Hello everyone, this is Ilene in NE Oklahoma. I haven't been on any forums for awhile but I read this thread and had to comment. I did this (sorta) with Lazy Housewife beans. I'm trying to post a picture but I understand there's a new learning curve associated with picture posting and I haven't found instructions yet, so I'm winging it and hope it takes. What I used was an empty chicken-feed bag that I turned inside-out so the printing was on the inside. I didn't punch any holes because it's open-ended and stitched together and I figured it would drain enough that way. I put wood chips in the bottom and my regular garden soil on top, which is compost-amended. The reason I wanted to try it is that I have trouble starting fall beans and I thought these would be something I could use to start the plants under the carport, where it's shady, and then dolly it out to along the fence somewhere when the weather cools and it starts needing to climb. It seems to be working as well as the in-ground beans that I planted, it's climbing well and has started producing. I, too, have Bermuda and also Bindweed. It seems to me like the bag lying flat on the ground would just encourage both to grow up through or over and down through as I had that happen when I covered my flower beds with several layers (8 to 12) of newspaper and then wood chips, but it's all worth a try. I haven't had any weeds to speak of in my chicken feed bag except for some nutsedge that I was able to just pull out.

Are they all the same variety? If not then that is the difference. Growth rates and types are genetic to the variety so each variety will be different and you can't compare them with any degree of accuracy. If, on the other hand, they are all the same variety then it could be any of several factors: degree of sun exposure such as E-W plants vs. N-S plants, pockets of poorly draining soil, greater wind exposure on some vs. others, unequal distribution of nutrients in certain spots, etc. to name just a few. Dave

I've been biting my tongue, but I really do think it was inevitable with the setup. There was no way an indeterminate cherry was going to droop happily over the edge, especially with as little light as there is underneath it. Someone here has posted pictures of tomatoes in baskets, a variety called 'Tumbling Tom', maybe something like that will be more suitable for next year in baskets. Camera phones can be a pain, the trick is not to try to hold it too close to get a closeup unless there is a macro feature. The lens on phones aren't equipped to focus at that distance. Back up a bit, even from further the picture will be clearer and easier to see what is going on. Anyway, how bad is the damage? I really cannot see. Did it just bend, or did it break at all? Don't jump down my throat at this, but if it were me I'd pinch the fruit off until it heals. I am a pessimist though (in fact, truth is I'd be more likely to reroot the top into a normal container, given your situation) so take it with a grain of salt.

"Those Romeos are beautiful, but how do they taste? Are they anywhere close to Opalka? " [Tom] The Romeo tomatoes taste good. Not great. They are definitely a paste tomato, and have very very little gel. So, they don't have the acid tang I like in a slicing tomato. But they do develop more flavor as the seaon progresses. They have a way better taste than your typical Roma tomato ... including Heidi and such, which I consider Roma types anyway. Heck no, they don't taste anywhere near as good as Opalka. No way possible! Opalka is special. Romeo tastes more along the lines of Polish Linguisa of which they remind me except that Romeo is a bit larger and has much denser flesh and less gel than Polish Linguisa. I haven't grown that many heart or oxheart shapes yet. Let's see ... Golden Oxheart, Orange Oxheart, Spudayellow Strawberry and Amish Paste is about the extent of my "heart shaped" tomato experience. No, I don't consider Amish Paste to be a paste tomato. No way. And with regard to heart shapes I've grown, yes they taste better than your average paste tomato, but they don't come close to being as dense fleshed and low gel as Romeo. BTW, I rather consider Opalka a "saladette" as that's the way I use it. It's too darned tasty and tender and wonderful to be tossing into a sauce kettle. But I intend to cross Opalka with Romeo next summer to improve Romeo's eating quality (I hope). Last year I had trouble crossing Opalka due to it's very slender and tender stamens. So, I'll be going the other way with Romeo as the seed parent in 2008. Bill