Thanks everyone! I probably did everything wrong with these but somehow they survived the summer in my care. The containers are all from Costco. The aqua colored ones are big glazed stoneware containers that were sold for about $40 each last year during the spring. The Costco stores around Texas had their garden sections piled high with them. The terra cotta container is also an imported Italian one from Costco. They were selling for around $11 last year. I also use them for potted tomatos. I potted my citrus in a mix of equal parts peat, pinebark mulch, composted cow manure, and sand with gravel in the bottom covered by landscape cloth to provide better drainage. I have them on the same drip irrigation line as my tomatos and they get about 15 minutes of drippage every morning. I bought some citrus stakes (the hard fertilizer stakes) and pounded one in each each container for fertilizer. And then I haven't bothered to pay any attention to them since May. Before the first frost I'll probably roll them into the garage and set them in a row along the south wall of the garage which has windows. Last year we only had two frosts here in the Waco area, one in January and one in March. But you just never know.

Do they slip easily from the vine like a cantaloupe? I have never grown them before until this year.

Oklahawg, Jonathan should be ripe between August 20th or so and mid-September and Golden Delicious should begin ripening a week or so after Jonathan. I've linked some apple-growing info from Texas A&M. If you look at question #8, it will give a few things to watch for to help you determine when to harvest. I think somewhere in that set of questions that give the days from bloom to harvest for some apples, so if you can remember when your apples bloomed, that info might come in handy too. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: How To Know When Apples Are Ripe

" there isn't much space between them (I can make a photo if you want)." I remember them from the prior thread about the epsom salt damage, and know they must have grown since then, I just didn't realize how many plants you had! You've done such a good job on them too, so far! "securing the vines" This I just mean being proactive like you've tied with string as the plants have grown. Get ahead of the growth before you leave so no additional stems end up on the ground, especially those supporting tomatoes that will soon get heavier and bend down to the ground level where they have increased chances of getting foliar diseases from the splashing of dirt, or even breaking under the weight. Mulch also helps. "spraying anti-fungal" Foliar fungicide is a preventative action to avoid infection. I know toxic copper sprays are banned for use in the Netherlands even though it is the most common fungicide in the US where regulators ignore the risks and it is sold over the counter in every garden store. You need to call the local garden products center and ask what the most effective option they recommend that is widely available there is. Perhaps its chlorothalonil, which we use in the US; so is Serenade, a fungicide that uses a live ingredient to produce the anti-fungal & anti-bacterial effect ... I'm pretty sure you can get this one in Holland for the home, since it is made by Bayer. There are other fungicide options. Spraying leaves is a common topic of conversation in this forum there are many posts about it, just say the word and someone will probably help with the links. Just one caution, be careful walking around those garden centers as people track all kinds of plant disease into them. If your tomatoes are doing well, I would hate for you to go to a garden center with lots of spores floating around. I'm paranoid - but I feel for good reason. Mulching can help. "Mulching" Yes you can see what people prefer in your area. Straw is popular in some places (I use a version actually made from sun bleached pine leaves we call "pine straw" here) but like everything in tomatoes, people have strong opinions about different products. (I hope this link is clean, but it looks like a good explanation from some crazy Drenthe farmboys :-)) The important thing is disease-free mulch of any kind is better than no mulch. The mulch serves at least three purposes. It prevents splashing of soil which may contain pathogens (though many pathogens are airborne and we have little control over rains and winds that carry them). It keeps the ground from drying out quickly which can help with irrigation smoothing, and it helps regulate temperatures, being cooler in the heat of day. I'm really glad to hear you have an expert joining the Dutch tomato team. Your Aunt sounds like a perfect choice to add to the team. I bet she's got a normal Dutch girl with an expert flair for gardens and bicycles in her, too ;-) If the tomatoes get some love and care, we can start taking bets on how many you'll get ! Cheers! PC