currently gazing at my pitiful garden, tearful and forlorn

unless · June 12, 2013

i hereby nominate south texas as the worst, most disease and pest-prone area for cultivating tomatoes.

i see all these pretty pictures out of california and places up north. meanwhile, it's swelteringly hot here and unbearably humid and the heavy air is seemingly saturated with fungus. my container garden is but a row of oversized petri dishes.

the whole gang is in: blight and stink bugs and root knot nematodes and a swarm of peckish mockingbirds. the list goes on.

actinovate and beneficial nematodes and neem and netting and decoy tomatoes (for the birds) apparently weren't enough to stop the scourge. i'm doing what i thought was the appropriate organic protocol, but there is little that hasn't gone tragically awry.

it's only my first season, but i'm already losing hope. this whole endeavor has quickly spiraled downward from rewarding hobby to unrelenting frustration.

WELL, any other nominees for the most tomato-inhospitable locale? south florida perhaps?

June 12, 2013	#1
unless Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: south tx 9 Posts: 43	currently gazing at my pitiful garden, tearful and forlorn i hereby nominate south texas as the worst, most disease and pest-prone area for cultivating tomatoes. i see all these pretty pictures out of california and places up north. meanwhile, it's swelteringly hot here and unbearably humid and the heavy air is seemingly saturated with fungus. my container garden is but a row of oversized petri dishes. the whole gang is in: blight and stink bugs and root knot nematodes and a swarm of peckish mockingbirds. the list goes on. actinovate and beneficial nematodes and neem and netting and decoy tomatoes (for the birds) apparently weren't enough to stop the scourge. i'm doing what i thought was the appropriate organic protocol, but there is little that hasn't gone tragically awry. it's only my first season, but i'm already losing hope. this whole endeavor has quickly spiraled downward from rewarding hobby to unrelenting frustration. WELL, any other nominees for the most tomato-inhospitable locale? south florida perhaps?