<p>Is anyone growing that (new to me) variety of basil that has tiny leaves? It’s called Spicy Globe Basil.</p>
<p>Do you throw the whole washed bushy branch into your cooking or do you carefully cut off each tiny leaf (yikes)?</p>
<p>I also have that (new to me) Columnar Basil…easy to use just like the standard ole regular Sweet Basil.</p>
<p>m2ck, I used to grow them and I cooked the whole stem.
For aphids, I squash by hands with gloves of course, there is the eww factor but no soap because sometimes it could damage the leaves. But proper fertilizing the plant with good compost make the plant healthier with less aphids.</p>
<p>For birds that peck at your tomatoes… they’re probably gray catbirds, which are attracted to the color red. You can hang shiny ribbons nearby, and their movement in the wind and their shininess may scare away the birds. If that doesn’t work, pick your tomatoes when they’re still orange and let them finish ripening in a window. </p>
<p>Greek columnar basil is quite wonderful in that it’s perennial and doesn’t ever flower. You need to bring it in during the winter unless you’re zone 8 or warmer.</p>
<p>Thanks, greenwitch. Will go find some shiny ribbon and tie it to the deck rails. I already have a long line of ripening tomatoes on the kitchen window sill!</p>
<p>Jim, try the large Texas cages, if the investment is worth it to you. I also use the ones from gardeners supply, stacked AND staked. They can blow over without the stake. </p>
<p>Since last time I posted i invested in two earth boxes. Free shipping on Am.azon prime. I have two determinate tomatoes ( celebrity and i forgot the other) and four Peppers ( a poblano, giant Marconi , and other Italian peppers). I also have a roma in aa in a pot, and a Jamaican hot chocolate and a scotch bonnet ( both Chineses, like a habenero). Just picked the last of the nectarines, and made jam. There will be a lot of figs, and no grapes. Again.</p>
<p>Coolest May and June ever! Mostly eighties and no triple digits. Nice.</p>
<p>Thanks, shrinkrap. The cages I have are pretty big (4 feet tall, maybe?) but they are the round ones, not the square ones, and they seem to lean over. The stakes I bought are 6 feet tall and I may have to put them on either side of the cages to support them. The plants are growing higher than the 6 foot tall stakes. Maybe I overdid it on the plant food???</p>
<p>I cant move the current cages. Tried that once and broke a bunch of branches off :(</p>
<p>My tomatoes reach 8 feet in good years; two four foot cages and a six foot stake.</p>
<p>And that sevin is wicked stuff. It can take out the good bugs, and let the bad ones take over.</p>
<p>I love the UCD site, since we share the same conditions.</p>
<p>If you want taller cages for next season, buy galvanized concrete wire at Lowes, Home Depot or any oher building supply store. Use wire cutters to cut lengths of the mesh and wrestle it into a tube. Fold the cut ends of the wire over the perpendicular wires and twist tightly to make your own tall tomato cages.</p>
<p>There’s a YouTube video on how to do it.</p>
<p>Can you just move into my house, WOWM?? Or better yet, I believe you live in one of the areas I want to visit. Can I just come there?? </p>
<p>OK, red ribbon now tied to the cage that happens to be on the eggplant pot (they aren’t very tall yet).</p>
<p>If I stacked 2 4 foot cages on top of each other they’d fall over for sure. I have some smaller cages in the garage. Will experiment when the bugs won’t eat me for dinner.</p>
<p>So why are the bottom leaves of some of the tomato plants turning brown?</p>
<p>Texas cages
[Tomato</a> Cages | Texas Tomato Cage Now You Can Order Online! Revolutionary Tomato Cages for Growing Tomatoes](<a href=“http://tomatocage.com/]Tomato”>http://tomatocage.com/)</p>
<p>" So why are the bottom leaves of some of the tomato plants turning brown?"</p>
<p>Sometimes just old. Were they yellow first? Has anybody linked one of those diseased leaves sites yet?</p>
<p><a href=“http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/[/url]”>http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomKey.html[/url]”>http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomKey.html</a></p>
<p>YIKES!! Those cages are expensive!!! And they are not taking orders currently as they are missing a “key part”, whatever that means.</p>
<p>For the price of those cages I could just walk up to the fruitstand up the street and buy fresh tomatoes galore!! :)</p>
<p>But what would we TALK about?? COLLEGE?</p>
<p>I know it’s crazy, but i can’t do those galvanized ones. I need them to fold up out of season…although i grow peas on them in the winter. </p>
<p>These gardener supply ones are less, and I’ve had them for ten years.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gardeners.com/Tomato-Support-Cages/15172,default,pd.html[/url]”>Gardener's Supply Company - Error;
<p>LOL!!!</p>
<p>Maybe some hot stuff about the fruit stand guy :)</p>
<p>Oh my-- now I have more plant diseases to worry about. First it was just aphids and squishy bugs (Dr. Google has kindly offered to squish them with his/her bare hands) and now leaf diseases? Oh my. I’ll just vote for old age and plant decline, from the last link. That one sounds more palatable.</p>
<p>G’night from the east coast. Gotta get up early to water the 'maters.</p>
<p>jym–you’re welcome to come visit anytime! I have a whole tourist routine for visitors. (Museums, mountains, petroglyphs, Native American art, art galleries, wonderful lunch spots, chile hot enough to make your tongue sweat…) </p>
<p>My youngest just graduated and moved out and I now have lots of spare bedroom. And I ripped out my guest bath and updated it just last year. </p>
<p>But you have to like (or at least tolerate) cats–I have 2.</p>
<p>Cats are fine by me (I used to have 2), but my DH is allergic. Guess I’ll have to leave him home :)</p>
<p>Sounds like more fun than dropping Japanese beetles into baby oil and dead heading marigolds.</p>
<p>We used to swat lovebugs into baby oil at the pool.</p>
<p>Ugh…my sage seems to be failing. What the heck? (and one of my basil plants was too close to the BBQ yesterday … 
)</p>