I have been growing tomatoes in my sunny corner of my back yard for years with great success. Usually 18 - 24 plants, at least three varieties (cherry, Roma and Celebrity, but I mix them up). The soil is clay, but I have been depositing my grass clipping there for about 40 year. This spring, the grass came in thick so the entire area was covered with a thick layer of this years grass clippings for mulch/weed control before the end of May (normally this takes until mid/late June).

Normally, I like to get my plants in the ground by about mid-May, but I was late planting this year (after June 1). The soil was a still soft and moist. I Irrigated about 10-15 minutes per day by hand. By early July it was clear very little was really growing, I had applied a weekly doses of a water dissolve fertilizer as I normally do. Of the 18 plants only about 8 have survived until August and only 2 or 3 have produced any fruit.

This summer (especially July) has been unusually hot and dry in SE MI. My wife says I watered too much. I cut back in July but it never really helped.

My cravings for "fresh off the vine" home grown tomatoes will go unanswered this year. What did I do wrong so I can avoid doing it next year ?