On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:06:49 -0400, "Tom J"
wrote:

Boron Elgar wrote:

I have grown tomatoes (all sorts, hybrids, heirlooms, full size and
cherries) in pots for over 20 years. The seasons and my watering
habits and capabilities/attentions have varied greatly over that
time,
and I have had seasons of great bounty and seasons of minimal
harvest
due to yield or predation of various sorts.

Nevertheless, I have never, ever had BER, so don't go thinking it is
inevitable for pots or variable watering. T'aint so.

And yes, I have tomatoes growing in the ground, too, so it isn't too
difficult to draw comparisons. I never had BER there, either.

You seem to have a very neutral soil in your area. Lucky you!! My
base soil is very acid red clay, so it takes a lot of amending &
regular soil test to keep mine neutral.

Tom J

I create the quality soil that goes into the pots and tubs I use. I
start with plain old "dirt" or sometimes with top or potting soil,
depending on what is handy, then add compost, Epsom salt, peat, manure
and anything else that the particular plant I am growing might
require.

It is rather easy to "make" good soil for pots that way and one can
tailor it to whatever one grows. I make it by the garbage-can full.
The next season, the pots' contents are screened, re-amended and
re-used, assuming no veggie-pest or contagion has hit it, in which
case, it get placed in flower beds.

I have also taken two backyards and made vegetable gardens in them by
soil amending over the years. It isn't something that can be done in
one season, but it can be done. All it takes is time and some money.

Then again, I am in NJ and they don't call it The Garden State for
nothing, although it should be said that in the central part of the
state, when my father in law, from whom I learned a lot, practiced
his master gardening, the soil was brick red clay.

Boron