-=> Quoting Jim Venedam to Marilyn Boissoneault <=-
Sorry to be so long getting back to you. Some kid decided to run
into my truck last week, and didn't get much done. Not serious,
just a lot of aggravation finding his insurance company and
stuff.
JV> Boy. Up in Boston, I used to have big bushy plants with tons of
JV> fruit. These things are all spindly and leggy. I only get about
JV> 1 tomato a day. I started off giving them liquid fertilizer, but
JV> now they're lucky if they get water. I guess this sandy "soil"
JV> doesn't provide enough nutrients. I'm surprised anything grows
JV> in it. I'll mix up some blue water today. 
My cherry tomatoes usually get big and busy, in fact they get
totally out off control!  I never grow more than one, usually put
it in about a month before the regular tomatoes.  If it's spindly
and leggy, it's either not getting enough sun, or starving to
death!   Well it could have a nematode problem. I usually put
compost, and some chicken manure around mine when I plant it.  I
get something called "Black Hen". I think that's the name of it
at least. But it's straight chicken manure, but for some reason
doesn't have the bad smell.  You can get it at Home Depot, also
saw it at the nursery at Sears.   It's also a good idea to keep
the tomato mulched, that helps keep it from drying out so fast,
I just use dried grass clippings.
You're right about the sandy soil though, takes a lot of organic
matter to get things growing. I started my veggie garden in 81
and have brought in truckloads of horse manure from the local
stable, bunches of those big bales of peat, and a couple of
truckloads of stuff I got at a nursery called "super soil", it
was rich black stuff. I mean truck loads too, but a small Nissan
size truck!  My soil is a million per cent better than when I
started, but still looks like sand. but if you pick up a handfull you
can see the difference.  I do find earthworms now quite a bit, so
I know it's better than it was.
JV> Ah.... I haven't seen many new taglines lately. Any ideas what 
JV> causes the birdbath water to turn so RED?
Red Tide?   Don't know, guess just the variety of algae, it
seems to vary with the season. Mine gets green certain times of
the year, but is more brownish now. I try to keep it cleaned out,
but not always too successfully.  The worst is when grackles come
to feed. I used to put stale bread out and they like to dunk
their food, and they sure make a mess off a bird bath in a
hurry!!
TTYL
Marilyn
... 
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000)
---------------