Boring question about tomato feeding.

[Crosbie]

Is it ok to feed Tomorite twice a week instead of once a week...like...to give a bit more of a boost?

Cheers
Crosbie

[taff]

Better to underfeed than overfeed.
You can feed once a week when they're in flower and maybe twice when they have fruit.

[sagegreen]

Once/twice a week is ok for outdoor grown plants; but undercover I feed every other watering. If there -are- too many nutrients available to the plant it will simply waste them, in the same way that there is no point in taking too many vitamin pills for yourself!

[Flummery]

Is is just me being an old dear or are the new Tomorite bottles impossible to undo? My fingers are a touch arthritic but I can manage the seaweed general feed bottles ok. Idiot proof bottle top catches idiot gardener out!

Sorry, only slightly connected to the thread but I've just come in and I'm a bit miffed!

[teakdesk]

Better to underfeed than overfeed.

Agreed!

A fertiliser has a certain amount of N.P.K. - in simple terms Nitrogen for leaf, Phosphorus for roots and potassium (K) for fruit.

Tomato feed has reduced levels of nitrogen so that green growth does not florish too much.

If you over-feed then you will be giving much more nitrogen than the plant needs and it will grow tall at the expense of fruit.

Once/twice a week is ok for outdoor grown plants; but undercover I feed every other watering. If there -are- too many nutrients available to the plant it will simply waste them, in the same way that there is no point in taking too many vitamin pills for yourself!

See my comment above - the plant may well ignore excess potassium (K) but will slurp up the extra nitrogen. Not beneficial.

Also, a plant that is too comfortable will delay its fruit production until later in the season; better to treat the plant slightly rough so that it thinks it is under threat and hurredly produces fruit.



Too much feed in containers causes a build up of unwanted salts.

Yellowing bottom leaves are often blamed on a magnesium deficiency but are in fact a dead give-away for too much salt in the soil due to over-feeding.

[maypril]

teakdesk is spot on.

Too much fertiliser can do more harm to your plants than too little.

Also, excess nitrogen gets washed away by the rain and ends up in rivers where it does terrible damage to the environment.

[maypril]

Is is just me being an old dear or are the new Tomorite bottles impossible to undo?

I suspect you saved your money too much in your youth! I can't afford Tomorite, I get the cheap stuff from Wilkinson's and it's much easier to open.

If it has one of those child proof caps, then everybody has difficulty opening them. I find it's best to find a child to open them for you, they seem to be exceedingly good at it!

[Crosbie]

Thanks for explaining all this...!

My tomato plants went really scraggy - leaves dessicated - from sun scorch I think. Inflatable greenhouse was like a sauna. I was going to give them a bit of Tomorite to boost them but I won't do that now.

Cheers
Crosbie

[Snadger]

Agreed!

A fertiliser has a certain amount of N.P.K. - in simple terms Nitrogen for leaf, Phosphorus for roots and potassium (K) for fruit.

Tomato feed has reduced levels of nitrogen so that green growth does not florish too much.

If you over-feed then you will be giving much more nitrogen than the plant needs and it will grow tall at the expense of fruit.





See my comment above - the plant may well ignore excess potassium (K) but will slurp up the extra nitrogen. Not beneficial.

Also, a plant that is too comfortable will delay its fruit production until later in the season; better to treat the plant slightly rough so that it thinks it is under threat and hurredly produces fruit.



Too much feed in containers causes a build up of unwanted salts.

Yellowing bottom leaves are often blamed on a magnesium deficiency but are in fact a dead give-away for too much salt in the soil due to over-feeding.

Grow em ard!!!!!!!

Mine get Tomorite or Comfrey tea once a fortnight (if i remember)

[bishop]

for me its comfrey once a week but only do this when they have toms on, no point feeding the leaves.

[Two_Sheds]

Too much potash invariably locks-up nutrients such as magnesium. Apparently.

[Flummery]

I usually give mine a weak feed weekly (that's how I remember) except when I can't get the blimmin' lid off!

[womble]

I'm sure there is a joke in here about treating wives and tomato plants the same.
Treat them mean and tie them up regularly, or something. And once a week should be enough for any ..... tomato plant

[Flummery]

I'm sure there is a joke in here about treating wives and tomato plants the same.
Treat them mean and tie them up regularly, or something. And once a week should be enough for any ..... tomato plant

Don't take the comparison too far. We'll be getting to armpits next!

[womble]

Don't take the comparison too far. We'll be getting to armpits next!

Not to mention we haven't even talked about different methods of fertilising.







stopit stopit stopit