The seedlings in the pictures are some seeds I got from Home Depot- Burpee Roma Tomato-determinate and Ferry Morse San Marzano Tomato-indeterminate I recently started some Heatwave II tomato seeds which I'm excited about-I'm told they grow great here on the gulf coast. Hopefully these seedlings grow just as well. Thats for the advice about removing the peat pot before planting. I was undecided if I should remove it. A couple roots are already growing through the peat pots! I just don't want to yank the plant out of the pot which is going to tear the roots some I'm sure then the plant suffer. Tomato plants don't mind the roots being disturbed?

I am growing in buckets this year, I have used the hanging planters in the past. I have the perfect(my opinion) soil blend for my plants this year, drains great! I have also paid attention to the nutrients aka cow manure, bone meal etc that I use. Miracle grow potting mix is not the best thing to grow your plants in.(my opinion) I think alot of your issues are to do with soil composistion, water retention and shade. Tomatoes need a lot of sun light. Here is a link that might be useful: robs urban farm

i have no idea what that is, kinda new to this too, LOL second year to growing tomato's, but if ya have photobucket, you can send your pics there and its also free, YIPPEE!! LOL and click on the html code and post the pics here so everyone can see them :')) i had to learn that a long time ago. so when you take your pics you can send them directly to photobucket.com its easy!! don't forget to edit the pics to website thingi, but now they have a thing where you can do that automatically if you have a whole bunch of pics to download!! WOW i didn't know that and for a while i was doing that 1 at a time, i download alot of pics!! i have lots of pics and don't forget the new nieces!! LOL HA HA had to take them this weekend so that will be easy to edit this time!! LOL anyway i hope that helps ya out!! ~Medo

Hi Caelian! Enjoyed your post and the pictures. I've never used grow bags before but plan to next year. I purchased two 25 gallon ones in which I will plant one plant per bag. Now regarding the issue of your soil drying out quickly. What type of soil did you use, potting or garden? Potting soil is recommended when using containers and my choice is organic because I don't enjoy eating the chemicals that are found in Miracle Gro, not to mention the fact that non-organic fertilizers destroy your soil. (Check out the information available on the net on this subject.) Happy tomato growing. This season has been so different from last year. However in spite of all the challenges it has been fun and a definitely a learning one for me.