Can I ask how often do you water? and

How tall are your plants?

Tom

I water either one or twice a day (usually twice, unless it's cloudy, raining or the soil is wet with the "finger test"). I thought they might be getting too much water, but they've gone to wilting a few times in the last 2 weeks or so when I tried to cut back even a little on it. They get approximately 1/4th to 1/3rd a gallon of water per watering. They are in 10 gallon containers. Their current height is probably somewhere around 6 feet, maybe a bit more. Any suggestions, help?

- Steve

First, as to the thread title, once you try some heirlooms, (or heirloom crosses for that matter,)there'sa not much promising about Early Girl!

When I use drip irrigation & 4 or 5 gallon buckets, they get about a third gallon, twice a day. You can try at least a full 2-liter bottle 2x/day... maybe more.

Without drip, I run the hose 10-15 seconds, quickly accumulating about 2" of water in the bucket, every other day. My mix is slower draining so it would take a while to see water coming out the bottom, not to mention there's only a couple inches to the top of my containers.

What exactly did you use to fill your containers?

What I can say is that BER is, mostly, water related - usually too much water. However, your plants are in pots and so I cannot speak to that as I have never grown tomatoes in pots. Without knowing what the soil medium is it is hard to assess if you are watering too much. Does the foliage look like it is healthy? Do you feel like the plants have enough nutrients in the soil? Just making sure you are not washing away the nutriants from the frequent waterings. Perhaps you fertilize often when you water - I don't know. From my experience BER is caused from watering too often. I asked how tall your plants were because as the plant grows it becomes more able to deal with the water issues that interfer with the calcium uptake. Your plants being 6' talls me they are mature enough at this stage to deal with the calsium issues that caus BER. When plants are small they can have difficulty regulating the water and calcium resulting in BER. Plants this tall that continue to have BER is usually caused by watering too often. Watering too often also results in cracked/split Toms.

All I can suggest is to make sure your soil mix is dense enough to hold enough water long enough for the plants to get a good drink. Check into the Earthtainer. That is a self-watering system. From what I have heard people have good results with them.

What is the color of your pots? If they are black I would suggest putting something in front of them to shade them from the hot sun. All too often the pot gets so hot that the plant's roots are not able to use all the soil in the because they get baked as they try to extend outward. Also, try using lighter colord pots. This might prevent heat from being absorbed by the pot and then transferred to the soil. I would imagine that as much as an inch or so might from the pot might be unusable by the plant if the soil it too heated. Shielding the pots from the sun is like mulching to me. Anything to moderate the soil temp and keep those roots nice and cool. For people who live in cool areas having dark colored pots helps to keep the soil temp warm which is good, but if your temps are already warm you might want to evaluate this condition. Z6's can go either way depending on a variety of things.

I don't know if you are overwatering because I don't use containers. Sorry I could not be more helpful.

tom

korney: Yea, i'm going to try something like that...some type of watering variation. Maybe that will help the Marzano's. I don't see why they'd need a completely (or even somewhat) different watering plan than my Early Girl's though. They're all in the same place (hence, same sun exposure), have the same potting mixture, in the same size containers, etc.. :-\ The tomato containers are simply filled with MG Moisture Control Potting Mix, which has given me great results with tomatoes many times over. They are 10 gallon.

avid_hiker: Thanks for the input. =) The foilage does look quite healthy. I definitely feel they have enough nutrients in the soil. I might possibly be washing away the nutrients with the waterings though. I want to try to maybe just water less often with more just for the 2 Marzano's? I dunno though cuz they might wilt/dry out easier with that method. I am going to try some Earthtainers next year. I was limited in my gardening funds this year, so they were a no go. It's interesting that you mention pot color. The Early Girl pots are off-whiteish, but the Marzano pots are a mid to slightly dark green. Maybe cover them somehow & mulch, but keep to the same watering plan? It could very well be a soil temp issue. The mater plants get full sun all day pretty much. Maybe start watering with ice water or something too? lol. I continue to get frustrated & am not sure what to do with the Marzano's at this point. :-\ I've yanked about 15 more BER fatalities off the 2 plants since I posted this thread. Any & all help appreciated.

- Steve