[Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

[sjallred at yahoo.com]

Sheldon Allred
85236
sjallred at yahoo.com

2 questions:
1. Brand new gardener--  I just want to raise some tomatoes.  How often, and for how long should I water?  I have 6 plants in 5 gal buckets.(1 plant per bucket)  I have a pipe system hooked up to the spicket, with a timer on it.  Currently, it is set to water for 10 mins, every 24 hours.  Some of the leaves are wilting a little, while others are nice and green.  There are lots of green toms coming along nicely. I have them on the east side of the house, so they get am light, and avoid the hotter pm sun.  Do I need to put a screen of some type over them? Am I ok?

2. I have a single strawberry plant.  What does it need?  I have it in a 5 gal bucket as well.  It is starting to send out shooters.  Can I run those up the tressel I have behind the plants that I am typing my tom plants up to?  Do the shoots need to run horizontal to the ground?  It is producing small, sick looking berries.  Are the birds eating them?  Do I need to put some screen over it to keep birds away?  How much space does it need?

Thanks.