Problems growing tomatoes

[Devany]

I agree with others here on containers. I grow my herbs and tomatoes in huge pots. We have deep soil here, and I have planted a few directly in the soil and they did OK, but the ones in pots do better. Powdery mildew is just something we have to deal with here. I just trim off the leaves when they get it. I think I heard Dick Wilson say that he uses a spray of milk to get rid of it. Is that so Dick?

I used the topsy turvy tomato planters 7 years ago in Chicago, with minimal success. There the ones in my raised beds produced many more tomatoes. If you just look a the actual size of the thing, it is like planting in a deep 1 gallon pot. I don't think that there is really enough room for the roots to expand and produce a bumper crop.

I grow mostly Roma & Jueliette tomatoes here and have a few plants of pineapple tomatoes that are just getting going. Asly, because we have no winter, tomatoes can thrive here for a long time (years even), but most of my neighbors tell me that they tear out the plants after about 18 months and plant new ones.

I use 50/50 organic potting mix and cinders in my pots with a layer of packing peanuts at the bottom for better drainage. The peanuts are free and make the container lighter to move around. Because tomatoes love full sun, they also need frequent watering, so keep that in mind during this drought. A drip system is a great way to keep them watered, though I do mine by hand. I actually like watering by hand, and usually mother nature does most of it for me.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

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