Yeah didn't know that when I bought them on impulse. Saw 'em at Home Depot and was like, "Yeah, I'd like some of those." Been working down the row, planting the tomatoes, peppers, etc. Doesn't help that everything is clay! (See pic: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg061246098308.html?15 ). I've just been winging this whole thing. I'm only planting one. Got a mound 4in high and about 3ft wide with a lot of manure worked in and about 2 shovel-fulls of Miracle Gro garden soil. I've read variously to fertilize because they are heavy feeders and others that say don't fertilize a lot if at all (I forget why not), so I'm taking a middle road (I know that's a logical fallacy, the middle road is not necessarily the truth, but it seems like a good compromise is this case). Wondering if I should peel away as much of the peat pot as I can (after soaking it ofc) since peat is very acidic; I dunno about peat pots though. The last tomato I planted though had a lot of roots growing through the peat pot, guessing it probably true for these guys.

Thank you! They are matte dots, and not all of the roses had them, at all. They just make me scared :) The rose in great shape is green and perfect save for this new patch at the base of one cane. The one doing badly (I transplanted him, too) may just have blackspot on the canes and whatever this is. So it's hard to know if the spots are doing anything bad. The vast majority that died (5-6) were teas in bad shape from the winter. The roots had no active growth, but there were roots. These were small, small plants. Well, I'll say 'are' because I'm still seeing if they sprout anything, but they have that woody-dead look about them ;) I forgot that the little guys needed protection; I don't grow many teas! One of them had something strange wrong with it (the curling leaves), but he looked too woody from the winter, too. Presumably he had enough strength to try to grow and couldn't! I do much better with big roses, btw :D :D I'll see if I can get a pic at all of the dots. Mainly, I was debating cutting off the cane on that one rose, but I'd rather wait till he sprouts more basals if at all possible.

i havent used any pesticide before now... i was treating mealies with rubbing alcohol but they were still hiding on me, this pesticide contains sulfur and pythrum as its active ingredients... if it were up to me i would slow down, but since im at the point that my husband is saying get rid of the pests or get rid of the plant im kinda trying everything... and ive held off treating it with any type of alcohol/water spray for a few weeks, just swabbing with alcohol when i see em... when my mom got sick of hearing me talk about having pests found the ortho ecosense sitting around at her house she gave it to me to use... i havent seen any pests so far and i treated it this last saturday... the fact that it was also a fungacide was just a plus, not the reason i used it in the first place... i know i may be new to hoyas, but if i dont get pests taken care of, my husband is gonna put a stop to the plants now before i get to move past the new faze...

Very hot weather will cause blossom drop; see the FAQ linked at the end of the post. There is a natural joint in the stem about a centimeter from the blossom: that's where the stem snaps easily when you pick a tomato, and it's where the stem will break by itself when a blossom is not pollinated (as well as some other circumstances). The small black-ish bugs may have been aphids, sucking insects which feast on plant sap. They come in different colors (IIRC, the ones which like tomatoes are black, white, green, and pinkish?). Some have wings, but most don't; you will see different ages/sizes together. A few shouldn't be a problem, but they breed incredibly fast, so you did the right thing to spray with insecticidal soap. Some people just squish them. Try to keep the plants consistently moist -- but don't overwater. *lol* -- no one ever promised life would be easy.... Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2000083030027695.html