Until I recently went back and looked at the picture from this post, I did not fully appreciate how much the tomatoes have grown. They went from this:
Um, can you say thanks Miracle Gro? I should hasten to add that they're feet are in organic potting soil and also that I did not make boxes deep enough to not feed them. I would like to point out that other that blue dye, Miracle Gro is pretty much just a bunch of minerals. And I also just happen to have a large box of it unused in my barn... Can't win them all! Next year in our raised beds I will be making a more complex mix of soil. This year I needed to plant tomatoes ASAP. And, I am disorganized to the max. The End.
Something I have never done before that I would like to remark on is pruning more than just the 'armpit suckers'. In my search for information on growing tomatoes all the way in a greenhouse, I read an article on pruning. This person who grew tomatoes in an extremely short growing period (Canada) stressed the importance of pruning for maximum fruit. Prune all but three (3) stems below a clump of fruit or flowers and all suckers. *Never the tops because this will halt growth* I have tons of flowers and now some small tomatoes growing... maybe about twenty on each plant at the current time and they keep getting taller and making more! Assuming each fruit reaches about four ounces in weight and the fruit doubles to forty at eighteen plants I am looking at about 180 pounds of fruit. Time will tell I guess!
Here are a few more pictures from the greenhouse to give you an idea of the growth:
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