Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 22 Jul 2006 21:39:38 -0700, "Mike S."
wrote:



Other than that, none of the other tomatoes are ripening. And there are
only a few tomatoes on each of the plants. I would say maybe 3-5 on
each plant. Then, within the past two days two hornworms decided to eat
up most of one of the plants (either the Better Boy or Big Boy) and
another hornworm was on the Patio one but it didn't get that much
damage.

Do my plants stand a chance of producing any more tomatoes? It seems
like something is wrong with them. Shouldn't they be producing more
tomatoes by now? I'm thinking they're not getting enough fertilizer or
something like that.

When we planted them, I followed the advice of a relative who said to
plant them in a mixture of potting soil and some dirt from the flower
bed. I had been using a liquid fertilizer similar to Miracle Grow but I
thought I was using it too much so I haven't used it in a month.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your soil or your
containers, I think it's the fertilizer. I think your plants got
too much nitrogen and the growth went to leaf rather than fruit.

I know that Miracle Grow makes a specific food for tomatoes, so
you might consider that, or you might consider giving one
application of MG's Blossom Booster fertilizer. I mix composted
manure into the soil mixtures of my potted tomatoes and peppers,
then add a little bit of an organic fertilizer -Tomato Tone from
Espoma - to the top of the potting mix every two weeks or so. If
you decide to use a pelleted fertilizer, be careful that you
don't burn the plant by adding too much at once. I add about a
forth to a half, depending on the size and diameter of the pot,
of the recommended amount for plants in the ground.

You didn't say where you are, but the recent heat wave that hit
the country would stop most tomato plants from setting fruit. If
yours were a little late getting settled into their containers,
they might not have set much fruit before the heat hit.

I don't want to say which state I live in but I will say that it's one
of the Mid-Atlantic states. I think the weather around here has been a
little unusual this year, or at least it was at the beginning of the
summer. I think the month of June was both the driest and rainiest
month of the year. First we were in a drought then we had flooding. I
guess that would affect the growth of the tomatoes.

It has been hot here lately. 90+ during the days and low 70s at night.
Very little rain. The plants have also only been getting about 6 hrs of
sun a day. It will probably be less than that soon with the sun and
time of year changing. I can't find anywhere else to put them. The pots
are sitting above ground on small blocks. I wondered if the exposure to
the heat and sun would bake the pots causing damage to the roots.


It's strange
that only two of the three plants were affected by the hornworms.

Moths and butterflies can be very fussy about where they lay
their eggs. Or, the moth may have laid eggs on that plant, but a
predator got the eggs or young caterpillars before you saw them.


What's weird is that the day after my original post, I went out to
check the plants and there was another hornworm on the Patio plant. I
never found the one that was on the Better Boy. I don't know where it
went unless it made it's way over to the Patio. Strange thing is that
the three plants are sitting beside each other and the middle plant was
never affected by the hornworms.

Why is it that I never saw the eggs on the plants? Thursday there was
nothing on the plants, Friday I forgot to check them and Saturday is
when I found the hornworms. They've pretty much to destroyed the two
plants. They ate all the buds (is that what they're called?) and most
of the leaves are gone. They even got some of the tomatoes. I don't
understand how they could've infested and destroyed the plants so
quickly. They must move quickly or grow quickly. They sure are strange,
creepy little things.