Gardening advice
 

We bought some tomato, green chili peppers, lemon plants from home depot 2 months back. We keep those in big pots in our patio where thetre is enought sunlight all day long. I water them every 2 days as instructed by the home depot garden guy. We put vigoro fertiliser and miracle grow soil.

We have been waiting anxiously for them to grow the tomatoes, peppers and lemons for last 3 months. They have grown a lot in size and we also bought bigger pots as instructed. They have flowers for last 2 weeks but no fruits/veggies yet! :?: Do the flowers eventually turn into veggies? How long does it take?

Also a month or so ago, I saw some holes in the leaves so we got a "neem" insecticide which they told us is the best non-poisonous pesticide. Now there are no holes and the plants look very healthy. does this affect the fruits and veggies to come?

Unfortunately I've never had much luck with potted vegetable plants. Yes, they do seem to take longer. And the fruit they produce is nowhere near what comes off of my plants that are in the ground.

I personally won't do potted veggie plants ever again. I was even going to suggest the Miracle Gro, but I see you've already done that.

Are they getting enough sun? Tomatoes and peppers need full sun.

I have to admit I've never had any luck growing fruits and veggies in pots, either (although, according to Martha Stewart, it can be done). It's very hard to make sure they have a consistent amount of water, which is critical.

My first tip would be to put a layer of mulch over the soil in all the pots (try cocoa mulch if it is available in your area--it smells out of this world, exactly like chocolate). This will help keep the soil from drying out. Also, I would check the soil every day to see if the plants need water (dig your finger down several inches to see if the soil is moist). Tomatoes require very deep, thorough watering.

You also might want to cut the tomato plants back a bit. Cut off some of the branches that aren't flowering. This might encourage the plant to put its energy into fruiting. It also will ensure that more energy is directed to the fruit. This year I've been much more aggressive in cutting back my tomatoes and I do seem to be getting a better crop.

Lemon trees generally don't produce fruit for two to three years. In fact, if the tree does form lemons during the first two to three years, you should actually pick them off as soon as they form so that the tree will put its energy into growing. Once the tree is more established, it will be able to support fruit. Also, you need a really, really big pot to grow a lemon tree, even a dwarf one. And lemon trees do not like to be transplanted. So I would get it into a pot that will be big enough to support it as a adult now, otherwise you're looking at more delays in fruiting after you transplant it. Even better, find a nice sunny spot in the yard for it and get it out of the pot. It will do much better in the ground.

Also, I've never had any luck with miracle grow or other chemical fertilizers. The plans will look good for a couple of weeks then go to pot. They are also bad for the environment and it's really easy to over fertilize (esp. since the potting soil may have also had some fertilizer in it already). I would look for organic fertilizers (alfalfa meal, bone meal, and fish emulsion). These are much gentler on your plants. It's also possible that the Miracle Gro is encouraging the plant to put its energy into growth rather than fruiting. Be careful not to over fertilizer--you have to resist the urge! In my limited six years or so experience with gardening, most problems come down to watering, not fertilizer.

- Barbara

I dont have a backyard!!! (no single homes here...all condos and apartments here :( ) I wish our work wouldnt have brought us here, but anyway, I do have a large patio however, very large, I could put a queen sized bed in there! so pots is the only option I have to satisfy my hobby....

The pots are huge but I know ground is always the best ! Also the sunlight is great all year round. i will look into the mulch thing. Barbara, I think You are right..may be I am watering them less often and I should cut some branches (the tomato plants are spreading horizontally so fast).

I think you just need to be patient--it sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. If the plants have only been flowering for two weeks I wouldn't expect to see veggies on them yet.

You might want to stake the tomato plants instead of cutting them back.