Thank you Carolyn,

I would add that just under the FAQ page is a link to the Tomato Pests & Diseases forum and I have used the "HELP!!! Tomato Problem Solver 2" thread there many times.

Might want to bump this thread for a while.

I have answered many of my questions by searching. And while I generally do a search, I don't always use the correct key word or term. So, my search results don't always satisfy my curiosity or need. This forum is the most invaluable gardening tool that I have ever encountered.

Carolyn, you and "digdirt" and others have sound, experienced, specialized advice that can mean the difference between success and failure of a whole year's effort. At a minimum, the stress of not knowing is lifted. I want to personally thank all of you folks for unselfishly giving of your time and expertise. My daddy taught me that the greatest thing about knowledge happens when you're allowed to pass it on. He called it, "what good neighbors do."

Carolyn, thanks... I frequently forget about the FAQ's on the forums... in my browser, they appear very minimally and are easy to miss.

I keep blundering when I go to a new forum to ask a Q here on GW, I always forget to check the FAQ first.

thanks for this! should be bumped nightly!

I got a better idea. In the section where you post a new question, they should put a couple of sentences there to please use the search function or FaQ before posting your questions.

Thanks Carolyn and Dave for their continue effort in answering the questions. But I know that it can be discouraging to come back here when you see same question over and over again.

Imagine folks who worked at AOL when it first start. woooh.

Keys to successful searching here.

1) use the forum specific search located at the bottom of that forum's front page rather than the entire GW search bar at the top of the page and do NOT include the forum topic in the search term. ie: do NOT search "tomato" in the tomatoes forum - you get every listing that contains the word that way. ;)

2) use broader, general terms rather than long specific terms. ie: "bottom rot" rather than "tomatoes rotten on the bottom", "leaf form" rather than "deformed leaves on tomato plant".

3) do not rule out a discussion just because what you want isn't in the title. It is in the discussion itself so open the discussion and use your browser "find Next" to locate the point.

4) as the forum guidelines suggest, title your posts in a useful manner. Titles such as Tomato question, Help!! my tomatoes, What is this?, etc. aren't searchable titles.

Granted, it isn't a great search engine here but it is useable and can be of great assistance. ;)

Dave

bump

My home was hit by lightning on Tuesday. No phone until late yesterday, my DSL modem was zapped and no TV, probably the dish was zapped as well.

I have many calls to make right now to Verizon and the TV folks and will be back when I can, but this dialup is so slow I'm not used to it.

6 inches of hail on the next road over but none here and I think the tomatoes are OK.

Carolyn

Carolyn

I suppose in the end we might end up with a piece of software installed that automatically re-directs us to FAQ, should anyone type in BER or Pruning tomatoes, etc,

How terribly -terribly boring (Yawn)

Carolyn, best of luck with your tomatoes and the cable/phone people. I'm not sure which is more difficult to deal with. ;^)

I suppose in the end we might end up with a piece of software installed that automatically re-directs us to FAQ, should anyone type in BER or Pruning tomatoes, etc,
How terribly -terribly boring (Yawn)

****

I don't think so, as in a piece of software standing in.

For many folks the FAQ's DO answer their questions and many are simply not aware of the FAQ's and Search feature, but for some the FAQ's and Search will NOT answer their questions, so of course they can then post about that and all those who wish to answer in that thread can do so.

Carolyn

Yes....don't be afraid to post your question anyway. After all, thats what a discussion forum is for. :)

The FAQ for this forum is helpful, and I congratulate whomever worked so diligently to produce it. However, it is incomplete and not always in context with reality; because one size never fits all applications.

Just one small example: "Never prune a 'determinate' type tomato, or you will lose production!" So says the FAQ.

"Never" is an absolute that, in this case, ignores fact.

There are reasons why selectively pruning even determinate tomato cultivars may increase production under certain circumstances. Early, pre-flower pruning promotes stronger and healthier plants. Even careful pruning the first blossoms might promote better and earlier future production. Selective pruning of foliage on more rampant determinates opens up the canopy for air circulation and spray mist access, and can stimulate the plant to produce more flowers ... hence more fruit.

If stronger, healthier plants better survive disease until harvest, then pruning promotes better production, right? If so, the FAQ's statement "never prune a 'determinate' type tomato, or you will lose production" is an absolute that doesn't fit all applications ... and, in fact, may be bad advice.

There may be other issues as well. Check this out: Harris Moran - Amelia Tomato

"This new tomato (a determinate, TSWV-resistant cultivar) produces a vigorous plant that can yield extra large and large sized fruit. Harris Moran field testing shows it performs best under moderate to heavy pruning."

The FAQ gives general answers. A "discussion" forum gives opportunity to explore a subject in more detail and across broader applications. Information empowers.

~~~ Information empowers. ~~~

No question but having at least some basic education allows one to ask better questions.

The FAQ is not the definitive work on any subject but a very good place to start.

It is obvious that many have not done even the most basic level of exploration prior to asking questions and it is a loss to them and their plants.

Vigorous but civil, informed, decent is how deeper advancement in understandig is achieved. None of that need take from the more social aspects of the forum.

dissent, my apologies.

As if thats the only one :-)

For many folks the FAQ's DO answer their questions and many are simply not aware of the FAQ's and Search feature, but for some the FAQ's and Search will NOT answer their questions, so of course they can then post about that and all those who wish to answer in that thread can do so.

*****

Is what I posted above.

Of course the FAQ's are general but as I've said they do help many folks and if they don't, then the person can start a thread and ask.

If you look at my first post in this thread I said that the reason I posted it was b'c I knew that many folks didn't even know about the FAQ's and the Search feature. And it's for them that I tried to help.

So of course the FAQ's are NOT a substitute for a more full discussion of some issues and I had thought that I had made that abundantly clear in what I cut and pasted to this post.

As it is, most of the folks who have posted here already are not new folks, but those who have been here a long time.

And for those of you who haven't been here a long time what happened back in the early 2000's was that many folks ASKED for such FAQ's and I volunteered to coordinate that effort and what was to be put in the FAQ's was available for ALL to read before they were posted. After it became too much for me to do b'c of other obligations Paul took over and did the uploading after each of them had been presented to all GW members for input.

And yes, it took a great many people and a lot of hard work and dedication to do those new FAQ's , meaning, some of them were there from before after tomatoes were moved to this Forum from the Vegetable Forum where at that time the majority of posts were about tomatoes.

Just a bit of history on the background of how the new FAQ's came to be.

And never were they intended to be anything other than general b'c no way could ALL aspects of any of them be mentioned b'c sometimes no one even knows what issues will be raised.

So, speaking personally, for those who are NEW to GW and those posting here already and didn't know about the FAQ's and the Search Feature, I at least hope that they will be a useful beginning to learning more about tomatoes.

Carolyn

Well said Carolyn.

How things change. From the days of high demand for FAQ's on basic subjects to these days of "don't even mention them".

As dave1mn2 said so well above, they are not the definitive work on any subject, nor were they ever intended to be, but they are a very good place to start. And they do provide the basic reassurance that so many seek that what they are experiencing is a shared and often easy-to-fix problem.

Dave

I have learned a lot from browsing the FAQ sections (once I figured out how to get to them.) I appreciate all the work that went into putting them together. They're really useful.

By the way, I saw a mention in the FAQ on how to avoid cross pollination about using nylons to bag blossoms. Is there an FAQ with more detailed guidance? I'd like to try it with my tomatoes, but I'm not sure how to fasten it so the nylons will stay on without strangling the vine.

bump

bump

,,,,, and you probably noticed that I had already linked to this one in the thread you started and said that I thought the other one started by pcarolyn that you bumped up was the much better one for folks asking about FAQ additions.

But maybe it was a good idea to bump this one up b'c so many folks are still asking questions that are covered in general in the current FAQ's.

And so to bed, perchance to dream. ( smile)

Carolyn

Please use the search function or FAQ before posting your questions. Bump