Hello. This is my first year with a vegetable garden. I really don't have a good spot in my yard that both gets sun and wouldn't get sprayed with the sprinkler system. So I did some reading on this website and decided to try growing in some containers in a landscaped, but sunny corner of my back yard.

I bought some 20 gallon smart pots and used Al's 5-1-1 mix. I couldn't figure out how I'd make enough mix without going broke until I found some stuff that was premixed and exactly what I was looking for. Grower's Mix by Jemasco, check it out. $8 for 3 cubic feet. I don't know how much you spend on mixing this stuff, but I'd guess this is a lot cheaper and less work.

I did peppers in one pot, okra in another, and tomatoes for the 4 more and surrounded them with Marigold, Basil, and other herbs. The tomatoes are Jet Star, Better Boy, Brandywine, and Large Red Cherry. Getting plenty of Okra, but not enough on one plant to really have enough to eat. But the Okra leaves are now wilting in the heat. 90+ degree temps here in Wichita, KS, but not really that hot of a summer. Brandywine started slow, but looks great now. Better Boy grows really spindly, even with lots of pruning. Too many stalks at the bottom to get big tomatoes, I think. Peppers are doing great. The Garden Salsa variety has the perfect amount of heat and flavor.

It's the Jet Star and Large Red Cherry that are getting the "wilt" issue. They've both stopped growing. The picture isn't very good that I attached. Basically the leaves are turning yellow, then brown, and curling up. Sometimes curling before changing color. Pretty much what I would expect if they weren't getting enough water with this much heat. But I water almost every day, and I give them a lot of water. Any idea what this is? The Jet Star, I've heard, has more resistance to disease than about any other variety. But the heirloom tomato gets larger, tastier tomatoes and no wilting issues. Any suggestions on what I should try next year? Or if there is anything I can do to reverse the problem?

Thanks for any help. I've really enjoyed reading on this forum. Great source for good information.