What are everyone's thoughts on the best way to stake and prune tomatoes ? I get the feeling that some you tube videos are a bit gimmicky, in regard to single stem vines growing 10 feet tall and needing a small scissor lift to harvest? Maybe double leaders perhaps? Also I've cut some great sturdy 6-8ft bamboo stakes.. Just wondering how close to push them into the plant.. probably just beside the current root ball ??? This is my first real effort trying hard.. my first attempt sprawled all over the ground, had the wettest summer on record then got hammered by Cyclone Gabrielle.. My soil is so dead, not a worm to be found, but I refuse to use chemical fertilisers.. I'm going to top dress with an organic fertiliser and some more decent compost soon..

So the first five tomato plants that I put out have actually died between the hail stones and the heat.... So guess who's going to start all over again. I think it was a mix of they weren't big enough to handle it they were only 30 days old and we went between big heat days and Hailstone /storm day. I have been a little distracted with my health and some other things that have been going on so I haven't actually started the next lot of seedlings yet. But I will get there

I bought these advanced seedlings about ten days ago. Repotted 4 days ago now sun hardening in the morning sun. I followed my fertiliser techniques taught in the challenge classroom and they are doing wonderfully. I have an Indian chili but the Thai is growing faster. The dwarf Tomato called Pot Tom has small fruits already and didn’t drop them during the potting stage

This post is to see where everyone is up to for the Tomato and Chili challenge. I know some of you lost seedlings and needed to start again. I have my advanced seedlings in containers and am now sun-hardening them. Please let me and the others know how things are coming along. I am excited to watch the stages of growth and also hear the challenges and wins along the way! I will provide photos of my advanced seedlings in the next few days.