The Whoppers i planted a while back are doing fantastic. The bush is around 4 feet tall and very wide. I've had to tie branches to the cage and affix the whole cage itself to the wooden base. Those tomatoes are huge and heavy - too heavy for those measly cages i used. Next season i'll have to research a better, more sturdy solution. i grew them pretty much in straight compost so maybe that's why the turnout looks so good :)
There are about 30 fruits right now and many more blossoms yet to fruit. yea.
But... not everything is fantastic. Caterpillars (tomato hornworm?) have been feasting on the fruits of my labor, literally. They've hit about 3 of the lower hanging fruits. hopefully they get their fill of those and leave the rest alone. Those elusive wiggly punks are so freaking hard to find to smush...
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these are borage plants that I planted alongside the tomatoes. They are budding and should put out pretty little blue flowers. I haven't tried the leaves for tea yet. Not only are they supposed to enhance the taste of the tomatoes but I found that they are either a good trap crop or bad b/c they seem to attract what i believe are cabbage worms. The same little green jerks that attacked and devastated my broccoli one season. i haven't tried to grow broccoli since. One thing is that i didn't expect them to grow quite so tall. they are almost as tall as the tomato plants! next time i'll sow the seeds a bit farther away just to make sure i can still get adequate air circulation.
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And then just a few of the plants that are blooming for me now.
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| Balsam in the front yard |
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| Alyssum |
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| firespike. not blooming but coming back great |
These are the Lavatera i transplanted to a larger pot and as you can see, i have more furry little white caterpillars munching on them as well. to add insult to injury they leave piles of poo that run and collect in the center of the leaves. Thanks for eating my plants and leaving me poop presents guys, 'prish.
