My Better Boy tomato plant, George as I call him, was planted this spring, after the last freeze. I put a box over him at night to keep the warmth in, because it still got cold at night, and he did well. He grew to be about a foot and a half tall (not counting the 2/3 I buried underground when I planted him), and then just stopped. Now, it seems, whenever I water him (when his compost gets dry, which seems to be once every week, sometimes every other week), he wilts. A couple of times, he even lost his leaves! They grew back, though.
I'm wondering, what am I doing wrong? He's stopped growing up, and he has grown one branch. When I watered him, it was always at night or early morning, before the sun came up, so I wouldn't shock him.
Also, I once used a mix of dawn dish liquid (normal kind, nothing with anything special in it) mixed with water, and spritzed his leaves, because I was told this would kill the aphids that were eating his leaves, but to my surprise, he lost ALL of them, and I thought for sure he was dead.
I've pretty much determined I won't have any tomatoes this year, but what can I keep in mind for next year, so I know better?