Hi Sun, Are you feeding the tomatoes at all in the early part of the season? I am not a container expert by a long shot, but I do read posts by the folks that grow a lot of container tomatoes (I am considering trying it in my hoophouse to extend the season), and almost without exception the successful container growers do feed their plants in containers very regularly, some on a weekly basis. Are the plants you are growing determinates? Determinate or "bush" tomatoes grow to a compact height, usually under 4 feet tall, and they bear their crop over a short time period, then die back or go dormant. Some varieties will have a second smaller crop later (perhaps it is related to the length of the growing season, I don't get a second crop in my zone 5 garden.) Also, many tomatoes will have poor fruit set when the temperatures and/or humidity are high. Tomatoes grow best if daytime temperatures range between 70°F and 85°F, with nights in the 55-75° range. Tomato plants can tolerate more extreme temperatures for short periods, several days or nights with temps outside the ideal range will cause the plant to abort fruit set and focus on survival. According to the University of NV, "...temperatures over 104°F for only four hours can cause the flowers to abort." They should know, h*** is right next door... :-) To be able to suggest what might be wrong with your plant (if it is something else), it would be helpful to know more about the environment it is in. So, here are the "usual" questions: What growing medium are you using? How often do you water? Have you checked the moisture of the growing medium or soil 3-5" below the surface? Is it dry, just right, or soggy? Are you feeding the plants? How often? What are the NPK values of any fertilizers you are using to feed it? Do you mulch? If so, with what and how much (how deep)? Are there any other plants near the problem plant that are not affected? Can you post pictures? The more information you can give us, the better the chances that someone can give you an accurate diagnosis. You may also want to browse the container forum which I've linked below. (Sorry if they sent you over here.) Betsy Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening Forum

We had a small gathering this year - no neices, nephews, or their children, and so it was mostly adults - except my sister brought her step-grandson who is 17. My SIL did not show up because she was not feeling well, but I don't think she has felt well in over two years. The worst part of it was the travel. We had a three hour layover in Dallas and got into Austin at about midnight. My sister would have picked us up at the airport, but when we called her from Dallas, she told us we would have to take a cab. I asked her how much that would cost, knowing she was very far from the airport, and so I decided that we should rent a car for the day, if the rental car agencies were still open, since it would be about the same price as the cab ride. I thought about renting one for a week, but nothing affordable was available. We were unable to call the rental agencies from Dallas (we got stupid recordings), and so we took our chances at the Austin airport and got lucky! Very lucky!! Since DS had to work on Tuesday and we would have been otherwise stranded at her house, we really needed a car for the day. It was extremely cold Tuesday morning (lowever 40s), and there was no way we would have wanted to walk to the nearest place to get breakfast from her house. As for Thanksgiving ... I bought much of the food at Central Market in Austin, including a free-range turkey breast. DM told me NOT to buy a whole turkey. I started the dry salt technique in Austin (not as early as I would have liked, but it worked anyway), and then started cooking on Wednesday as my parents' house. Wednesday, I removed the back and some excess skin from the breast so that I could make stock for gravy and dressing and also made two of my lime pies. I had brought nine limes from my yard. I also made some Chex mix snack, which DM loves and which I planned to use as a snack/appetizer the next day. I miscalculated how long the breast would take to cook, and so the meal was delayed by about 20 minutes, but it turned out okay. I didn't make that many dishes, and so it was very easy to manage. DS kept insisting on helping me prepare stuff, and so I let her slice the mushrooms for the gravy and prepare the lettuce for the Caesar salad. DM complained that I had bought anchovies for the salad, but she ate the salad anyway and liked it! I made my very easy grits faux cornbread stuffing, and that went over well. The next day DM reheated some of it in a plastic container, and I refused to eat any of that. For vegetable, we had broccoli. DS removed the florets and chopped the stems into small pieces, and I boiled the small pieces in a small amount of water with a bit of onion to make a sauce. I purd the stems/onions with the cooking water and a bit of cornstarch (normally I use potato starch) and S&P and then returned that to the pan with the florets to allow them to cook slowly. I guess I undercooked the florets because although they were hot, most of them were left on people's plates. I thought they were fine and could have been reheated, if necessary. The sauce came out the way I wanted it. DM insisted on opening a can of sweet potatoes, and most of that was left over. We also had canned cranberry sauce, which I really do not mind, and I didn't have time to make it myself. Besides that, cranberries are expensive in Texas! We had whole wheat rolls from HEB which everone but DM liked. The worst part of the meal was the mushroom gravy I made because I added a bit too much salt, but I was the only one who didn't like it. I got a lot of teasing for my lime pies from those present who felt obligated to torture me (proabably for Amanda's sake), but I could not be insulted. I could always threaten not to allow them to have seconds, if they irritated me too much. DM thought I should have made only one pie, but we needed both of them, since that was the only dessert. I'm in Austin now, and will be leaving for L.A. this evening. We got horrible flight times, since we are using DS's frequent flyer miles (She wanted to use them up before the airline went into chapter 11, which it hasnt'), and so next time we will buy our own tickets. We got these back in early June before I was working full time. Next visit we will allow ourselves more control and flexibility over our schedule and will probably rent a car for the entire visit so that we won't be stranded anywhere. Lars

Depending on how long he's been loose, he may go a little nuts when he is first caged. When you first move him, put a towel over the cage to kind of isolate him. But don't cover it so much that you suffocate the animal. At home, I would place him in a fairly secluded and quiet spot. I would also keep him out of the house until you can really check him out. Let him get used to his surroundings. As with all animals the quickest way to tame them is with food. So feed him some tops of carrots, lettuce, etc. by hand. Like all animals, if you do it consistently at a certain time of day, they will expect it and start looking for you. Also talk to him so he gets used to your voice. Depending on how he is acting I would give him at least a few days before handling/petting. Start out by trying to pet him while you are feeding him. And wear gloves, he may bite. Probably just pet for a week before you really try to handle the rabbit. With rabbits you pick them up by the scruff of the neck. But beware those back feet can really scratch. You can probably google and get You Tube hits on ways to handle rabbits. Last thing, depends on where you live, but in the South and Midwest rabbits are kept off the ground. That's because they get "wolves" in their necks. Really don't know what they are actually called, just the term that was used around the area I grew up. This is gross, but it's basically a worm in the underside of their neck. It's been so many years I really don't remember what we used to pour in the wound to kill the parasite. You may also want to check him for fleas, mites, pinworms, and ticks before you actually bring him into your home. They used to have a powder you could put on animals for various bugs. Don't know if it's even available. Probably would want to check with a farm supply/feed store. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for decades and there apparently isn't a problem with rabbits being on the ground in this area. So it really depends on where you live. Maybe your local Vet or even the feed store could give you insight on proper cages for rabbits in your area. All this talk of bugs hopefully didn't scare you into not wanting to take on this bunny. I just think you should be made aware so you will look to make sure you don't bring into your home any unwanted pests. I used to catch wild bunnies as a child. Mainly if we were cutting hay. I would try to save them from the machinery. We also had tame bunnies. But they were all kept outside in cages off the ground. Seemed like we had more than our share of dumped dogs and cats that would have to be dealt with. Personally people who dump animals should have to spend a week in the woods, without any protection or food, and see how they well they fare. Cats do pretty well, but for the rest of the domesticated animals it just a death sentence.

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