Hydroponic Tomatoes in AutoPots are Growing Strong

I planted six tomato plants, all of differing type, into three Hydroponic AutoPots about 9 weeks ago. Initially, I was concerned that the water reservoir could not deliver enough water pressure to feed 6 plants. I was wrong. Well, sort of. I've raised the reservoir about 18 inches by placing bricks under it.

My tomatoes are growing strong. I've been getting ripe tomatoes for a couple of weeks now. My neighbor planted tomatoes about the same time I did. He still has not picked ripe tomatoes. Of course, I'm using high-quality nutrients in my hydroponic system, and he's gardening organically.

My plants are growing really tall, and, as I mentioned a few days ago, I've had to place a tall stake in the ground and run string to the branches that want to lay on the ground. I've got them all tied up.

This week, the aphids attacked one of my plants. I've been spraying them with soapy water. I also had a new beetle eating my asparagus, which you can see in the above photo. Soapy water spray seems to have worked on them as well.

I've found I'm using about 12 gallons of nutrient water per week for six plants. I need to clean the filter each time the reservoir empties. I also need to rinse out the reservoir between refills. I let it go bone dry before refilling it, but I keep a close watch, and it's never dry long.