Re: New to gardening...

[Frankhartx]

From: "Fito" Fito123@(spamelli)rcn.com

>m starting to see tiny melons. Shocker, >huh? Anyway, I dont want to disrupt its growth but dont kn > what to do when >the melons get heavier. The >container is about 3 feet off the ground and I >desperately will try anything to keep the plant as healthy and fruitful as >possible. Anyone have a thought on some type of support I can give

Slings made of old panty hose>he pot sizes

ranged from 2 gallon to 15 gallon. I am worried that the 2 gallon containers >arent big enough and that I overstuffed the larger containers (two in a 10 >gallon). Also, I am considering using stakes that have varnish or paint on >them (they are just sitting there in my garage). Is that safe? > >The small pots will not suport a full size plant--you can trim it to one

leader and put it somewhere where it can be supported or can sprawl freely' Your stakes are ok to use. The plants in the larger plots might have to be trimmed to two leaders each plant. I never prune my tomatos and do not ordinarily reccommend it, however in your case where the plants are crowded it will probably be necessary.

> > > > > > >

[Dave Allyn]

My mother-in-law planted some tom's (don't remember the varitiy, I think early girls or similar) 4 to a pot in about a 5 gallon pot. they got to about 3 feet tall and stopped growing. the tom's are still green, but about 3 inches accross. she put four stakes in the pot, and ran string around them as a kinda trellice, and they are doing great. not as large as a ground-planted, but for just her and her husband, it works fine.

She also did this with bell peppers. they are considerably smaller than ground-planted, but she will still get a half-dozen peppers off one plant. she used two gallon containers for them, and only one plant each.

good luck! follow the (unofficial) rules of this forum: LET US KNOW HOW IT TURNS OUT!! :)

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

[J. Lane]

Hey Fito, Welcome to the group. You could can or freeze some of those tomatoes. I wouldn't move them now but water them often and if you think the plants are bearing enough fruit(about 15-20 per plant) pinch off the new flowers so that the plant can put it's energy toward the fruit. Re the watermelon. I might consider getting a net and cutting it to fit around the melons and tie the net to the fence. Don't net them until they are about half the size they should be before harvest. Probably about the size of a grapefruit Good luck,

[Fito]

A net huh? I was considering pantyhose but if I can get the right material a net may be the way to go. Ill look into it.

Fito

[Fito]

Good point about the bee. I didnt think of that. As for the roses, I will mulch and clean up the infected leaves. I wonder if this is why the bush only gave me one flower this year.

Fito