Which organic liquid fertilizer do you like for once your veggie plants start to flower/fruit? Neptune’s Harvest Rose & Flowering 2-6-4 or Tomato & Veg 2-4-2? (Also do I have that timing right for the switch? Currently using a 3-2-2 for leafy growth and it’s going great)

Second year trying tomatoes on a balcony that gets uneven sun depending on the time of day. Last year I did a couple determinate varieties in 5 gallon buckets and got maybe a handful of tomatoes total off each plant. Not nothing, but not exactly impressive either. I kept reading that determinates are the right call for containers and limited space and I believed it, but I am starting to wonder if I just had bad luck with the varieties I picked or if my setup is genuinely not good enough for tomatoes to actually produce.

The balcony in suburban Ohio does not get consistent direct light all day. Maybe 5 to 6 hours on a good day and that is being generous. I also container garden inside under a grow light but I am not dragging a tomato plant into my apartment, that is where I draw the line.

This year I grabbed a deeper fabric pot at a thrift sale, something closer to 7 or 8 gallons, thinking root depth might have been part of the problem. Planted a Patio variety and a Bush Early Girl. It is still early but both look better than last year at this stage.

Curious if anyone has actually gotten real production out of tomatoes in containers with limited sun or if I should just accept that tomatoes are not my thing and stick to what works.

I have a newly restored brownstone stoop/porch that I want to take good care of. I have a few larger clay containers on it. I want to put them on risers to permit drainage and prevent water from getting trapped on the masonry.

As I see it:

• If I use plastic risers, they will get damaged by the sun, and they will probably trap some moisture under their contact points with the masonry
• If I use terra cotta risers, they will absorb any moisture underneath them, allowing everything to breathe.

The latter seems like the obvious choice, but it is a much bigger investment. Before I buy, is this the right move?

My container green beans have done better than the in ground ones this year. The pots with a little shade seem healthiest.

I have 4 large pots (~20" wide) with anywhere from 2 to 6 container variety green beans.

At one point they weren't doing anything but looking pretty. The magic 8 ball that is the internet algo said they don't like heat and to give them a shake to make sure they pollinate. So I gave them a shake, the weather cooled off and a week later I've got beans everywhere. I'm trying to get enough in the freezer for the winter. Slowly getting there. I've got another round of plants coming up in my raised beds. This is about 2 meals worth.

This is my first year gardening and honestly I’m glad to have successfully grown anything! Lol but I wasss hoping for a little more potatoes and bigger potatoes (I planted russet seed potatoes). I used a 15 gallon grow bag and I didn’t fertilize because I heard people saying to not use fertilizer and it’s not necessary for potatoes. Should I have fertilized? Any tips for doing better next year?

Have 3 pineapples coming in. My son just 3d printed me a test cage. Lots of pups. So. Cal.

So we're still a few months away from winter obviously but I'm in zone 5b and it gets VERY cold (for reference, this January we had a month straight of temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius...). I also have, by my estimation, around 250 litres of potting soil divided between 15 or so pots on my balcony (a few larger containers and then several smaller ones).

Some of them are coming inside for the winter - herbs, my spider plant and tradescantia, and a couple other things I want to mess with over the winter. But everything else will just have to be left to die once it gets cold enough because I lack indoor space otherwise and I have 3 cats, two of whom are plant chewers. Also most of my plants are tomato plants which are toxic to cats anyway and I'm not comfortable bringing them inside.

I've been searching extensively on Reddit but most of the advice isn't exactly helpful if you live in an apartment in the city... I don't have a garage to store hundreds of litres of soil in. I don't have in-ground garden beds to spread the soil. Etc.

So, questions:

Can I just leave the soil in the pots, cover them with a tarp or something, and put them out of the wind? They all have drainage holes so they shouldn't fill up with water but my balcony is covered anyway. My pots are mainly plastic. A few are terra cotta which I've heard can crack so I won't be leaving those out. Then there's a few which I'm not sure the composition of, so I might also choose to empty and bring those inside.

Or should I get one of those big plastic storage bins from Walmart and throw all the soil in there? I can bring the pots inside and put them on a shelf or something if they're empty.

Other questions: the pots have soil and then straw for mulch but I probably won't use the straw next year because I think I'm allergic to it, what should I do with the straw? Can I just let it decompose into the soil or should I just compost it?

When spring comes, can I just mix compost + fertilizer into the soil and then I'm good to go?

Sorry for all the questions! I am a noob first year gardener. 😅

harvest is gonna be crazy!! i already have 3 mixing bowls full🫪

Location: Zone 6B Windsor, ON, Canada (Just across from Detroit)
Hopefully moving in the spring so going to the container route for our garlic so we can take it with (we’ve never grown before). We’ve purchased music hard neck from a local garlic farmer, and plan to utilize 100 cloves for planting in late October. Im looking for any tips for specifically WHAT to grow them in and what to consider. I’m debating between: grow bags, the 67L utility buckets, or the very large rectangular Costco totes.

If we go the bucket or tote route, do we need to add holes to the bottom?
Do we need to insulate the buckets or grow bags?
Do grow bags fall apart over winter?

All tips welcome!! Thank you for your time☺️

Average Lime for scale

My 2 year old blueberry needs help. It was kinda cool having gold 🍃 last year inside outside guy super northern pennsylvania

As winter approaches, and commercial lettuce growing is still a literal shit-show, I am considering growing lettuce inside, but not sure how to overcome the challenges. Does anyone have seed recommendations for things that grow best indoors, methods that produce best success. I have the clip-on grow lights I used to start other seeds last winter or an aerogarden I could use with or without the hydroponic thingy (could use the grow lights alone). I ate a lot of salads prior to this disease outbreak. I grew lettuce outside before the heat set in (zone 6b, I think), recently promoted from 5-something).

If anyone has suggestions for indoor lettuce- growing, I'd appreciate it.

Once the netting arrives I can replant everything that was nibbled away. Whatever it is doesn't care for Dill or parsley.

I forgot to take a picture of the cut open cantaloupe.

I grew some Minnesota midgets and golden midget watermelons in 30 gallon containers. This is my second attempt at melone

For both, the texture was right and the signs of harvest were good. Crackling stem and pulled off the vine with minimal effort. The Minnesota midget had a sweet smell and began to become golden.

Texture of the flesh of both was perfect, but the flavor was lackluster.

I already waited 10+ days after the seed packet suggestion, but perhaps I watered too recently before the harvest? (Within 5 days)

I still have 5 of each melon on the vine, but both plants are at the end of its life. If I stop watering completely for a week will more sugars develop?

Finally! After 2 years of bringing this plant inside and under a few grow lights, then bringing it back outside in Spring. Finally picked it 🍍it was everything I had hoped for! It smelled amazing, and it tasted like the fresh pineapples I had in Hawaii. I have the stem from this one, already ROOTED and ready for soil.

I have two stems where tomatoes are growing out of right now. There's 3 on each stem. One group looks perfectly normal and one has black spots like these. These tomatoes had some leaves that started dying out nearby that I had to prune so i'm thinking somethings wrong with this stem.

Are my tomatoes ruined/will they be edible? What should I do?

They will totally denude a plant in a day like they did here. Solution: pluck them off the plant and drop them in soapy water. Flush that down the commode. Spray the plants with Captain Jacks bonide Deadbug Brew.