I'm new here, and I'm sorry if this is wrong, but I posted this to the tomato forum and if it is wrong to post to both forums just let me know. I did not see this forum until it was too late. (Insert embarassed smiley.) I didn't see it mentioned in the guidelines.

Anyway...

This is only my second year for any kind of vegetable gardening because my ex would not allow any digging in our twelve acre lot, go figure. (Can you IMAGINE?!?!) Anyway, IÂve got a very small garden that is probably about 20 x 14 or so. The garden is on a slope, a noticeable slope, but not a hill, really. The tomatoes are placed just below the middle, so when I water, I make sure that the water absorbs into the ground around the tomatoes because I know they love a deep watering. Also, the tomatoes are staked, not caged, because I could not afford to buy cages this year. (Hurmph!) IÂve only got 6 plants per 14 Â 16ft. row, so IÂm pretty sure they have enough room. I did notice, however, that the cherry tomatoes that I have in a pot are doing the best and do not have the stress that the ones in the ground have. I do Miracle Grow about once every week to week and a half, although I would like to do it every week, IÂm afraid that there will be too much nutrient for some of my other vegetables.

The plants were doing great, growing fruit in abundance and getting bigger everyday. One day, however, I came outside and a couple of the plants were wilting, as if I had done a transplant. After about a week, there were more and more of the plants wilting, and soon some of the leaves dried and became brown and crispy. It is my understanding that tomatoes do not like pruning, but I had to cut some of the bad branches off because they were causing more stress to the already stressed plants. Since I have done some pruning, some of the tomatoes are finally turning red and the plants do look better; but they definitely need some help.

Any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate anyoneÂs knowledge of tomato stress. IÂve put out bait, but I donÂt think the bugs are the problem, unless there is something that gets to tomatoes that IÂm not aware of.

Thanks, in advance, and Happy Gardening!

Brenda

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