The standard explanation for tall tomatoes with no fruit is too much nitrogen. Which MG did you use? There are different products with different formulations. Look on the package for the 3 numbers. [Nitrogen - phosphorus - potassium, also referred to as NPK -- those letters are the symbols for the chemical elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; if you didn't study chemistry, they're in alphabetical order.] The numbers refer to the weight of each nutrient in a 100 lb. bag of fertilizer. But the ratio of the numbers is also important. "Nitrogen helps plants make the proteins they need to produce new tissues. In nature, nitrogen is often in short supply so plants have evolved to take up as much nitrogen as possible, even if it means not taking up other necessary elements. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not produce fruit or flowers. "Phosphorous stimulates root growth, helps the plant set buds and flowers, improves vitality and increases seed size. To absorb phosphorous, most plants require a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8. "Potassium improves overall vigor of the plant." More here: http://www.gardeners.com/Fertilizer-Basics/5161,default,pg.html So for fruit (tomatoes, melons, peppers, etc.), you do not want the first of the 3 numbers (nitrogen) to be too high compared with the others. Here are some of the different Miracle-Gro products: All-Purpose Miracle-Gro: 24-8-16 Miracle-Gro Shake 'N Feed: 10-10-10 Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster: 15-30-15 Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes: 18-18-21 Espoma's Tomato-tone (everybody's favorite): 3-4-6. Compare the two tomato fertilizers: slightly different ratios, yet both highest on potassium and lowest on nitrogen: different from the first three Miracle-Gro products. [The Espoma numbers are smaller because it contains a higher percentage of other ingredients.] It's not only an issue of what ratio your fertilizer has. If you fertilize too often or use too much fertilizer, you can still overwhelm the plants with nitrogen. Keep in mind that there are other sources of nitrogen besides Miracle-gro; for instance, manure. You bought the soil from a farm: do they raise livestock of one type or another? Might the soil have contained a significant amount of manure? === You say you don't have a pollination problem, but you're using Sevin, which kills all types of insects: not only the bad ones, but the pollinators as well. (Maybe yellowjackets are tougher than pollinators.) Some plants are wind-pollinated (for example, corn). Other are self-pollinated (tomatoes). Cucurbits need insect pollinators -- I read recently that it takes dozens of different insect visits to fertilize each flower. You can do the pollination yourself and be sure: remove a male flower and rub the pollen on the female flower. It's best to do this early in the day.

Hehehehe...I'm with Treefrog. I've never gotten a single one to grow using the traditional methods. Better try throwing a tomato in the air and see if I, too, can have yummy butternut squash for roasting! My very favorite winter veggie. I like to cut them in chunks, cook them with chicken broth and onions, puree, and serve as a soup with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of Caribbean Jerk seasoning. *drool* Great story and photo, Ill! And a pretty cute joke, too! Marcia

I used the Kitchaid strainer for years. It was a big improvement over what I was using before. With constant use the motor heats up. After about thirty minutes of use mine started dripping motor oil into the sauce. I think the screen is a bit too close to the screw. I run the tomatoes through several times and only end up with seeds. The skins also get pushed through the mesh after a few passes. However the final passes are the most work for the machine. I upgraded to a dedicated tomato squeezer. It is much faster than the Kitchenaid and the machine does not struggle. The first pass leaves a wetter waste product than the Kitchenaid. However after several passes the final waste is just about as dry as the Kitchenaid waste after several passes thhrough the Kitchenaid. I have a 1/2 HP model which is a bit big and heavy. I should have opted for one of the 1/4 HP models which run about $300. A google search for tomato squeezer seems to work better than tomato strainer if one is looking for a dedicated machine. I canned a little under thirty quarts (about fifty quarts before boiling down) in my first canning session this year. I'll probably do about eighty by the time the season is over. I have to can more because my son has taken a liking to the sauce. And now I make my own ketchup. I dedicate an entire day to making sauce. Speed in the squeezing process is a big help. Zeuspaul

tannabanna....the $114 price was for the food grinder along with the juicer, unless I'm mistaken, which happens frequently!! I have one of those 30% off coupons, the price of the strainer alone was $60.00, and I wanted to add the larger food tray for $22.00. With the 30% off that takes it down to $55.00, give or take. Now I just need to decide if I want to take a gamble as to whether it will work better or not. Somebody tell me what to do!! The coupon expires tonight, so I guess I won't be torturing myself for too much longer! What Dave said in that other thread about the lower moisture content made sense, although I was thinking that it may also be an issue of the roasted tomatoes being too soft, and not pushing through the spiral very well. Thought maybe next year I could try putting in a raw one every now and then while I do the roasted ones, and maybe that would help push them through....I don't know.....