I hope my kitchen table looks like this in a couple of months

[bearfan454]

I didn't have a good harvest last year trying to grow them in buckets. This is from the year before. Homegrown tomatoes kick ass. I am going to try to can them in the mason jars this year. Is the hot pack method the easiest ?

[NMDemDist2]

1. getting the tomato bug are ya? when are they going to be coming in?

and it's damned good to see you around!

:pals:

[bearfan454]

4. The Early Girls should be fruiting in around 60 days.

Of course they stayed green a long time before turning color last time too. I grab them as soon as they start to turn yellow so the birds don't get half my harvest. The damn birds will take one peck out of every tomato. Maybe a little longer on the Big Boys, Better Boys, and Sweet 100's. This is the first year for me trying the Sweet 100's. Everybody at work bragged about them. They make a lot, can take 100+ heat, and keep fruiting until we get a freeze in late Dec. I lost 80 pounds 3 years ago by eating tomatoes every day for about 6 months. I'm going to try it again.

[grasswire]

2. why do you think the bucket method failed?

I was going to do some in pots this year. Don't want any failures!

[Warpy]

3. Water water water

and lots of Miracle Gro. Pots just don't have enough soil in them to nourish the plants and they also dry out very quickly and the roots can't tap down to a low level of soil to find more moisture.

I watered my pots daily and got a piss poor tomato harvest. It's just too damn dry out here in the desert to do much with container veggie gardening. I've since switched to flowers and had much better luck. Flowers aren't producing big juicy fruits and can cope with getting a little dry in the afternoon. Container gardening had worked much better east of the Mississippi.

[bearfan454]

5. Patio brand works good in buckets, but

they aren't as tasty as other types. The buckets I can reuse this year for herbs like sage, rosemary, and basil.

[wryter2000]

6. I don't know if mine will or not

Two years ago, I got bumper crops. I was picking 2 pounds a day of early girls off four plants.

This year the winter went on so damned long, the plants are less than a foot tall. I don't know what I'll get. Effing winter. :mad: