That entirely depends on a) the nutrient status of the plants and b) how rich your soil is. If they are healthy and dark green, and your soil is rich, fertilizer is not necessary. If either situation is not the case, a little bit of organic fertilizer will help. 3-4-6 is not nitrogen-rich by any means. All plants need nitrogen, even when flowering. Something like Miracle Gro 24-8-16, on the other hand, would be too high in nitrogen to be used as a frequent fertilizer.

Hi everyone... I am late checking in today...busy day in the garden, (again). Tis the season! I've been reading through the posts here, absorbing as much info as I can, and in one sitting, that's a lot to take in. Sooo much good advice, and I must say, it's really helpful. Dawn, backing up a bit, I had to laugh about that neighbor of yours, she reminded me of that British woman who played the part of the overbearing wife with the hen pecked husband in the comedy show on OETA, "Keeping up Appearances". I'll bet anything when that lady's husband told her what Dawn said about the tomatoes, she went and ripped them out either in embarressment or anger/or both. Well, I did check out the tomatoe forum, and found a few good tips. One of the problems with that forum, you already gave me a head's up on. For a less experienced gardener, (as self here)one would have to discern what was good advice, and what was not. Still, it was interesting browsing and looking at some of the pics. One of the ideas you gave me was that I have double windows on the front of my house, which faces west. I have just made a rustic trellis and lashed it together. I think it looks pretty cool. This is replacing the one that just wore out after several years. Anyways, I usually grow Purple Hyacinth vines on that trellis, to block that sun and shade those windows,.... and I have some started this year as well. I thought since the Black Cherry tomatoes grow so "viney" and tall, I might plant one or two right in the middle, bordered on each side by the Hyacinth vines. I would never have the space to winter store a bunch of tomatoe cages for as many tomatoes as I'm growing this year, so I generally use fence trellis's for good or bad, they seem to work okay for me. And yes, I like the idea of letting the vines "flop" over. It used to bother me when they'd start doing that, but now I'll just let em do their thing and not worry about it. About cutworm protection. My dad used to put a 16 penny nail just at the edge of each newly planted tomatoe. It must have worked for him. I don't know if other folks do that or not. Jay, your gardening techniques seem really well adapted to your climate out there. It must get pretty challenging at times. There are times when I wish for "few trees", since as I've said before on this forum, my neighbors humongous tree's have roots that sneak over in my garden area because they know there is water and food over here. If I didn't have good sandy loam I'd be done for. I ran into some of those feeder roots today when I was out there digging holes for the fall tomatoes I'll soon be planting. I put extra homemade compost in each hole to at least make sure they get a good start. No "sprawling" for my tomatoes. For several reasons, space, rot,.......and snakes. Ill be growing Old Time Tennesse and Evan's Sweet muskmelons and Blacktail Mountain watermelons on some cattle panels that I have. I have to grow vertically wherever I can, to save space, and I think it looks neater, and keeps you from having to bend over so much. It might discourage pests, I don't know. I have found that snakes like to hang out, (literally) on any kind of vines tho. Weather or not, your still pretty blessed up and over there. I grew some beautiful tomatoes in Wyoming, but we only had three months time to do it in. There is no such thing as spring and fall gardening in Wyoming. I've known it to have an 8 ft snowfall in May, and early snow in August. Sure feels good to be back in Okie again :) All in all, what we are able to grow without being spoon fed genetically modified stuff on the market, makes all the labor intensive work and challenges well worth the effort we put into our gardens. It really does have to be a labor of love, and one has to love doing it. And we do. Shekanahh

Dave, I'll have to dissagree on the ripening time after setting fruit issue. Cherry tomatoes will take less time from flowering to ripe fruit and because there potentially are hundreds of fruits originating from a cluster there is also the liklihood that a few more will ripen before the first of a larger fruit cluster of 5 or 6 fruits. I've routinely planted many varieties in a high tunnel on the same day and this year 9 of the 12 cherry varieties were producing fruits 2 weeks before the first larger fruited variety was picked. Occasionally one or 2 larger fruited types might sneak an early one in but beware that it is not a development fluke like BER. As far as BW(Brandywine)- give up on early fruits. Try Prudens Purple for consistantly earlier fruits that look and taste like BW. Prudens Purple will also out yield BW under most conditions.

Have you posted at the harvest forum? They can give you some great canning tips. They (and I) always recommend the Ball Blue Book of canning - if you don't have a copy, you should pick one up, it's a great resource. These are the steps I always follow, I find that it's a good formula and always works for me. Hopefully it's not too much information - I'm probably being too thorough, but better safe than sorry. 1. Wash jars. Wash rings, rinse new lids. Put lids in a small saucepan with water on "low" so they get warm and the rubber becomes soft for canning. I set up a workstation - basically a kitchen towel spread on the counter next to my stove to set jars on while I fill them, and keep the rings at a corner of the towel, within reach. The rings don't have to be hot. I also dampen a paper towel for wiping the jar rims clean before putting lids on, and keep that handy on one side of the towel. 2. Put jars in a big canning pot**, filled so that the jars are covered with 2 inches of water. The jars will be full of water, which will sterilize them as they heat. Put the lid on the canner (if you have a pressure canner, just set it on, don't tighten). 3. Bring water in canner to a high simmer, while preparing food for canning. I usually crank the heat to high and turn it back when I hear it starting to boil. 4. When food is ready to be canned, the water in the canner should be plenty hot, so it will come back to a boil quickly. If it's not, keep your food at the ready. (You want those jars to be sterile if you're heating them in the water.) 5. Pull a jar out of the canner using a jar lifter, and carefully pour the hot water from it into the sink. I have my own angle technique that works - just be careful when you do this, because you pretty much have to pour the water toward you to keep the jar in hand with the lifter. Practicing with cold water isn't a bad plan if you haven't done the pour before. :) Or if you're more sensible than I am, you might set the jar down for a moment on your towel, then pick it up again from the side with the lifter and empty it that way. 6. Fill the jar with food to be canned, wipe the rim, put a lid on, then put a ring on. Tighten the ring to finger tight - it should be snug but not super tight. (All the ring does is apply a little pressure so that there is good contact between the lid's sealant and the jar rim - it doesn't hold the lid on; the natural vacuum will do that.) 7. Put filled jar back into canner, and pull the next empty jar. Repeat steps 5-6 until all jars are full. I do these steps as quickly (but carefully) as possible so that the first jar sitting in the hot water doesn't end up with soft pickles. 8. Put lid on canner when all jars are filled. Bring back up to a boil (should only take a few minutes, since the water has been simmering the whole time). Start timing when the boil starts, and pull the jars when the timer goes off. If pressure canning, you would wait 5 minutes (possibly more) after the timer goes off to pull out the jars. **If you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, you can put the jars in there on sani-cycle and it will keep them hot as long as it's closed. Still, you'll have to be sure to get the canner simmering with enough water to cover the filled jars by 2 inches, and starting the heating while you're prepping food is good timing. With a dishwasher you won't have to deal with pouring hot water down the sink. That's how my mom always canned. I wish my husband would hitch up our dishwasher. Someday...