here is his little brother

Ha!

Nice tomatoes , I think I'm about to lose my whole garden to grasshoppers

get some guineas and you won't have any grasshoppers.

I pulled a zucchini of the plant last night and when I cooked it, I discovered that the green skin was hard as plastic. The inside seemed okay so was wondering what caused this?

Heat would be my guess.

put it n a grocery sack and microwave for a couple of minutes (or more) until it's soft...cut n half...put on a stick of butter...

i read to spray tomatoes with soapy water to prevent hornworms...what does "soapy water" do to them or any insect???

I don't know that it will prevent them. But it will kill them. It's suffocates them. That said I wouldn't spray oils and or soaps and leave them on very long in this heat. I would spray the plants down with Bt at dusk. The hornworms will eat it when they feed at night and it will kill them. And you can leave it on the plants and it won't burn them. The Bt will only last about a day or so. It breaks down very quickly when exposed to sunlight.

It will run them off the plant. Control is the best plan as opposed to trying to eradicate them. The hummingbird moth they become is pretty cool and is a pollinator.

nevermind...i found some on Amazon...sounds like just what i need...

what is BT Derek...i don't use hardly any chemicals...actually, i'd rather pik the hornworms off and bust on the fence...then i get n truble with my wife for messin' up her fence...no win situation

Bt isn't a chemical. It's actually a bacteria. Here is a good explanation of it.

https://www.planetnatural.com/bacillus-thuringiensis/

Derek the tomato plants you bought for fall are they seed that you will start indoors or transplants?

I'm about to tear all my plants out cuz they look pathetic . I called the nursery in Decatur and said the only plant they're gething are some Celebrity . She did say she still has spring plants left in containers . Thoughts?

I went with seed starting inside. I went with Florida 91 which I started yesterday. Hoping they germ quickly and I can transplant them in a couple/few weeks. Per my research they are one of the best heat tomatoes. It's a big tomato and can supposedly handle this heat. They have a heat set hormone. We'll see.

I also bought Zac's big hybrid. It's supposed to produce 3lb avg and up to 6lb. I couldn't pass that up to try. I think they were produced in the upper east so they won't handle this heat. So I will start these late July indoors with a late August transplant timeline.