RE: Things Not Going Like You Planned?
A tip I learned from my grandpa: dig a shallow crater in the ground, plant the tomato plant at the bottom, and let it grow up and find its own bones without propping it up in a cage. As it gets bigger you can have a panel of wire fence staked over your row of tomato craters. I think part of it is letting it grow a strong stalk, not letting it overgrow and get leggy with artificial support, and letting it create a humid atmosphere for itself. I especially think the latter might be true cause I had 5 tomato plants that I pretty much forgot about the entire season that got grown over by some volunteer squash plants. I didn't even know they were still alive they were so hidden by the squash but when I pulled back the leaves there were massive amounts of cherry tomatoes: I mean bucketfuls. Probably ended up harvesting 5 gallons by the end of the growing season, and never did a thing to them. I did however mulch them in when I planted them, and added a little lime to sweeten the soil.
Yes, that was what I was shown by my grandfather. I big these in about 8 inches and had to put garden soil and cow manure in the hole that I planted these in. The soil here is sandy and it was a necessary thing to do till I can build my soil up. I also put some Epson Salt and Calcium in the hole to help them along. The cages were more to keep the cats out of it as they do not like the fence idea. They are strong plants standing on there own and I hope they continue to grow as time goes. The soil is really acidic here so I had to add lime to bring the PH down some. That is why blackberries grow so good here I found out. LOL.