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  • Boring question about tomato feeding.

    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

  • #2
    Better to underfeed than overfeed.
    You can feed once a week when they're in flower and maybe twice when they have fruit.

    Comment


    • #3
      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!
      Really great gardens seem to teeter on the edge of anarchy yet have a balance and poise that seem inevitable. Monty Don in Gardening Mad

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      • #4
        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!
        Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

        www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - Spring

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        • #5
          Originally posted by taff View Post
          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.



          Originally posted by sagegreen View Post
          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.
          The proof of the growing is in the eating.
          Leave Rotten Fruit.
          Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potasium - potash.
          Autant de têtes, autant d'avis!!!!!
          Il n'est si méchant pot qui ne trouve son couvercle.

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          • #6
            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.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Flummery View Post
              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!

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              • #8
                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

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by teakdesk View Post
                  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)
                  Last edited by Snadger; 19-06-2010, 08:06 AM.
                  My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
                  to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

                  Diversify & prosper


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                  • #10
                    for me its comfrey once a week but only do this when they have toms on, no point feeding the leaves.

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                    • #11
                      Too much potash invariably locks-up nutrients such as magnesium. Apparently.
                      All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                      • #12
                        I usually give mine a weak feed weekly (that's how I remember) except when I can't get the blimmin' lid off!
                        Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

                        www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - Spring

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          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
                          "Orinoco was a fat lazy Womble"

                          Please ignore everything I say, I make it up as I go along, not only do I generally not believe what I write, I never remember it either.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by womble View Post
                            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!
                            Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

                            www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - Spring

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Flummery View Post
                              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
                              "Orinoco was a fat lazy Womble"

                              Please ignore everything I say, I make it up as I go along, not only do I generally not believe what I write, I never remember it either.

                              Comment

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