Well, I think you know the answer. Nuisance insects who up when there's a problem.

I deadhead and trim the garden about every ten days, if I have spoiling fruit that's something I'll pick up faster, like almost immediately. My garden is an environment, I control that environment.

I also plant many flowers and herbs and shrubs...tomatoes are integrated into that environment. Because of the diversity I do attract beneficial insect and birds which eat many of the bad bugs.

Put your garden on a cleaning schedule and stick to it. Remove all over-ripe fruits before they begin to rot, take up all boards or boxes that roaches can hide under, and invest in some heavy-duty trash cans with tight fitting lids. Eventually the roaches will get the message that there's no place to hide and nothing to eat in your garden...they'll move on to other places.

trudi_d

Thanks. I started cleaning the garden right away. I never trimmed dead leaves nor did I ever dead-head flowers. I am amazed at how much work it is in cleaning up living plants. Most of the garden is still messy, but the areas I had time for look much better. I even went ahead and removed any tomato that looked 'extra' from the vines. I have read about removing some fruit so the rest get bigger, but have never done it. I have now! I also pulled the life support form a few plants. I always feel that if I snub a sick plant, I might miss out on finding a cure for it. I never do, so I tink I'll just put my effort into not letting them get too sick in the first place.

Thanks for the reply.

Vance, glad to hear that your garden in coming along nicely. I have no tolerance for sickly plants...I rip them out as soon as I see them. I also prune for my needs....overly huge toms are a pain to tie up so I cut back their canes, and I take out the lowest ones so I don't trip on them. I control the garden, it does not control me. And I'm a major control freak.

You have to keep a keen eye on what you have and judge it against the time and money that you can put into the garden. If you have too many plants to take care of then yank the worst of them first. Then prune and tidy what's left. If it still is too much then yank some plants that you don't care about. Eventually you'll be able to balance the number of plants in the entire garden with the care you can give to make the garden habitable, clean, and a place that you enjoy visiting.

This year, I'm growing mostly determinate toms, simply because they are a lot easier to take care of. I don't have the time anymore to do a jungle of tom plants, so the smaller dets will be less work and once they make their bulk crop they will get yanked...meaning that there's less work with them all season. They crop and I'm done with them. Out they go.

T

I'd be so sad to have just one crop of tomatoes. I need tomatoes for as many months as I can get them.

Otherwise, I agree; you have to have a garden you can manage, or none of it does as well as it could. I felt sad pulling tomato volunteers this spring, but I kept only a couple of the healthiest/earliest, the rest had to go to make room for my transplants.

Ewww, roaches. I hate those little bastards. Living in zone 5 apparently does have it's benefits, as in, no roaches outside.

I feel for you...me, I'd rather deal with a grizzly eating my tomatoes than with an army of cockroaches.

Wasn't aware that roaches eat tomatoes Live and learn, I suppose. But I do consign any spoiled fruit to the compost pile - no sense in attracting slugs or other unwanted critters. Mulched with pine shavings and it sure helps keep things clean. And will put down sluggo when the main crop tomatoes start ripening.

We had less than three inches of rain during March, April, and May combined. Then we had a normal 6.8 inches in June. We have lots of every kind of bug right now. Apparently rain makes them happy.

I'm sold on keeping things more hygienic in the garden.