Your comments and tips

01 Dec 19, Tom (Australia - temperate climate)

What is the best fertilizer for tomatoes?

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16 Dec 19, Barbara (Australia - temperate climate)

My tomato bushes are great and promise a bumper crop again this year. As my mother before me, I dig cow manure (from the shop) into the bed six weeks before planting the seedlings. My mother added liquid manure to hers as well.

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03 Dec 19, anon (Australia - temperate climate)

A general all round fertiliser grows most things.

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29 Nov 19, Allan Fraser (Australia - temperate climate)

my tomatoes are being bored into with some sort of caterpillars also some with black spots any ideas on how cure this organiclly or failing that anything to stop it ???

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17 Feb 20, Elizabeth (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I found the same thing happening a few months ago with our tomatoes (Black Russian and Moneymaker). I found out it is Cotton bollworm: a nocturnal moth which lays it's eggs on the flowers, which then hatch and enter the baby tomatoes when they are tiny. I have my tomatoes string-trained on a 'cage' structure made from sticks/branches, so I used a Vege Net from Green Harvest over the entire structure, pegging and tucking the edges in (placing plastic flower pots over the tops of the sticks/branches, to prevent holes in the net). There was a period of finding spots developing, and caterpillars inside the tomatoes for a few weeks after, however no fresh infestations. I'll be doing the same this year right from the start.

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02 Dec 19, Another gardener (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Look up natural sprays for caterpillars and Qld fruit fly on the internet. The holes caused by pillars and black dots are probably qld fruit fly. Chemical for QFF is LEPIDEX.

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17 Nov 19, Allan Clarke (Australia - temperate climate)

Hello to all at Gardenate, I see that you say that tomatoes can be frozen, but it is my experience that on thawing they go all soggy, and will not hold there shape, is this correct. Have a great day, Allan.

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17 Dec 19, Barbara (Australia - temperate climate)

I wouldn't freeze fresh tomatoes. I do make pasta sauce, freeze it and then use it for all those wonderful winter recipes like lasagna. You could just peel them (by placing them in boiling water for 3 minutes), and cook them for five minutes on the stove, cool them and then freeze them to use later.

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18 Nov 19, Anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

If frozen I don't think you could use as a fruit to slice etc. I think you could make sauces or similar.

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02 Nov 19, Anna (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I'm looking to grow cherry tomatoes close to my sweet Peppers and wondered if they are compatible together? Can't seem to find an answer on the net.

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