When can you start feeding tomato plants?

[bitShifter_]

I have some tomato plants that are about 10 inches tall, they're in general seed compost. Would it be OK to feed them? I have general tomato feed and seaweed feed.

I was just wondering as some of the lower leaves are dying a bit and I wanted to help them out a bit, they're looking a bit sad on the windowsill.

[Thelma Sanders]

It's usual to start feeding when the first truss has set fruit.

The lower seed leaves do always die off, but if it's proper leaves dying then I would give the plants a weak tomato feed.

The seaweed mix is usually used as a tonic rather than a feed - look to see if it has an NPK ratio shown on it.
If not then it isn't a feed, so not what is required for the toms

[bitShifter_]

Okay, so the proper leaves are starting to die a bit, so I will give them a watered down serving of the tomato feed Maybe half the concentration recommended? I'm going to put half of them in the greenhouse now anyway so hopefully that will perk them up.

Thanks Thelma.

[Chippy Minton]

I would have said that they should have been potted on by now into a more nutritious compost MPC or the such like. I only use seed compost to get them going and pot on as soon as feasible

[bitShifter_]

Ah I didn't realise seed compost is not as nutritious as multi purpose compost.

[Martin H]

Ah I didn't realise seed compost is not as nutritious as multi purpose compost.

Seed compost is very low in nutrients, which encourages the young seedlings to make lots of roots to seek out the food. That's great, but once they've soaked up all the food they need something more nutritious.

In the old days before multi-purpose was invented, you'd start the seeds off in John Innes Seed compost, then once they had their first true leaves you'd pot them up into JI no. 1 which contained some food. Once the put was full of roots the next potting would be into JI no. 2 which contains twice the food of no. 1.

These days most of us just put the seedlings into multi-purpose. If we're really lazy we'll even start the seeds off in multi-purpose, although they generally won't develop such good roots as if we'd used seed compost.

[Potstubsdustbins]

As advised pot them on soonest and at that size give them a feed of liquid high nitrogen fertiliser which is easy for the plant to take up and good for green growth, change to tomorite when the first truss has set.

[Valleyman]

I give my toms the occasional squirt of general water soluble fertilizer (attachment to the hose pipe), until the first truss of fruit is well under way. Usually a maximum of twice at the start of the season as the rest of the garden gets it's spring "boost".

I then start weekly feeds of tomato food and occasional Epsom salt spray as and when needed. Usually from the start of June.