Tomato feeds with very low NPK - are they any good?

[Russel Sprout]

Hi gardeners

I usually use homemade comfrey tea on my tomatoes, but this year I've not had the time to "brew" any and I've just finished off the old lot (which I've since found was probably too old and therefore likely lacking in nutrients).

So I'm looking to buy some feed for the first time and spent a little time looking this evening. I'd like to use organic and I am only looking at vegan options.

Some of the ones I've found that look good have very low NPK. I found one that is 2-6-4, already quite low, but then some that are 0.xx for all three. And yet they are sold as tomato feeds. From what I've read, toms need much higher NPK percentages. So I wondered if I'm misunderstanding something and/or how these very low NPK feeds can be effective?

More generally, if anyone has a recommendation for organic vegan feed I'm all ears

Many thanks

[ameno]

The very low ones are probably ready-to-use ones. They've come on the market in recent years. You just pour them straight on to the soil in the specific amount.

2-6-4 sounds a bit low on Potassium, but otherwise that sounds about right for a concentrated tomato feed. You're applying it every week, remember. It's not as if it's just once or twice a season. That's already likely a fair bit more than your comfrey tea has in it.

As for organic vegan feeds, you'll really struggle with that. Generally speaking, the vegan ones are not organic (as they use chemical fertilisers), and the organic ones are not vegan (as they use animal fertilisers).
If vegan is a must but organic is merely a preference, I recommend Tomorite or Westland Big Tom. Both are chemical fertilisers, and this contain no animal products, and both are Best Buys, and have been for years.

Also, on the subject of your comfrey tea, phosphorus and potassium are not volatile, and should not diminish no matter how long it has been sat. Only nitrogen content can potentially reduce over time (as it gets given of as various gases, such as nitrous oxides and ammonia, as well as nitrogen gas).

[Jungle Jane]

I use maxi crop tomato growth stimulant & feed,made from plant extracts & seaweed,organic no animal products are used.
Edit - its 4 2 6 NPK I’ve used just seaweed before & that’s lower amounts than this.

[ameno]

I’ve used just seaweed before & that’s lower amounts than this.

Yeah, seaweed extract alone actually has very little in the way of the major plant nutrients, to the point that seaweed extract is no longer legally allowed to be called a plant fertiliser.