The three tomato plants on my deck look good and all have blossoms. I'll keep you posted. I received a Solutions catalog and they offered the upside tomato this time around. I would have ordered one except for the fact that I have no where to hang it safely.

I'd love to get one of those but I am in a high rise with no balcony. Only way I could do it would maybe to secure a bracket somehow to the outside of a window. But I don't trust myself hanging out a window trying to install one. I am kind of a bit accident prone. I might fall out.

But it sure seems like a good idea.

Right, don't want that to happen.

My tomato plants are getting rather large. I planted two Better Boys and one heritage called Brandywine. I had to tie up one of the Better Boys as it began to droop over. I used old hosiery to tie the cage to the deck rail. I saw two birds sitting on the rail tonight. I hope they weren't keeping an eye on my tomatoes. I don't want them to get to them before me, if you know what I mean.

I haven't had to water them in the morning before I go to work this week as we've had rain and a lot of hazy days. It is better to water the plants in the morning so that they can withstand the heat of the day better.

So far, fertilizing has not been a problem because I used the Miracle Gro with three months of fertilizer in the mix. The plants are thriving.

What do you do with your excess?

I know a few people with gardens and I get cases of produce for free during the growing season and especially in the fall.

Do you give a lot away? Do you donate any to food pantries? I WISH we had a community garden here. I'd love to spend some time in the dirt. Hahahahahaa. I am in an apt and don't have a veggie garden. I do have a few, small flower gardens out in the backyard. I have planted some perennials and it really doesn't need any tending. Weeding yes, tending no.

Tell you the truth, I haven't had a garden in years. I was in the mood this year. I have a problem with deer and decided to do some deck gardening.

If I have excess, I will share or I will cook some up and freeze the sauce or freeze the whole tomatoes. I have done that in the past when people have shared their excess with me.

Sharing is nice.

We have HUGE tomato plants growing in containers - they are growing far larger than any tomato plant in our garden ever did. I think they get a ton of sun on the porch -



I'll let you know when they start to bear fruit! Right now they are just starting to make flowers.

Beautiful plants. Looks like you will have a good crop come harvest time. You may have enough to make some Brown Sugar Chili Sauce - a good sauce for scrambled eggs or anything you like sweet relish on.

They are all "small tomato" plants - grapes, roma, cherry. We have a mix of three varieties growing and have lost track of which are which. It'll be interesting when they make fruit, to see what they do

Next year, I'll either get a smaller variety of tomato or a larger tub to plant the variety I have this year. It has been a struggle to keep enough water in the planter.

I have picked about four tomatoes so far and they are delicious.

I noticed the dang squirrel chewing on my 'maters this morning.

The tomato plants on the deck (in the containers) have turned into a FOREST. They are taller than I am now. Apparently they don't need deep roots! They seem quite happy in their pots. We have many large green tomatoes which should turn red soon!

They are beautiful! Nothing is better than a home grown tomato!

I cannot keep enough water in my pots and they droop a bit. Yours are looking good.

In that picture the leaves are drooping a bit, but then it rained and they perked right up. They are really sensitive to water and seem to want to be watered daily!

The tomatoes are round and green, I hope they start to turn red soon!

They need an incredible amount of water to produce the fruit and keep the leaves hydrated. My other flowers, even though in pots too, don't seem to use as much.

My tomatoes are in a topsey turvey..and they also need a lot of water..
Sundancer
www.mikessportingoods.ecrater.com

I guess for a juicy tomato it takes a lot of water.

So sad - something ate through two of the stems of my tomatoes and they chewed the pulp out of the stem on the other. One is dying and the other is really not well.

My tomatoes are doing well in general although I have these really bizarre pests on them now! They look like this -



They are apparently "slug caterpillar moth" caterpillars and that black thing on top is normal! I have a bunch of them and they all look like that. Here's a different one -



What are these things, and how do I get rid of them? They're eating little holes in all the leaves.

Here's an image of one of these things a few weeks ago, when they were more new. Note how the black stuff on top looks much fresher.



And here's a photo of a molted case!

Lisa, it looks like some kind of a beetle.

Here it is

Deloyala Guttata - tortoise beetle

I love bug guide! I use them all the time! I thought it was this -

Slug Caterpillar

But in fact it does look almost pretty much exactly like a tortoise beetle - not the guttata one but the clavate one -

Clavate Tortoise Beetle

Thanks so much!!

UPDATE - Hey - these things can FLY! I was just out taking some photos and one of them flew away!

Wow! Nice photographs. hope you have harvested them in time. I use copper label to remember the names. At first I use pen, But it faded away. How did you get rid of those bugs?