They are trying to make a sale. Can you blame them. I give a lot of credit to the Burped advertising team for coming up with such an add. It has to work on thousands of readers.

<Where would we be without these fine people and their rock solid suggestions?>

OMG I never thought about doing any of those things! Do you think it might be possible to accomplish the same things, maybe even better, without using any Burpee products? ;-)

It is true that Burpee has an innovative ad exec. Too bad most of it does a dis-service to the average tomato growing public.

Dave

Well you are now required to provide a cheaper alternative to those 5 items.

1. Cage support: Find a bamboo bush and chop a few. Or find a couple of poles or
stakes and get some strings to make a "Florida weave" trellis.

2. Fruit blossom: Tickle the flowers or let the winds do it.

3. Calcium: Erm...powdered egg shells or oyster shells in the planting hole? (However, I understand it
take a long time to break down). Also not over fertilize plant
with nitrogen.

4. Extra light: Put it in a sunny spot.

5. Compost, worm casting, mulching, epsom salt.

Burpee's seems to be desperate to stay in business. Seems to me that seeds business has turned sours. With the advent of internet, seed selling has become very competitive and the buyers are better informed.
I see they are selling mediocre tomato seedlings (at HD) in 3" pots for $3.78. Bonnie has reduced their similar size seedlings (but better quality) from $368 to $2.50. Local growers are selling the same stuff for $1.99. I buy the local small grower product as much as possible. Today I bough a "Padron Pimento" for $1.99.. Bonnie is selling mostly Jalapeno and bell peppers.

Sey

The more sources the better - IMO! A good marketing executive makes other companies better. Top 5 tomato tips helps gardeners - sells products - improves gardens - alternative tips surface - everyone's a winner. Kudos to all who contribute !!!

I know they're expensive, but those Burpee cages, with extensions, work very well for me and are easy to use/handle.