watering issue...

[JamesL]

16 inches tall? Determinate right? Should be almost done then....
As long as the tomatoes are good!

[Ed of Somis]

Originally Posted by JamesL

16 inches tall? Determinate right? Should be almost done then....
As long as the tomatoes are good!

Yea, I expected it to get a bit bigger. I think I did keep it too wet the first month or two. I am kind of surprised the tomatoes produced like they did. haha

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by JamesL

Ed,
Freddy,
Standing water in the pan is only an issue if it is there for days. If you are top watering and filling the pan and it is taking it all up that same day, I would not worry about it. If you think your container is too small to begin with, you are doing yourself and the plant a favor by filling the pan.
Big plant, small container plus high heat is a recipe for a dead plant if your next fishing trip runs long....

Thanks, Ed. At this point between the weather and the root mass that must be going on, I think it is almost impossible to drown this plant. Keeping this thing happy with H2O has been like slopping the hog for the last couple of days. I believe you are right on target with the extended fishing trip.

I got my avatar figured out. I've got photos shrunk down and uploaded into an album but am still a little confused about how to get the .jpg into the post. Once I get that figured out you all can see what I've got going.

My Moisture Meter does not seem to be much help.

[Freddy]

I hope this works. Here is what I started with on 30 May.

[Freddy]

Four days ago -- 30 June.

I think I've got the photo uploading dialed in now.

Now I can show without flapping my pie hole so much.

[Ed of Somis]

nice job freddy...your plants look very happy!

[JamesL]

Agree with Ed. Looks healthy and happy!

[Freddy]

Thanks, Ed and James. Here are a couple of photos I took today. It is a good 3 feet tall now. What do you guys think? More pruning or let it rip? The biggest tomato is slightly larger than a cherry tomato. I've heard 2" diameter but I'm not close to that now. Do I need to up my feeding because of frequent watering? Is it possible I have too many tomatoes setting up? Thanks....

[Freddy]

The left photo above is old. A duplicate. Here is today's pic.

Sorry.

[Freddy]

I went ahead and fed the plant a dose of Great Big Tomatoes liquid compost with a little BatWanna bloom booster stuff. With the weather in the 80's, the night temps in the 60's and the plant becoming massive it is taking about 2 gallons of H2O per day. As I mentioned, I believe it would be difficult to drown the plant now. Still plenty of little green Stupice setting up. I'm paying the price now for not selecting a bigger container. Now I know.

All in all, still looking good.

[Freddy]

Possible mid 90's to low 100's ahead. Too hot for about a week or so it appears. Nights will cool to mid 60's. Stress for me and my containerized Stupice. Looking good now with lots of green fruit coming along.

I've read up on what to do and have come up with the following:

• Plenty of H2O
• No fertilizing until it cools down some.

Anything I'm missing?



Thanks....

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Possible mid 90's to low 100's ahead. Too hot for about a week or so it appears. Nights will cool to mid 60's. Stress for me and my containerized Stupice. Looking good now with lots of green fruit coming along.

I've read up on what to do and have come up with the following:

• Plenty of H2O
• No fertilizing until it cools down some.

Anything I'm missing?



Thanks....

Shade cloth and buy an air conditioner.

I stepped off the plane in Portland one time and it was 100 degrees.
I thought I was going to die.
It was worse than Texas.

Worth

[Freddy]

Shade cloth. Super idea! I'll check it out, Worth.

I think the all time record is 107. Once in a great while it will get real hot and folks don't know what to do. We have a/c we rarely use but it will get some exercise this coming week.

A shade cloth might be the answer. Thanks....

[Freddy]

Looks like 93f will be the high today. The Mrs. came up with a light blue piece of something that is the right size to shield the plant. Diffused light gets through so I believe this will help.

The extended forecast, however calls for 90 degree highs until 21 July. That's more than I was hoping for. The nights will cool down to the mid 60's at least.

So far so good so I'll keep it out of the afternoon sun, put the H2O to it and hope for the best.

The top of the plant is up to my chin. This is going to get interesting.

[Ed of Somis]

F...I think you are definitely getting dialed in. As a side-note...the best feeding strategy for container plants is: feed fairly often (once a week?) at a half-dose or one-third rate. Better that way than slamming it too hard with fert.