My brother on Oahu has trouble growing pineapples in an area that used to be a pineapple field. His dogs go crazy after them. I also have found varmits are fond of them. I now wrap mine in chicken wire when they start to get ripe.

Zozo13...Chef Mitch here...For ants I just use a fire ant killer sprinkled on the soil keepIng it off the leaves. Pineapples receive water and nutrients through their leaves and not so much the roots so as long as you keep it off the plants you should be fine. If you want a more natural approach I have had success with boiling the leaves, stems and dried blooms of marigolds, let it steep like tea till cool then spray the plants and pour into the soil around the plant. works wonders for me. All bugs and ants seem to hate the marigold tea. This is a natural remedy handed down from my great-grandmother that she used before chemical insecticides were readily available. I've also had great success with pouring my used soapy dishwater on the plants, doesn't harm the plants... but the insects and ants hate it.

improvement is just breeding in VFN tolerance, which does NOT make it a hybrid. That's a strange assumption. ****** Be it strange or not, it is my assumption Keith. (smile) At any one time there are about 6-8 OP Rutgers listed in the SSE Yearbooks, all with different combos of VFN, and not one of them is ever listed as a hybrid at any commercial seed site that I know of. And there are many other OP's that are the same, Red Mortgage Lifter VFN bred by Dr. Jeff McCormack comes to mind as well. The quote below from the link given below and I feel kind of silly doing this b'c you know more about tomato genetics than almost anyone I know, but I do think that most folks would agree that a tomato hybrid is the result of crossing two different varieties as noted below: (F1 hybrid seed production involves the crossing of two different inbred lines. Either line can be the female or male parent, but normally the best seed yielder is selected as the female parent. Both parents should be pure, preferably being self-pollinated for more than 6 generations (this is called inbreeding). Parents are selected for their desirable traits (high yields, disease resistance, fruit quality, earliness, etc.).) Taking an initial OP and breeding in some disease tolerances/resistances such as V or F or N, I don't think converts an initial OP to an overall hybrid. Perhaps for a single allele as you noted,making it heterozygous, but not a variety that would be listed as an F1 hybrid in the conventional sense as seen listed at commercial seed sites. Yes, the above quote and the link below are referring to F1 seed production but I'm also thinking of all the folks who deliberatly cross two known tomato varieties for their own breeding projects and selections made, of the wonderful varieties that have come from accidental X pollinations where selections have been made from that initial F1 and grown out for genetic stability. For instance, how would you explain your own Purple Haze F1 as to why it's an F1 and what you started with? Some day when it's available as just the F1 seeds I'd love to try it b'c so many speak highly of it. Carolyn Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Hybrids

Patti, yes, I guess a leaky heart should be looked into. And loved your approach to the doctor! Way to go! You must be SO proud of your SIL and that whole family! That's doggoned impressive! And thrilled for your son and getting his bride-to-be back here, a little nervous about her getting in without any glitches. Exciting times for you! Does she speak Mandarin?? What part of China is she from? I just did cart seeds inside for the first time last year. It was surprisingly easy with the good help of all our smart friends here. They were even more help advising where and when and what to plant and filling the raised beds. Last year, I had no idea how to tell what I wanted in a tomato or pepper (or anything else--I'm sure you all remember my ignorance); I have learned so much from you all in the past year; and I had to laugh at Rebecca saying that she bet I wouldn't buy seed from (I don't know who it was, some big box company). And it IS true that I've become very uppity about seed companies--but it's all y'all's fault! You know it is. I didn't get started on seed-planting today, Dawn. Maybe tomorrow. We are still staying away from: church, and schools. So maybe I'll get up and begin tending the garden for God. :) I'm a little bit freaked about IT, too. I bet all of you who have only recently started all the seed-growing stuff are feeling about like I am. . . So technically, this is only my second year. But it was so easy last year, I'm not too freaked out. Mostly by the nightmares of potting up, the taking all those flats out every morning, bringing them all back in in the evenings. Too funny. It's like running an orphanage, pet shelter, daycare. Constant attention, right? I'm thrilled that in what is going into my 4th year here, I have SO many perennials, self-seeding annuals, and shrubs going. SO appreciated the additional info on drip irrigation tubing. I'm still on the edge, there. I think I will maybe NOT do it in the flower beds, cept for the cement block raised one, and the raised veggie beds. Maybe soaker hoses, though. I really don't much care about the worry over sprinklers getting leaves wet, when I remember the 20" of rain we got May into July for two years in a row. The saving money part, sure. But I have those oscillating sprinklers, so can narrow down the watering to the immediate bed being watered. That's gotta help some. HJ and Dawn both posted while I was starting on this, so had to change windows to see what they had to say. lol Liked the way you tied Rh into gardening, HJ. Very creative. And now, HJ, and I am very worried about your babies since dogs seem to be about. (Which is one of the two main reasons we won't have them--the other being times we have to go to Wy or Mn.) Amy, I had to google the car accident you mentioned. How very sad. They still haven't released the names. We only go to Wahoo Bay occasionally, because you know my distaste for traveling. It's probably 25-30 miles from our house--as you know, we're north and east of Wagoner by 10 miles; Wahoo is south and east of Wagoner by about 15. We go down there a couple times each summer. Actually, that's where GDW is going to crappie fish--a nice heated dock not too far north of Wahoo. And he is on a mission now. We got his moon jigs, his special bobbers should be showing up Tuesday, and then he just KNOWs he'll be catching all kinds of crappies. That was funny, you mentioning your Mom ears. I have them, too, with the new kitties. Speaking of them. . . . uh oh, I fear they are into their teens, full blown. Jerry's actually the troublemaker; but Tom is the dangerously funny one. They were both obsessed with getting into the pantry, because of the hole in the wall where the water lines are. But mostly because it's a shut door. If a door is shut, that's where they want to go. Garry fixed the door once (previously it shut and stayed shut, but didn't latch.) But didn't fix it good enough apparently. Last night, one of the cats came racing in here with a prize--my brand new fancy dancy fuzzy "feather duster." Score!, he thought, and you could all but see them doing "high 5's" about it. All I could do was laugh. The fuzzy part is a foot long, and then has a wood handle that's another foot long. Hysterical. So I put it back and shut the door. This morning before I was up, GDW got to witness the same thing. But so, he FIXED the door good today. The cats are so ticked off. BUT, now, I fear the cabinets are next, as Tom was interested in seeing in what was one of them when I opened it today. . . and they, of course, do not latch. You could almost see the little light bulbs going off in his head. They've been rowdy today. . . SO rowdy. So funny. They're both also SO affectionate. I plunked Tom down 4 times earlier today when he was being obnoxious and in my face (AFTER I gave him 15 minutes of uninterrupted time), and four times he jumped back instantly. But he also has been in either GDW's lap or mine every time we have sat down today.