What to do with these plants?

elight · August 4, 2013

I've posted previously about my setup this year - two EarthTainers on my limited-sun 2nd-floor apartment patio, which gets about 4 hours of light. I tried to plant varieties that I read might to better with low light - Sun Gold (the best performer thus far with more fruit than I can count, and the only to ripen fruit), Early Girl (one fruit one vine), Cherokee Purple (about a dozen fruit), Black Cherry (maybe 25 fruit).

The plants are HUGE - they're all now touching the underside of my upstairs neighbor's patio (10'?). I'm sure this is partly due to the varieties, and partly because they are growing tall to seek light. They're also growing OUT, away from the apartment.

So, I'm wondering:
1. Is there any value to topping/heavily pruning to keep these plants under control and focus their limited resources on ripening fruit?

2. I have been supplementing the Libby Miller 10-10-10 fert strip with Neptune's Harvest 2-3-1 liquid fert every two weeks or so. Should I continue with the Neptune's Harvest?

3. I'm considering getting dollies to put underneath the EarthTainers, so I can swing them around and harvest from the side facing away from the apartment. Can anyone think of any other solutions that don't involve me falling over the railing?

August 4, 2013	#1
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	What to do with these plants? I've posted previously about my setup this year - two EarthTainers on my limited-sun 2nd-floor apartment patio, which gets about 4 hours of light. I tried to plant varieties that I read might to better with low light - Sun Gold (the best performer thus far with more fruit than I can count, and the only to ripen fruit), Early Girl (one fruit one vine), Cherokee Purple (about a dozen fruit), Black Cherry (maybe 25 fruit). The plants are HUGE - they're all now touching the underside of my upstairs neighbor's patio (10'?). I'm sure this is partly due to the varieties, and partly because they are growing tall to seek light. They're also growing OUT, away from the apartment. So, I'm wondering: 1. Is there any value to topping/heavily pruning to keep these plants under control and focus their limited resources on ripening fruit? 2. I have been supplementing the Libby Miller 10-10-10 fert strip with Neptune's Harvest 2-3-1 liquid fert every two weeks or so. Should I continue with the Neptune's Harvest? 3. I'm considering getting dollies to put underneath the EarthTainers, so I can swing them around and harvest from the side facing away from the apartment. Can anyone think of any other solutions that don't involve me falling over the railing?