You need to find a less stress-full hobby. Try watching a lava-lamp? Contemplating your navel? Basket weaving? Turtle ranching?

Remember that many members post problems and seek solutions, opposed to reporting the successes. Right now, as the season is beginning for most of us, many are watching our plants closely to make sure they get a good start. In a few months, there will be lots of posts on beautiful plants and delicious fruit.

I don't have constant issues with my plants. Yes, there's been bad weather years or years that I've had some blight or other problems. Some years by plants are picture perfect with heavy yields.

Right now you're observing and learning. That's a process in itself. Stick with it. It will become less stressful, more rewarding and even fun!

I have 5 toms and this is my 4th year...the thing to member is what works for me might not work for you..... experiment!!!!

"This is my first gardening attempt and the more I read, the more it seems like there is nothing you can do to ensure your tomato plants are happy."

Whether it is growing plants or having a relationship, happiness is not guaranteed. But the journey is what counts. I do not always have successes but I love gardening and I really like the people.
And it is like any endeavor, as you practice, you know more, have more experience, and do better.
There is a popular affliction of new gardeners, they start out too big with too many plants, get overwhelmed, give up.
I think if you start with a couple plants and just enjoy yourself as you learn and grow, you will get to where you want to be.

This is a good place to hang out while you pay your dues, sweating and planting, you will have fun and meet nice people.

Every type of plant has it's sweet spot as far as weather. Tomato's might be a bit smaller than most. You will have good years and bad. Plant as many different varieties as you can and usually one or more will be happy and productive.

nlarr81,

I loled at your picture :).

"Does anyone not have trouble with their tomato plants?"

I believe everyone has some type of trouble with their tomato plants. You cannot grow 100% healthy plant. There will always be some bug eating the leaves, aphids climbing around, or leaves curling downward or upward.

"This is my first gardening attempt and the more I read, the more it seems like there is nothing you can do to ensure your tomato plants are happy."

It's good to have happy plants, but more importantly, I go out to my garden to make myself happy. I am satiated with tying up my tomato plants, watering all my vegetables, and eating them at the end. Sometimes the results are not what I expected, and sometimes it's beyond great.

I'm pretty sure, like having fish as pets can lower your blood pressure, working in the garden gives me same or better results.

I do enjoy getting my hands dirty and trying to make the best attempt I can at growing some vegetables this year. And, I must admit, I enjoy the endless hours of research that go along with it. I'm just a bit of a perfectionist and I want to do what's best for my plants ...I just keep getting confused about what exactly that is.

I've decided to plant a few different containers with slightly different mixes/organic fertilizers/types of plants and just see what my results are. I suspect I'll get enough veggies to eat and will learn something in the process.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

"I am satiated with tying up my tomato plants..." That gave me the oddest mental picture....LOL!

Tomato people can be a bit different, what someone considers a problem, others will ignore. As monet said, right now a lot of people are concerned about their plants.

What else can we do until we get ripe tomatoes?

Betsy

To me, tomato plants have been least troublesome to grow. I have experienced more trouble growing spinach, cabbage, carrots, radish, cucumber... than tomatoes.

But then, I have stopped using those cheap 3 - ring cages.

You're thinking too much. Unfortunately tomatoes are a pretty finnicky plant depending on the conditions that you have available. Add a good soil plus 6+hours of hot sun and you won't have a problem for the most part. For example, I am lucky to have a 100SF plot that has been a vegetable garden for about 30 years. The soil that does contain certain fungi that ail tomatoes is very rich in organic material. All I do every year is add manure, compost, maybe some peat if I feel it needs to retain more water to it, and wood ash to control acidity. Every year I have to fight the on-coming of blight, but copper sulfide and a very sunny spot work to combat that. With a moderate amount of attention(which should come easy with interest) you should be able to keep diseases at bay, prune the plants like they are supposed to, weed, and support them with staking or whatever method. It really is a relaxing enjoyment once you get your routine down. All the information on the things I listed are readily available on the internet. Some differing opinions, but for the most part you'll get the idea.

This post was edited by spicymeatball on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 4:50

I don't grow tomatoes in pots. But in the garden, they usually start out the season looking good. Tomatoes seem to do well when buried deep. The stem, under ground, will grow more roots. More roots, sooner or later, result in a big healthy looking plant. So if the young plants are tall and skinny, remove the lower couple leaves and plant them deeper than they were originally - even 6 inches or more deeper. This helps with supporting tall thin plants.

I just bought a tall thin almost sick looking plant (because it was a new kind of tomato I wanted to try). It will be interesting to see what it looks like in a few weeks.

My season has been very wet. The garden is in a low area. Water runs down hill. The tomatoes are buried deep. They are growing great. So far too much water has not been a problem.

Old composted organic matter is good. But peat may not have much fertilizer. Do your pots have any fertilizer? I usually don't fertilize much, but then I use composted manure and composted leaves.

Best of luck. Hope you get some great tomatoes to eat and share.

I think there are a couple of things... First, what others have said is true - people are mostly asking questions about their problems right now.

Second, I think everyone has trouble with certain crops and not so much with others. I, for example, have given up on carrots and beets. I have better success with tomatoes - I get about 150 lbs to eat, freeze, and give away by the end of June.

However, third, one thing I had to make peace with early on in vegetable gardening is that all of these plants are short lived. They're gonna get diseases and pests and eventually die - that's just what they do. So I don't freak out at the first spots on my tomato leaves anymore. Of course, you want to take measures to keep the pests and diseases at bay until you get a harvest, but you're gonna get pests and diseases - and that's ok.

One thing that convinced me of my third point is my neighbor and gardening buddy who does exactly what the original poster was asking about. She puts her plants in the ground and does nothing, other than watering when it's really dry. Hers don't do quite as well as mine, but her garden is in a less ideal location too. She still gets enough that she can't eat them all.

Tomatoes are the one vegetable that I have no problems with and do almost nothing to help them along. Every year, consistently, more tomatoes than I can ever use, eat, can or give away.

Tomatoes are like weeds, you can't stop them from growing.

Spinach and swiss chard, on the other hand, are impossible. I love them, I grow them, and every year I get leaf miners. Even this year, with a brand new garden (bought a new house), they have found me again and are laying eggs faster than I can wipe them off the leaves.

Don't worry, put in what you want to get out of it. Here's something positive, I lve close to you and I have no diseases, in June!

Gardening is never perfect, so all you can do is try to garden in the best way for your area of the world.

If you are growing tomatoes, the spot you chose should have 6-8 hours of full sun, be at least 30 feet away from all trees/bushes, and the soil needs to be well tilled (rocks, roots, etc removed) and composted at least two feet deep.

The next three things are:
1. Picking varieties that do well in your region. Ex. I love Brandywine, but they just don't grow in my part of the world well. Pick varieties that love your area.
2. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch-mulch keep weeds at bay, water from being sapped up by the sun, and mud from splashing onto vines causing for infection (fungal/bacterial).
3. Make sure your summer garden gets at least 3 heavy soakings a week, whether by you or Mother Nature.

If you do these things, you will most often be successful in gardening. Again, things will never be perfect though:-) One year tomatoes grow wonderfully, next year it's melons and beans, etc....

p.s. It's better to water tomatoes early morning. If one waters at night and gets water on the foliage, it will sit there most of the night instead of being dried quickly. This is a major cause of tomato disease.