I wish we could have seen them when they were healthy looking as those in the first picture are far from it. They look like they were weak and spindly from the get-go due to far too little sun. Not at all like a normal San Marzano or C. Purple appear.

And their very poor appearance could be caused by many different things you are doing. Same goes for dropping blossoms - many different causes.

As for " tiny looking spider type insects" - no possibility of a photo of them? There are several soil dwelling pests that can cuase damage but none I can think of are described as "spider-type". They usually look more like tiny larvae or grubs or worms. Google Symphylans and see if that photo matches.

But they usually aren't a problem in containers unless the mix is contaminated to begin with. What specific brand did you use?

Dave

PC and I were typing at the same time. ;-)

So thats the mix and fertilizer I've been using. As far as moisture in the soil, it does seem a little bit on the wetter side but its not like wringing out a sponge. The insects are super small and grayish, there are a lot of them too. I didn't see any signs of insects on the above ground parts. I am going to start over with some new transplants, just want to make sure i don't run into similar issues next time around. Any other info that would be helpful, please let me know.

First, i would like to say how extremely difficult it was to get the insect picture. Took about 20minutes and 100 photos but that's the best i can do. If you look at the log (woodchip) in the center you can see the long skinny body whitish yellowish in the bottom left quadrant. The bottom picture is a close up of a flower cluster from the CP before they started falling, it was taken 2 weeks before the other ones. It's not great but it's the only one i have of them healthy.

And in addition to the potting mix you put how much of that food a.k.a. fertilizer in there? The potting mix also has fertilizer in it, and it is not soluble. This would appear to be a case when insoluble fertilizer gave you the problem in the form of a big wack of nitrogen, and the potting mix is more than half peat and has coconut coir...advertised as "absorbs water like a sponge" 'Nuff said. Read Dave and my comments, this potting mix is too spongy and fyi the NPK of it is 0.18-0.10-0.12. That's about two ounces of organic nitrogen in 1 to 1.5 cubic foot (50 pounds), which is enough to take your tomato a long ways in itself. And it probably spiked in the heat and helped create the environment nicely for the bugs.

Don't use that mix, find something more aerated and less spongy. This one was designed specifically to be a sponge and you have an earth box clone, so you definitely do not want a soggy mix in that ... you have a far superior way to deliver the liquid.

Cheers

PC

Based your choice of potting mix, it really sounds to me like your plants were doing poorly from too much moisture at the roots. Any kind of "moisture retaining" potting mix really opens you up to problems because the mix tends to stay way too mucky and never aerates properly. Organic mixes that are "moisture retaining" are particularly problematic, since they often come infected with fungus gnats and other organisms.

Leigh Licata: i also removed the black plastic mulch and put down some light color eucalyptus mulch. The new growth turned very spindly and yellow, almost white and all those beautiful flower clusters started falling off one by one.

...and based on your description above and the second pic in your original post, there's a chance that the mulch may have been contaminated with herbicide.

Re: the little bugs you're seeing--It's hard to see detail in that photo, but I would guess based on common soil organisms that are elongated and white that it's some kind of springtail. But they don't really look like spiders to me. There are many species that look different, but here's a common one. Did they look something like that?

If it's springtails, that's to be expected in very wet conditions with lots of organic matter. Which means the conditions are way too wet for tomatoes.

Fungus gnat larvae. Some eggs may have been in the mix and they hatch into tiny flies that then lay more eggs etc. and the problem is only made worse by keeping the mix overly wet.

As PC said that particular brand of mix as well and especially the fertilizer is bad stuff. It gets consistent bad reviews for a number of reasons. Add to that the fact that organic fertilizers such as that do not work at all well in containers because there is no soil food web to pre-digest them so the plants can use them. Plants don't eat feather meal. ;-) Plus it is very low dose to begin with and VERY slow acting.

Basically, if you are going to be growing in containers then use a good soil-less container mix and skip the so-called "organic" label stuff. Believe it or not Miracle Grow Potting Mix, aside from a small dose of synthetic fertilizer in it, is just as "organic" as that stuff is and one of many mixes that are far better for growing plants.

And please don't over-plant your container as you did first time around. 2 plants tops in that container.

Dave

Also, in 10a S. FL, you are past much of the good part of the season. When repeating pick cherry tomatoes and practice with them if you want. Sungold, Super Sweet 100 or Gardener's Delight, Matt's Wild Cherry, Black Cherry, Pink Bumblebee, Snow White, Lemon Drop, etc. all will be less fuss and likely set fruit in humidity and heat better. Then in fall you can go with CP and other delicacies through the winter.

Cheers

PC

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I did not put much of the extra fertilizer in the box when i prepared it, I kind of felt like there it was going to be over doing it. I figure it would be easier to add more food if needed versus removing nutrients if there was too much. So i did look up some reviews and see several complaints of fungus gnats with that soil mix. So regular MG potting mix should solve the over wet soil? Are there any other decent mixes anyone would recommend? Also, the problems started before i put the wood mulch down. I put that down in response to the issues thinking the black had made it too hot. Thanks again everyone, your knowledge and willingness to share it is much, much appreciated. Good night all

"So regular MG potting mix should solve the over wet soil? Are there any other decent mixes anyone would recommend?"

Not alone. You also have to make sure your SW containers are wicking properly and if they appear to still be keeping the soil overly wet then you'll have to cut way back on your watering.

There are many other good brands of soil-less container mix and most have their favorites. You'll find many recommendations over on the Container Gardening forum here. I only mention the MG because it is readily available most everywhere. My personal favorite is ProMix BX.

For fertilizer please understand that containers require regular feedings as the nutrients leach out of the container when you water. Many of us who regularly grown in containers find that the water soluble ones work best, well diluted and used every 7-10 days. Other prefer using granular slow release types. But whatever way you go make sure it is a regular supplement, not a one time thing.

I agree with PC that your tomato planting time in Florida is rapidly passing until Fall as your heat and humidity will not allow the blooms to set fruit.

Dave

Ditto Dave's comments, he uses ProMix BX which is the superior product. I'm one who likes a combo of controlled release inorganic fertilizer with soluble Miracle Gro tomato fertilizer in the cube box, but that is a personal choice, not a comment on what fertilizer is better, as that depends mostly on knowing how to use use it.

A long time favorite is 1:1:1 mix of (peat):(not soggy compost):(perlite). If you want to buy it quickly: MG regular plus 50% of its volume mixed with perlite. That works out to about equal parts since MG is maybe 55% peat and maybe 40% compost filler. There is a little perlite already in there so you can use a little less than 50% if cost is a concern and get closer to 1:1:1.

Example: 16 gallon tote needing 12 gallons fill.

MG potting mix 8 gallons

Perlite 4 gallons (50% the volume of MG)

or if you don't buy perlite by the cubic foot at the feed store like me, and get indecently robbed by some retail big box store perlite brand, just use 8.5 gal MG to 3.5 gal of it, savings isn't much and you may adjust this as you learn more...if growing in rainy season more perlite is probably better.

Good luck and good night!

PC

How large is that planter? It doesn't seem big enough to support three tomato plants...perhaps go with just one per container the next time around?

I have grown in Earthboxes for a number of years and agree that organic ingredients such as manures and composts are not ideal ingredients. Soiless mix, as Dave said are best. I have grown in straight Sphagnum peat before and although that was an accident, it worked out just fine. ProMix is great. Miracle grow moisture control works well also but I liked it better before they added coir. Growing organically in any type of container can be a challenge. SW containters such as Earthbox have their own set of requirements and one of those is a soiless mix high in peat. Worm castings or other manures or organic ingredients added tend to defeat wicking and result in poor air flow soggy soil and sick plants.

Ok, I think I understand everyone's advice. One last question, if I am to go with regular MG potting mix how long after planting would I start a regular feeding cycle? Basically, how long will the fertilizers already in the mix last?

Depends principally on how much leaching happens with drain overflow, how much total mix you use in each (single?) plant container for the total charge your plant has available, how hot it gets to release the bound ferts and how much your plants actually remove by eating. A better question might be, when is it safe to add fertilizer under typical hot May/June conditions in this and I would say if the plant is progressing well in say 8 gallons of MG fertilized mix (plus fillers), 4-6 weeks is fine .... unless you are getting rained on overflowing all the time in which case more frequently might happen ... but that you would play by ear, observing the progress of the plant. FYI Half of the fertilizer in the mix is delayed release and half immediately there the latter can be depleted in the first few weeks for these reasons. Ease your plant on the fertilizer though at partial dose, nobody including plants respond well to famine and then pigging out, and in the case of tomatoes rushing the nitrogen can cause trouble if the prior hasn't dissipated.

Cheers

PC

Ignore the MG claim of fertilizer in the mix. It is a small amount of very slow release stuff and of minimal benefit to the plant. You begin regular feeding as soon as the plant is settled in the container and begins showing new growth. How often you do it all depends on the fert you choose to use and the symptoms the plant displays.

Dave

In my EBs I use the suggested amount of dry fert and also supplement with calcium nitrate weekly and then with liquid when I have fruit set. As Dave said, ignoring any claim of fertilizer in the Mix as it will not support heavy feeders like tomatoes.

So a quick update for everyone. I bought a few bags of the MG reg potting mix and mixed in roughly 50% perlite and wow what a difference. My old mix definitely was staying way too wet. The new mix I can feel is moist, but not soggy. I planted only 2 transplants this time and went with heirloom cherries. I do completely understand this is not the ideal growing season here, but if I can at least keep them alive I'll be way ahead come fall. Anyways, I know I said last question before but I do have one more. I have two other EB clones setup, one has just pepper plants and the other has a pepper and some pole beans. They were all made up the same way but the peppers and beans seem to be doing fine, only the maters had issues. Should I just leave them be or should i try remaking the mixes in the other2boxes. How serious is the risk of damage from transplanting compared to possible issues from the potting mix?

"one has just pepper plants and the other has a pepper and some pole beans. They were all made up the same way but the peppers and beans seem to be doing fine"

If they really are doing fine then leave them and cut WAY back on watering. But I'd be surprised if they are fine and continue to be. There are several potential problems there given peppers don't normally tolerate wet roots and prefer to dry out between watering or they begin to shed leaves and abort fruit. And beans and peppers have very different nutrient and water needs. Bean plants in such conditions will often turn into big plants but with no beans.

Pepper plants will sometimes survive transplanting depending on age and size but bean plants not so much.

Dave

Dave is right... Beans are legumes and are nitrogen fixing plants and do not, usually, require any nitrogen, and can very easily be overfed to the point where they either will not produce beans, or they won't produce beans until very late in the growth cycle after the fertilizer has been used up. Peppers require more fertilizer, and less water than your beans.

After careful evaluation, I would like to amend my previous statement about my peppers "doing fine." I decided to redo all the boxes and properly plant, space and group my plants with the right mix. (removed the beans from the same box as the peppers, hoping they survive transplanting) I'm glad I did this because I can already see a big difference in how the containers are performing a and I expect the plants to respond well. When you apply the liquid fertilizers to self watering boxes, do you water top down or use the fill tube to get into the reservoir?

I prefer feeding from the top down so it gets into the soil where the roots can use it. After all if you were using granular ferts they would be in the soil, not down in the water. Especially in the early part of the season as the plant roots won't have reached the reservoir yet so it wouldn't be available to them. Late season when the roots are well down into the water you can add it down the tube if you so desire.

Dave

Dave, It was always my understanding that the wicking of the growing medium drew up the water and that this is why you need ample peat in the mix. As an example, I usually wet the medium before adding the fertilizer when I'm planting a new Earthbox but I have filled them up dry before and waited a couple days for the wicking to draw up the moisture throughout the box. I was always under the impression that top watering risked wetting the fertilizer strip and releasing too much at once so I've always added my supplements via the watering tube.

Leigh, there are many different ways to cultivate your plant and if you have a decent approach, just play it by ear.

When transplanting: wet the mix very well and give it another watering after the plant is slightly packed in, but don't fill until everything is set up.

You've been told to ignore the fertilizer in the mix by a few others on their assumption that it is inconsequential. If you used 8 gallons of MG potting mix, it is charged with over 15 tablespoons of Miracle Gro fertilizer, half of which is soluble and no significant difference between taking an unfertilized mix and adding a quarter of a pound of Miracle Gro all-purpose plant food and a quarter of a pound of Osmocote and putting them in the mix. It doesn't matter who puts it there.

I wouldn't wash away what I paid for. Water from the bottom using the tube. No fertilizer for 4 weeks, or until plants begin flowering nicely. Then Fertilizer from below in the tube. If for some reason the container doesn't stay damp, just wet it as needed from the top, and always transplant deep.

There is nothing wrong with watering from the top if you go Dave's route, as if there were no fertilizer in the container if you just want to wash out all the pre-charged fertilizer much more quickly, and Dave's instructions will do just that, and they work fine too as he treats it as just a blank slate or growing medium to which he adds the fertilizer he wants so he is just fine with that.

Cheers

PC