On the Vine

I finally got around to trimming the lower branches of the tomatoes and providing some support, now that they are starting to keel over. I added some grass mulch to help prevent the soil from drying out so rapidly in all this heat we've been having the past month. Also added some pine needle mulch to help lower the pH (diced with old blender to speed absorption). They are looking much happier now.


I also added a small amount of some 18-18-21 (N-P-K) fertilizer since they are now fruiting, some leaves were looking yellowish and the roots were disturbed with the added supports. This is only the second time I added fertilizer this year, I will not likely again. I will try adding compost next time, though it is in short supply with the recent garden expansion this year using most of it up. Hence the tranport of fruit wastes (i.e. banana peels, apple cores) from work to the compost at home, plus hoarding plant wastes from friends yards. But needs another year to decompose.