longaeva54 you have a very interesting explanation on how to manage the injured root stocks. Today I've injured quite a few of my plants just because I neglect them in the flower bed for a year. to my surprise they were over grown, tried every best I could to save the roots, but bad luck I have to cut some of the roots to release them. i'll update the pictures tomorrow. I looked up this forum see what exactly to you do in this situation. My question is what do you do when there is no fungicide in your country, for instance VANUATU?

If you build the raied bed, you can leave the rocks and place the soil on top. Like I said, don't dig up the bush, simply raise it in place with a spading fork and water soil in under it. To eliminate all the weeds, place cardboard down prior to adding the soil. The cardboard will smother and destroy the weeds, decomposing over time. If you don't have time, pile soil at the base and build a small raised bed. A raised bed can be just a pile of soil on one bush with no sides to hold the soil in place. In cold winter areas, it's advised to plant the bud union (graft swelling) 4-6 inches below the soil surface to protect it from winter's bitter cold and eliminate the need to go to extremes to winter protect. If planted like most inexperienced growers do following the generic instructions on the label, the bud union is slightly above the soil surface right now. If you raise the plant as suggested, it'll be higher. Covering it with 6-8" of added soil would probably put it at the proper depth. Using a spading fork, it's easier to penetrate rock filled soil. Once loosened it's easier to shovel if you insist on removing them. I've done everything I'm suggesting so I'm not experimenting on you

I don't know about woven material, but in my experience the black plastic definitely heats up the ground. I read somewhere that it actually works better if the soil is damp because the warmth creates steam. I've heard clear plastic works better to warm the soil in the Spring, but that black will still help with warming the soil. I know that if I step on black plastic in the garden in the summer, it can burn my feet, so I'm sure that kind of heat has some effect. I've come to the conclusion that here in Utah just having a shorter season tomato doesn't cut it, we have to also grow varieties that handle our extremely hot/dry summers. I think that varieties that do well for Texas growers would do better here than varieties grown by those in the Pacific Northwest or the New England states. Some things I did this year that greatly increased my success were---consistent watering(we installed a drip system), I also used Fish emulsion to fertilize when the plants started blossoming, and about a month or so later when fruit finally started setting. This was in addition to the compost, peat moss, bone meal, and fertilizer I added at the time of planting. The plants seemed to really love the fish emulsion, I swear many of them grew overnight after applying it. (I especially noticed this on the peppers and squash.) I'm going to try and plant out earlier next year by warming the soil with plastic, and planting up against our ceder fence on the west side of my yard. Plants are effected least by frost there. I am going to buy some row cover, and tack some clear plastic to the fence and create a mini-greenhouse. I have a tomato friend from another forum that gardens in Montanta---I have gotten a lot of good advice from her as far as variety recommendations. She really raved about a variety called Aurora this year. I will be trying it out next year. I think days to maturity is so variable. I just stick to varieties that are in the early to mid-season range and still try one or two varieties that people rave about each year regardless of the maturation date. Tyffanie

Jericson- I was wondering ....could these be grown as "towers" ...by training the tap root to elongate and thicken? The caudex shape on these seedlings are already showing a tower shaped "trunk". Nice plants. Good luck with your plants. Love reading through your interesting threads. I learn a lot from your photos and well-documented growing experiences. Many thanks. Frank