Every time I teach a class or do a talk, I get lots of questions. Since they apply across the board, I thought it would be good to have some of them here.

Q. Why aren’t my tomatoes doing well?
A. Depends on what you mean by “doing well”. If they aren’t producing tomatoes at all, it could be several things:
a. Wind drying out the blossoms and they drop off.
b. Not fertilizing enough or at the right time.
c. Not watering enough or at the right time.
d. Watering too much.
e. Fertilizing too much
If they have large black spots in the bottom of the tomato (called blossom-end rot), that’s usually caused by inconsistent watering. Watering should be done at about the same time every 3-4 days for tomatoes. That’s one reason we recommend drip irrigation with timers attached. It’s automatically done the same time every time. Spring tomatoes are just about finished by now. Remember, they are a 75-90-day plant and they’ve been in the ground at least that long in most cases. It’s time to pull them out and start getting ready for the fall gardening season.

When they quit producing the size and quality fruit you desire, pull them out and put them in the compost pile. Add 3-4 inches of compost to the soil, irrigate it really well and let it sit. It will be time to plant your fall tomatoes on July 25 or thereabouts. You have to get them in this early in order for them to have time to ripen the fruit before the first freeze next fall.

Q. What exactly does “full sun” mean?
A. It means bright sunshine all day, every day. That’s what tomatoes need to do really well. Anything less than that will affect the production.

Q. Do plants absorb chemicals from the air?
A. No, plants absorb needed-chemicals from the soil through the root system. Remember OSMOSIS?

Q. Why are pesticides bad?
A. Pesticides themselves aren’t bad but the people who apply them don’t always read the directions and, many times, use too much. That’s why pesticides get a bad reputation. It’s not the product, it’s the process.

Q. What’s the difference between organic and non-organic chemicals?
A. Organic is usually thought to be more natural whereas non-organic is thought to be man-made. In actuality, there is no such thing as synthetic chemicals.

General Gardening Stuff

Continue to fertilize the roses with a complete rose food to encourage blooming. Be sure to pinch off spent blooms, too. Deadhead the lantanas and verbenas to encourage them to bloom more, too. You can cut them back as much as 1/3 their height.

If you have a white, dusty-looking powder on the leaves and stems of some of your plants (crape myrtle, lantana, zinnias, euonymous, etc.) it’s probably powdery mildew. It is harmful to the plants and should be treated. Use a good systemic fungicide and follow the directions. You won’t see immediate results and you’ll probably have to do the treatment 3-4 times; the directions on the label tell you the frequency. The best preventive measure is to keep the leaves dry. If you have a sprinkler system that waters these plants constantly, try to re-direct the head or replace it. Pruning the plants to allow more air to move through is a big help also.

I sure hope you have your sprinkler system turned off. You really don’t need it now because of all the moisture in the soil. It’s down there—trust me. If you’ll turn your sprinkler system off, you’ll actually be encouraging your grass and other plants to put their roots down deeper—thus, able to live longer when the water dries up.

It’s time to plant eggplant and peppers for the fall garden. The rest of the veggies can wait for a while. I’ll let you know when it’s time to plant the others…or you can write me at and I’ll send you the whole list of when to plant what.


Tom Harris