Hey Michael...You are definitely asking a question that is outside of my realm of expertise. I have to be honest with you before I go into too much detail. I do have a PhD, and my education is in horticulture and plant biology, but I am not a medical doctor. I can tell you what I do know about the plant. Feverfew is known by its Latin name Tanacetum parthenium. I would be concerned with using it medicinally since handling the leaves can cause dermatitis and eating the leaves have caused mouth ulcers in some people. I'm sorry that I cannot give you more information. I would feel uncomfortable giving medical advice when I am not a medical doctor. :( --Robby

Hmmm...To me this sounds like it may be waterlogging in the soil. If you have heavy clay, your soil may not be draining very quickly at all. This could bring about an oxygen deficiency in the rootzone of the plant which in turn can cause a die off of the roots. If roots are dying, they won't be able to support a large portion of the shoots (ie stems & leaves). The newest leaves would be the only ones that would stay on in an attempt to gather some light. Unfortunately, the plant we're talking about is a Purple Plum Tree and it would be difficult to superficially determine if the leaves are not as green as they should be. Leaves that turn yellow can be a sign of low oxygen concentration in the rootzone. I would use your EasyBloom to see how the soil is draining. It's entirely possible that watering once per week is too much for your tree in clay soil. Let me know how things progress. Happy Gardening. --Robby

Hey Jennifer...I'm sorry to hear this. When you say really bare, do you mean completely bare? Or does it have some leaves? The tree's bare branches may have many causes. Soil nutrition, soil compaction, amount of light, etc. I'm glad to hear that you keep the base, or crown, of the tree uncovered because that can cause rot to occur. How often do you water the tree? --Robby

Hey Jamie...Not only is this the time of year that Hollyhocks self-sow, but it is also the time of year that we gardeners should also sow seed. This is only for the species that are biennial and perennial though. Some species of Hollyhock are annual, but they definitely are not as prominent as the perennials. I would be surprised if you were not sowing seed from Alcea rosea, which is easily the most popular species and is also a perennial. Your zone is perfectly fine for this species too. The heat and humidity should not hinder the plants' growth in any way either. In fact the warmth will help establish the plant quicker than if it were cold. This will give the plants a better chance to establish before winter arrives. Hollyhocks are definitely full sun plants. I looked at what your EasyBloom said. You are fairly close to a full sun condition. I would suggest that your Hollyhock would probably survive, but it would not thrive as it would in a full sun position. I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy Planting!!! --Robby

So, what’s next? I looked at your environmental data. You definitely have plenty of light. The temperatures looked fine. (The temp for the tomato seemed a bit low, but the data was from March. I assume the temperatures are higher now. Tomatoes love warmth!) My suggestion would to try to leach some of the nitrogen out of the soil and then fertilize again with a fertilizer that has relatively more potassium and phosphorous. Leaching the soil is done best when you have well-draining soil (which is best for both the tomato and carrot as well). You would drench the soil with water. The water should not have any fertilizer in it. Tap water or water from the hose should be perfectly fine. If the water moves quickly through the soil profile, it will drag nitrogen with it (along with other nutrients). When the soil has dried a little bit, fertigate (that is the actual scientific term; combination of fertilize and irrigate) the soil with a low concentration of a fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro’s Tomato Plant Food. That fertilizer has a high potassium concentration (it’s NPK is 18-18-21; that refers to the concentrations of nitrogen/phosphorous/potassium). You might also want to try a 5-10-10 fertilizer that is purposely low on nitrogen. I hope this is helpful for you. If you do have any other questions about EasyBloom or growing big, beautiful plants, feel free to contact me. Happy Gardening! Robby Flannery, Ph.D. Senior Horticulturalist PlantSense, Inc.

I think I may know the problem for both your tomatoes and carrots. Having heard what you just mentioned (i.e. your tomatoes are 5 feet tall and have not produced fruits yet, your carrots have small spindly roots), I would guess that your soil has too much nitrogen. Nitrogen is possibly the most coveted of nutrients from a plant perspective. A plant that has plenty of nitrogen will take that nutrient and invest it in new green leaves. It’s kind of like the economy, where the plants play the role of a rash investor. If the economy is good (aka there’s plenty of nitrogen available for everyone), the rash investor will use it all in high yield but high risk investments. The rash investor will not invest in the future in case the economy goes sour. Future investments from a plant’s perspective would be taking nutrients and produce flowers, which eventually turn into seeds and the future generation. As for the carrot, the root is the storage organ that keeps nutrients safe to use at a later date. Both are investments for the future.

An EasyBloomer recently asked a question about why her tomato plants are not producing tomatoes and her carrots are small and spindly. I responded to her with the following reply...

Hey Alex...I'm on it. You should see this added to our database shortly. I'm very familiar with this cultivar, and would be more than happy to add this. Thanks for the feedback. --Robby

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but at least this will give you some insight as to what is most likely causing the problem. I would recommend not allowing the plant's soil to be completely saturated with water for too long. Don't worry too much if this is what caused the plant's downfall. This is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact it's common enough that this field of research is what my PhD research was about. It's a problem in both commercial situations and in the home garden. :) I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy Gardening! --Robby

What probably happened is that at an early age these tomatoes were either given too much water or the soil they were growing in did not drain very well. If your tomatoes are in fact infected with a type of wilt, I would strongly recommend throwing the plant (and potting soil if it's in a pot) out. Trying to squeeze out some tomatoes out of a Fusarium infected plant will allow the fungus more time to sporulate and then you'd have a very difficult time trying to get rid of the problem. To check to see if you have this infection, cut off a piece of the stem and cut longitudinally along the stem. If the center of the stem is brown and somewhat mushy, you have an infection. I would throw out the plant and clean the cutting utensil you used (this is to ensure you don't infect other plants if you used pruning shears that would go on to cut other plants). You don't have to worry about these fungi infecting animals or yourself. They strictly infect plants and will have no ill effect on you.