A couple more pictures but first. I didn't lose a single tomato this year. I'm not against insecticides but I didn't lose a single tomato this year. I guess its just the luck of the draw.

Here is a photo of my burn pile where I get my ashes for my tomato hills.




Also the peppers on the plants my neighbor are finally turning color. Plan to make stuffed peppers later with them.

So some ashes from my smoker mixed in the soil? Pretty crazy it happened in one day, it was really hot yesterday. May move to place where there’s afternoon shade.

Benefits for Soil pH

Most wood ash contains a good percentage, about 25 percent, of calcium carbonate, an ingredient in garden lime. If your soil is very acidic (5.5 or lower), amending with wood ash can raise your soil pH.

On the other hand, if your soil is neutral or alkaline, to begin with, adding wood ash could raise the pH high enough to interfere with the plant's ability to take in nutrients. Wood ash should also be avoided around acid-loving plants like rhododendrons and blueberries.
Negative Effects in the Garden

Unfortunately, wood ash can also be a source of heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, or lead, which you don't necessarily want in your garden. However, most studies have not shown that if the soil pH is above 6.0, the heavy metals are not taken in by the plants in measurable amounts. And since wood ash raises the soil pH, the presence of heavy metals should not be a problem. If you have a regular source of wood ash and are worried about the extended use of it in your garden, you should consider having it tested in a lab.

The bottom line is that a small amount of wood ash will add some nutrients and be beneficial to most soils. Large amounts should be avoided.

I got no pollinators. Tomatoes and peppers doing well but cucumbers and blackberries blooming but not producing fruit. Same thing happened last year.

I think 68's is in containers and it could be irregular watering or the ferts.

Yes they are in containers. I only water when they get dry, I check them in the evening. Have cut way back on fertilizer. 2 of the plants are ok, no producing much fruit, the big plant I guess got too dry yesterday, and couldn’t support the load of a dozen tomatoes. Even though it has a plastic basket for support. The basket even folded over. The big plant looks much better today. I’m just concerned about the rot now.

Did you use sevin? It kills everything including the pollinators.

It's all about tomatoes with me. This batch is ready to go see my neighbors.



This one is growing out of its cage. I had to stick a rod in there.