Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2008

well, considering they're living in Kent, England, and it rains a lot
in England, and yes, clay could affect the plants and fruit (but clay
dries out better whereas plastic pots don't and would have caused a
whole different batch of problems, cracking is natural, doesn't affect
the taste of the fruit.  I just successfully moved a huge GROWN vine
of heirloom potato leafed tomato, it was loaded with unproductive
flowers over to the bed where I had the rest of the tomato's planted
that are doing just fine.  Nasturtiums at the feet, radishes planted
on outskirts, and harvested already, rhubarb a few feet away, two cow
horn peppers at the feet along with late planted sweet bell pepper
plants (we'll see if they set any fruit).  Harvesting assorted
tomato's that have cracked skin and these are in soil.  It's just
moisture and heat and sunshine that does it.  no worries.  don't over
water them if you have dry spells, yes, clay pots dry out quicker, but
I like clay better than plastic. having said that, I've grown
successfully tomato's in five gallon buckets for years because of lack
of a good place to put the plants in the ground..............(and only
bright sunny spot with eight hours of sunshine was on the deck)
Here's another one........I just found out that blossom end rot is
unavoidable, and if you wanted to, you could eat the undamaged area of
tomato.  Oh, another little tip, that would help regardless (not
cracking, nor blossom rot) water tomato's and peppers with weak
solution of Epsom salts in two gallons of water (about 1/4 cup to two
gallons of water)  they apparently love it..........
maddie gardening now in the city, in real soil, in a "green bowl"
surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest and the Appalachian
mountains in Eastern Tennessee (closer now to North Carolina and
Virginia than ever before) zone 7b, Sunset zone (as far as I know)
36........MUCH warmer