<p>My 85 yr old dad uses stakes and twine. He runs the stakes in a line, uses the twine to create lines across the space. Ties the plants (loosely) to the twine for support. He does use cages until the plants outgrow them.</p>
<p>For basil, when I cut them back, I pull off the leaves, rinse them and dry (ok, I just lay them out on towels on the kitchen counter and let them dry). Then I put them into ziplock bags and toss in the freezer. The leaves will discolor, but are great for use in sauce, etc.</p>
<p>My bamboo at least is good for something. I can grow my own stakes. Thanks for the reminder, I have staked my raspberries, but the tomatoes even though most of them are Determinate ( bush), could use some staking too.
My squash though is still pretty sad. I don’t know if they are getting enough sun.</p>
<p>I think I will pick up some stakes today. My tomatoes have also outgrown the cages. I fed them some fish emulsion yesterday since that is the only fertilizer I have. I don’t envy those with triple digit heat but do envy those who get at least decent sun to grow decent tomatoes. I am just thrilled if I wake up to sun. I am jumping for joy that it looks like I will get some tomatoes this summer. So far we have had 3 ripe tomatoes and I am thilled.</p>
<p>Burpee makes “cage extenders”-- basically a second story cage that clips onto the bottom cage. I have a set but am afraid to use them since it will make the pots ridiculously top heavy. I just keep tying the lower end of the vines to the cage to support the branches and prevent the laden branches from breaking. (BTW, tomato ties are a great use for old tshirts! )</p>
<p>To keep the cages (and plants) from tipping over, I anchor them to my wrought iron patio chairs with some twine. (Run twin thru a couple of upright supports then loop thru the back of the chair.) We got lots of strong gustly winds with thunderstorms in the summer and I’ve done this for 3 years now to prevent the containers & plants from tipping over. Each chair anchors 2 plants.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of looping some rope around the pots just below the lip and then using twine to anchor the cages to that–to keep the cages from lean too far to one side or another.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago when I first grew pole beans in pots, I just stacked 2 tomato cages on top of each other and the bean vines held them together. Worked OK, leaned quite bit but never toppled over.</p>
<p>Wayoutwestmom, thanks for the tip about MiracleGro. I had no idea the tomato plants need more food when bearing. We’re having 100+ temps so I’m watering morning & evening just to keep everything from baking to a crisp. When our cherry tomatoes took off, I cut up an unused mesh IV sleeve and used it to gently tie the overly long parts to the bamboo poles. So far, so good.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. I made my mecca to Home Deport and got more bamboo stakes, plant food (I ran out) and twine. The lady there discouraged me from using twist tie stuff.</p>
<p>I will tie to the deck rails if I have to but right now I am using the second set of bamboo stakes to prop up the cages, and can also tie the higher brances to them too. These suckers are taing off like gangbusters.</p>
<p>WOWM- When shold I feed the plants again? I kust did earlier this week. The plant food says every 3 mos, but the plants will be gone by then, I expect.
Wow- tshirts and IV sleeves. You guys are creative. And home grown bamboo!!</p>
<p>I feed once a week, but I water heavily 1-2 times a day until excess water starts to run out of the bottom of the pot. That kind of watering tends to leach nutrients/minerals out of the soil.</p>
<p>If you don’t water like that, you may not have to fertilize as often. In fact, if you don’t water like that and you fertilize every week, you may get a build up of mineral salts in your soil–which can be toxic to plants. Look for whitish crusts on the top of the soil–a sign you’ve over-fertilized. (Either that or you have very hard water. We have hard water.)</p>
<p>Fertilizing/not fertilizing is kind of a black art–a whole lot of guesswork. You have to keep an eye on the plants. In order to bloom and set fruit, tomato plants needs an ample supply of phosphorus. Most all-purpose plant foods and potting soil that has built-in time release fertilizer don’t have enough phosphorus for tomatoes to bloom and set well.</p>
<p>(BTW, I use potting soil that says it has built-in time release fertilizer good for 3 months–but by mid-June/early July the plants need an extra boost from additional fertilizer. After that I feed every week.)</p>
The biggest ones are Oregon Spring, from the size they are now, they are going to be big.
The Stupice are small but since my other plants don’t have any fruit yet last time I looked, they will have to do.
Going to go water, this rain is just a tease.</p>
<p>I bought a black bamboo for H because he wanted one by the pond. I admit it would have looked good there, if it could have been trusted. I decided to leave it in the pot. Now it is in three pots. I probably should take it out and trim the roots, but there is so
much else to do. ( like weed out a geranium I planted once)</p>
<p>I was pretty sure I had twine, since I remember picking it up in my hand when heading to DS’s graduation, but I am not sure where I put it, so it was easier to spend the few bucks to buy a new roll than to spend time in the HOT garage looking for it. :)</p>
<p>OK you gardening gurus- question of the day. I watered the plants and sprinkled some sevin dust on the eggplant plants, as they seem to have little green things on them. I read up on garden web, where coffee grounds were also suggested, but I’ve already sprinkled the sevindust., They don’t sound like flea beetles as they are tiny green things, but I saw some slightly larger, long, skinny light green bugs on a leaf or two. Thrips maybe? Will they hurt the tomato plants? So far I dont see them on the tomto or basil plants.</p>
<p>And I’ve watered like crazy and put some more plant food out (LOL the sales clerk handed me the bag of Vigoro and I for a second read it as “viagra”, hahaha) but now the bottom leaves of the tomato plants are turning brown. Is this normal or is it the plantfood? Too much water??</p>
<p>Last question-- a bird or 2 seems to have discovered the tomatoes. A few were clearly pecked at. Short of getting a scarecrow for the deck, any ideas as to how to keep them away? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Also, thanks for the info on phosphorus, WOWM. I remember my dad putting match heads in the soil when planting tomatoes but didn’t know why. Now I do!! (I forgot to do that this year, but did plant with enriched potting soil).</p>
<p>Haven’t read all the posts, so this may have been mentioned/asked about…</p>
<p>Have any of you used those little pellets that when they’re wet they expand? you mix them in your potting soil, heavily water, they soak up water, and then slowly release back into the soil. (I actually pre-soak them, then mix them into the potting soil, and then plant…)</p>
<p>Because I have one area that can only handle pots for gardening, I’m using those pellets now and they seem to be helping during this heat wave we’re having. </p>
<p>I’m not growing a lot…just mostly herbs (3 types of basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, sage) a few types of mint (chocolate mint!!! and orange mint), some peppers and some “patio tomatoes”…along with some annuals, etc, for color. </p>
<p>The Sevin seems to be keeping the bugs away! :)</p>
<p>My first line of attack is usually soapy water (1-2 tsp dish detergent/quart water) in a spray bottle. Kills ants, aphids and many other garden pests. (Parent of D2’s friend owns a pest control business and has a grad degree in entomology–and this was his recommendation.)</p>
<p>(I have cats who like to sleep next to my container garden and eat the grass that comes up in the slots in the concrete due to run-off water from the pots. So no pesticides for me! Also no pesticies mean I can eat my veggies as soon as I pick them! Yes, I am impatient.)</p>
<p>Soft-bodied green bugs are usually aphids. The larger green bugs are mature aphids. Aphids won’t kill plants, but they can damage plants and make your herbs unusable. </p>
<p>A few browning lower leaves are normal as the plant grows and ages. Lots of browning leaving can either be due to too much fertilizer or not enough water.</p>
<p>Overwatering usually turns stuff black & mushy.</p>
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