no pictures

Hi.

Oops, you need to upload those pics to Photo Bucket or Google or Flicker before we can see them. Right now the links are accessing your local drive and we can't access them. :-)

Anyhow, the first thing I think of when I hear "container" or "earthbox" is soil that's too soggy. This will make tomato plants look like they've been tortured. They'll curl, they'll turn color, they will look like they are at death's door. They will fail to thrive, look sickly, and then, eventually, they will die.

Tomatoes absolutely hate to stand around in water or wet soil. They need to dry out between watering, and the soil should be dry when you stick your finger several inches down in the soil.

The gnats are there probably because the soil is soggy. That's another clue that your plants might be getting way too much wetness.

I've not had much luck with earthtainers or any other self-watering container. There are people who have wonderful success with them. Apparently they've mastered the nuances of those things. I didn't. And, i know that the soil was all wrong for the Earthbox. It's really quite an art form to get it right. :-)

I tried one last year and the soil was constantly soggy. The tomato plants were not salvageable. You really have to make sure that you're using precisely the right soil, as most potting soils and potting mixes don't drain well enough to be used in self-watering containers. You need to make "soil" that really doesn't hold much water and is very porous.

Anyway, there's a link to the container gardening forum below. They may be able to help you with the finer points of achieving success as well as the technical aspects of the soil.

We can just tell you about tomato plants and I'm betting that they have been sitting in wet soil way too long. If you don't think that's the problem, then we will need to see the photos for a better diagnosis.

All the best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening Forum

Andy,

As Lionheart says, you need to upload your photos to a hosting site so you can link to them in a post.

To include a photo in your post, use the following code:
<img src="http://www.your_photo_host.com/yourphoto.jpg">;

Replace the Web address above with the URL of your image.

NOTE: If you use an image hosting service such as Photobucket, Flickr, etc, copy the image URL by right-clicking on the image, not by selecting the text in your browser's address bar. The image URL should end with .jpg or .gif Don't copy the Web page URL.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

I was hoping this entire post would have been in ye olde English.

leaving disappointed

probable too wet of soil ? gnats are a sure sign

I greatly thanketh all ye who have, of thine owne free will, offereth thy advice. Ok, that's about as good as I can do with olde English. I was just trying out a pun.

Thanks everybody! I'll definitely let it dry out more. Hopefully it will stay alive and the other one will keep doing pretty well. This was the first time I've used earthboxes (built them myself), and I used the kind of potting mix that my local gardener told me to use. The rest of my vegetables have done great.

I'm going to try to post the pics here, although I'm not very savvy with this sort of thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Andy's Wilting Tomato Plant

just curious what did your local gardener tell you to use? if he doesnt garden in a swc there might be a problem.

I don't recall the name of the bag exactly. I'll check later tonight, but I remember people called it Pro Mix?

I'm clearly a novice at this, but I really appreciate all your comments and thoughts. Betsy, your advice was particularly helpful. It's a little frustrating because the rest of the vegetables in the earthboxes are doing great. I'll start reading the contain forum and get more ideas from them.

Many thanks!

Andy, your plants look pretty good to me. I don't see anything obvious, but they do look a little wilty/pouty in places.

It's been a few days now. Are they getting any worse or better or about the same?

I don't see any disease. You might want to check the plants for very tiny pests. Bring a magnifying glass; some of the wee beasties are quite small and not always apparent to the naked eye. Are you using any insecticide on a regular basis?

One afterthought: If you're tying some of the branches to the cages, could some of those stems be tied a bit too tightly? Or, perhaps the twine or whatever is cutting into the stems where they are fastened?