A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Help me to do it right this time.

Daisy,
Dave gave you some very good advice. As I stated elsewhere I'm trying some direct winter sowing. Friday morning it was 28 degrees here but one milk jug had two plants in it and both looked great that morning and the water droplets were liquid on the inside. I didn't remove the lid as it was still so cold. By the time I got home that evening I had lost one and another looked not so good. Took the lid off and the other was fine by yesterday. We worry about freezing but the plastic and jugs hold a lot more heat in that you think. And in my case this is something that is going to take some time. I put tape over the top and cut out a little hole. Will see if that is enough or not. The plants I have left look great. Best of luck in your venture. I just got started good in potting up venture. I'm saying I got around 75 potted up with around 300 more to go. And have decided to change potting soil if I can find what I'm looking for. Had started an experiment with the MG Organic soil compared to my usual commercial mix. And I was a few days late with the fish/seaweed spray. But the MGO is impressing me. Made a late night trip 44 miles one way to our closed Wally World super duper last night to find out they are out. Will do some calling today. So far this has performed better than any of the other MG products I've used. Not cheap but what we won't do for our maters. LOL. JD

Thanks I will have to remember that about plastic possibly holding too much heat. I put the plastic over them to protect them from the wind.
Right now they are indoors (without cover) I just took a look, and outside of the leaves looking very dark green they appear to have survived. Now, I will have to keep them indoors because it is too cool outside, in fact calling for snow flurries on Thursday and Friday. Unbelievable, it's coming to the end of April..doesn't the saying go..April showers brings May flowers..

Wind can be a real challenge. My plants did fine in 20 and 30 mph winds, after they got hardened off a little, but one day, we had 50 mph gusts! I got home and looked at my plants, and a lot of them had wind burn on the leaves. They pulled through, though. I sure was upset at first!
Some years I delay planting into the garden for as much as a couple of weeks because the wind is just too intense.

Isn't that a cry? That happened to me in the past with much bigger plants when I tried to get them use to the outdoors, the wind was too harsh so the next thing I see my leaves hanging like a wilted rag not to mention all the broken branches. Hee hee on some plants all that was left were the tops so they looked pretty hilarious going into the ground. Isn't it nice that as long as the tops are there, even the charlie brown one's end up producing tomato's in the end.

HeeHee! That's a great description!
(Just be careful when you hang that ornament on 'em!) :wink:

I usually put plastic buckets around mine for a few weeks so they can grow out and get used to the hard winds we have here in the open spaces. No trees here. That is why many times I only harden for a week. The buckets limit the amount of full sun also for awhile. I put my first ones outside Saturday and if it looks like the weather is going to hold will start dropping a few in the ground this weekend. I'm really impressed so far with the MG organic potting soil. Way better than any other MG product I've tried. A little wind burn don't hurt them. I try to avoid sunburn if I can. JD

I'm using the MG myself this year, Jay, but I mixed it with other stuff, so can't really say if it's MG alone, but I really like their organic fertilizer and bone meal. I had incredible results with it last year, far better than with Plant-Tone. You can tell by the texture alone that they're great products...the bone meal is sort of fluffy and moist, not the dry, powdery bone meal I'm used to that resembles powdered lime. I think it's nutrients are much more readily available than other brands, and it actually contains significant nitrogen, not just phosphorous.
The MG potting soil has great texture, that's for sure.

I no longer use MG;it's too expensive!

Dave the organic is the only MG I've used that I felt was any better than what I was using. I've seen the bone meal. While try to buy some tomorrow when I pick up more potting soil. I put bone meal on my onions tonight but it was the white powder. Will try the MG meal as I put a little in each hole when I plant. I'm not sure I want any more N in my mix or not. And I agree it is a little higher but if I can get away from the spraying every 10-14 days it will be worth it. JD

I thought somewhere I was reading about over watering your plants. I have a soaker house that I turn on in the evening after the sun goes down to water. I used to have a water sprinkler on a pole to water the garden but I read somewhere to not water the tomatoes like that. (not to let the water get on the leafs of the tomatoes) How often and how should I be watering the plants.

Thanks
Lori

I water by drip hose and let the plants tell me when they need it. It also matter on the soil you have. If the ground is tight it is easier to overwater. In my sany soild that is 10-30 ft. deep would be hard to overwater. But I still let the plants tell me. Your soaker hose will work fine. Just don't overwater. More plants are hurt by kindness than by neglect. JMO. JD

Something is wrong, my tomato plants aren't growing. I think it's the vegetable soil mix that is the culprit. My MIL planted hers 2 weeks later and hers are bushes, but mine are thin stemmed and have barely grown, even though I buried the stems when transplaning. The leaves are slightly darkened and not the vibrant green that tomato leaves normally have...groan I tried.

Anything I can do at this late stage to perk them up? Planting season is in 2 weeks and we have such a short season, I think I will have to forgo my favorites and buy a couple of plants at the store.

I would give them a shot of fish/seaweed if you can find it. If not a touch of MG with a high second number might jump start them. I will have around 200 extra drop by and pick up a few. LOL. JD

some compost might help as well.

I have compost but at this time it's frozen solid. I could give them water from my fish tank, will that help?

I've watered with fish tank water once or twice. it is supposed to be real good for the soil.

fish tank water is great for plants i use it a lot.

I think I'm narrowing the problem down to the soil I used. It was organic and specially formulated for vegetables so what could have gone wrong? What could be in the soil that is destroying my tomato plants?? I used the same soil last year and my tomato plants were half the normal size but I didn't connect but now that it's happened this year as well I'm almost positive that it's the soil I used.

You might need to add some compost and aged manure to your soil as well as fertilize your tomatoes.

Sometimes the cool temps stop the tomatoes from growing well. Are they getting much sun?

Thanks Tamara. My tomato plants are in a south window so lighting is not the problem. Since they are indoors I don't think it's too cool in here? I am watering sufficiently, not too much or too little but it's city tap water so who knows ( I let it sit for a few days so the chlorine will evaporate).
I do have some bought manure that I can add.

Later I will check out the bag of soil I used and read what it has in it, then maybe I will be able to figure out what it is lacking?

I checked the bag of soil I planted my tomatos with. Here's the ingredients..

Blend of organic top soil
peat
sand

My tomato plants are sick, the leaves aren't green as they should be, they have violet undersides and some of them look curled and wilted, over the last couple of days they are starting to fall off. Yesterday I was upset and put them under shelter outdoors because it was hard for me to look at them in this condition. I figure they should either improve or die off and then I won't feel bad throwing them in the garbage. Gosh guys, thankfully I only had 6 plants that was supposed to be the best ever, well not this year.