Newbie can't afford to lose all her container tomatoes!!

aflatea · April 2, 2014

Hi - I'm a newbie gardener hoping for a good crop of container veggies. This question is specific to tomatoes, though. I have different varieties of tomatoes, all in 5 gallon containers (1 plant per container) in full sun in Zone 9a (that's the Nature Coast area of Florida -- about an hour north of Tampa on the west coast).

My soil is Jungle Growth flower/vegetable mix in all of the containers with about 2 inches of gravel in the bottoms of the containers for drainage. I purchased the plants at Lowes and showed them to the master gardener who was there picking up mulch for my son's school garden -- she agreed that they were healthy. I also amended the soil with an organic manure compost (also purchased at lowes) -- I mixed about 2/3 jungle growth and 1/3 manure in each container before transplanting. After giving them a good soaking (until water ran out of the bottom) upon transplanting, I've been watering as soon as the soil feels dry up to my first knuckle, which averages every other day, again until water runs out of the bottom. I've also been dragging them under shelter up against the house when it rains so they don't get overwatered. I've been treating them every 3 days with a ready-mixed organic insecticide and have checked them early in the morning for pests -- still haven't found anything, except dead little black flies.

I have an heirloom black krim (indeterminate), an heirloom black cherry (indeterminate), and a red beefsteak (indeterminate). I do have one Early Girl bush, but it's in an upside down container and is mainly just an experiment. I water it and will see how it does.

The black krim has not grown a bit since I got it in a month and a half ago. It has three little blossoms that have grown and turned from yellow to white, but the flower part is turning brown on the tips of 2 of them and one is droopy and dead looking.

The red beefsteak seems to be growing, but just a little. There is not a hint of a blossom anywhere. I keep pinching off the little leaves that grow in the crooks of the stems (I read somewhere that helps), but it just keeps growing more and more leaves. This may be entirely normal, but I don't know one way or the other

The black cherry is not growing, no little blossoms, and there are spots on the leaves. I don't know how to treat it or what it is. I attached pictures of all the plants, maybe someone can tell me what I am doing wrong/right? How to make sure I at least get *some* tomatoes after all this money and time?

BLACK KRIM

black krim.jpg

black krim blossoms.jpg

BLACK CHERRY

black cherry.jpg

blackcherryleaf.jpg

blackcherryleaves.jpg

RED BEEFSTEAK

redbeef.jpg

April 2, 2014	#1
aflatea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Homosassa, Florida Posts: 12	Newbie can't afford to lose all her container tomatoes!! Hi - I'm a newbie gardener hoping for a good crop of container veggies. This question is specific to tomatoes, though. I have different varieties of tomatoes, all in 5 gallon containers (1 plant per container) in full sun in Zone 9a (that's the Nature Coast area of Florida -- about an hour north of Tampa on the west coast). My soil is Jungle Growth flower/vegetable mix in all of the containers with about 2 inches of gravel in the bottoms of the containers for drainage. I purchased the plants at Lowes and showed them to the master gardener who was there picking up mulch for my son's school garden -- she agreed that they were healthy. I also amended the soil with an organic manure compost (also purchased at lowes) -- I mixed about 2/3 jungle growth and 1/3 manure in each container before transplanting. After giving them a good soaking (until water ran out of the bottom) upon transplanting, I've been watering as soon as the soil feels dry up to my first knuckle, which averages every other day, again until water runs out of the bottom. I've also been dragging them under shelter up against the house when it rains so they don't get overwatered. I've been treating them every 3 days with a ready-mixed organic insecticide and have checked them early in the morning for pests -- still haven't found anything, except dead little black flies. I have an heirloom black krim (indeterminate), an heirloom black cherry (indeterminate), and a red beefsteak (indeterminate). I do have one Early Girl bush, but it's in an upside down container and is mainly just an experiment. I water it and will see how it does. The black krim has not grown a bit since I got it in a month and a half ago. It has three little blossoms that have grown and turned from yellow to white, but the flower part is turning brown on the tips of 2 of them and one is droopy and dead looking. The red beefsteak seems to be growing, but just a little. There is not a hint of a blossom anywhere. I keep pinching off the little leaves that grow in the crooks of the stems (I read somewhere that helps), but it just keeps growing more and more leaves. This may be entirely normal, but I don't know one way or the other The black cherry is not growing, no little blossoms, and there are spots on the leaves. I don't know how to treat it or what it is. I attached pictures of all the plants, maybe someone can tell me what I am doing wrong/right? How to make sure I at least get some tomatoes after all this money and time? BLACK KRIM black krim.jpg black krim blossoms.jpg BLACK CHERRY black cherry.jpg blackcherryleaf.jpg blackcherryleaves.jpg RED BEEFSTEAK redbeef.jpg