Epsoms salts is not a balanced enough fertilizer for tomatoes or any other plant grown in a container. As bboy explained, the lack of nutrients in potting soil and the need to replace leached nutrients requires a more complete fertilizer that contains ALL the necessary plant nutrients as well as trace elements. Osmocote added at the time of potting will help, as will any other granular organic vegetable fertilizer (Dr. Earth, Whitney Farms, etc.). And because edibles do tend to be heavy feeders or require higher nutrient levels to produce fruit, I'd supplement with a dilute liquid fertilzer periodically as well. A bit confused about the soil you used. Is it garden planting mix, intended for use in a garden (inground) setting or is it potting mix, designed for containers? There is quite a bit of difference between the two and could impact how well the pots drain. And if you've got one plant per 5 gallon pot, the size is about right. Black plastic nursery pots tend to trap and concentrate the heat and are most effective for growing toms in a container situation. If you have selected varieties with a short harvest period - ideal for our short tomato season - and have them where they will get maximum heat and sun, they should be fine. And it is always best to water very thoroughly when you do water. Saturate the soil mass so that the water runs out freely through the drain holes, then hold off on watering again until the top 2 inches of soil are pretty dry to the touch.

Speaking of weeds, I have no idea what most of them are called. Is there a website somewhere that shows weeds native to Oklahoma? I have some that grow thick and about 1' tall that have little tiny daisy-like flowers. When you pull them they feel like they have a lot of moisture in them and the roots don't go very far down. I didn't know what Henbit was called until someone posted a picture of it in Signs of Spring. I do have a couple of tomato plants that are coming out of it. But the Black Krim is just standing there, still erect, but sad little limp, darkening leaves dangling and no evidence of new growth. The sad thing is that I sold all my extra Black Krims. I had people requesting "that purple tomato". I guess I will sow a few more seed and maybe have some late ones for me. DH doesn't like them. Of course half the stuff he eats is stuff he says he doesn't like, he just doesn't know he's eating it. I covered some plants with plastic buckets and that didn't work, either. I should know better than to plant tomatoes before April 15 or 20. It seems like I "jump the gun" every year. One of the Tulsa news channels ran a piece on Livesay's Porter peach crop and how they had helicopters hovering over their trees, trying to force warmer air down during the freeze. It was interesting that Mr. Livesay said that at 27 degrees you lose about half your peaches. I always thought the margin was less than that -- that you'd lose all your fruit at anything less than 32. Since it only got to 29, I guess my trees were safe and I didn't know it. I hosed them all down just before I went to bed, and got up early the next morning to hose them down again, only to find that the hose was frozen! Grrrr. At that point the leaves were "crisp". I suppose it's really too early to know about the peaches. There are still flowers on the trees but they look a little lackluster. DH says it's because they've been polinated and are forming fruit but what does he know? He sent me off to Walmart during a snow storm once, saying the snow wasn't going to stick. By the time I got out of the store, it was snowing so hard I could barely see to get home and slid off the road when I turned the corner. We got about a foot of snow that day. One time I told him I thought the shelves in the pantry were starting to "lean", and he said they'd be OK. Luckily I was in the pantry when the shelf started to fall and was able to push back on it and holler for help. Otherwise I'd have lost my jars of pickles and tomatoes, not to mention the mess. So I know I can't really trust his judgment. I haven't seen any peaches forming. A few of the flowers have fallen on the ground but I think that's normal. I look every day to see a hopeful sign. The plum trees, though, had tiny little green plums formed before the freeze, and they still look good. And the apple trees were just beginning to bloom and they went ahead and bloomed on and the bees have been visiting the blossoms regularly. Is it just me, or have we had a colder than usual Spring?

Although some years we have had a lack of sun For tomato-growing, fog and cool -- if not downright cold -- summer weather can be make-it-or-break-it issues in some parts of the coast. There are a few varieties which are "supposed to" do a bit better in climates like San Francisco's. However, in parts of the Bay Area (yes, I know Santa Cruz isn't in the Bay Area, but the Bay Area is what I remember reading about) some years people get barely any -- or no -- ripe tomatoes. Unfortunately, that's about all I know, and my experience with your weather was many decades ago ... and for some reason the Sun always smiled on my mother when we went to Monterey or Carmel. I'm not saying it's only the weather to blame, but that could well be a major factor. When the Sun does shine, how many hours of direct sunlight does your tomato garden receive, and for what part of the day? Which varieties did you grow? Early varieties might have a better chance of producing more.

I am glad to read from other southerners! Celebrity and Rutgers have been my go-to tomatoes the last three years; the ones that I could count on no matter what the weather brings. After having my soil tested last fall, I realized that my beds were very low in nitrogen, so that made these two all the more impressive. Both of them produced at least some tomatoes all the way till frost which surprised me since they are determinates. This year, I have only one Celebrity and all the rest are heirlooms. I added a pound of blood meal to each bed (8'x3.5') in early spring, plus 3 or 4 inches of home-made compost. I also mulch heavily with pinestraw. I have fabulous plants this year! And no sign of the usual early blight so far. Here are my evaluations of the ones I am growing so far: Brandywine: Utterly delicious tomato. The fruit are lovely and big and the plant is producing more than I expected. I am probably picking 2 or 3 per week so far. Aunt Ruby Green: Hard to say whether we like this one best or Brandywine. The fruit are very large, and the taste is a bit more acidic than Brandywine. It's producing more fruit than Brandywine. Cherokee Purple: Very good tomato, but not as flavorful as the two above. Huge fruit. But very prone to cracking. Production is probably equal to Brandywine. Black Krim: Huge fruit. Much heavier production than the above. We like the flavor of Cherokee Purple a bit better, but it's still a good tomato. Several of the fruit have developed soft mushy spots. Don't know what that's about. Still waiting for the first ripe ones of German Johnson and Orange Jubilee. Some of the GJs look to be two pounds or more. Orange Jubilee has nice sized fruit and a whole lot of it. I also have in pots Juan Flamme and Sungold. Juan Flamme is only okay. It's so highly rated, that I am disappointed. But it was early and it is loaded with fruit. We can't keep up with Sungold's production. Its little cherries are delicious.