local nursery people tell me, the best way to correct this is by adding ammonium sulphate which is 21-0-0.

[ScottinVA]

Got a good mix of Bush Goliaths, Beefeaters, Better Boys and Lemon Boys planted this past weekend. Looking for another productive season.

[kalee]

Ping