-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Whether your tomatoes need more (or any) fertilizer depends on your conditions and soil. If they are in containers, absolutely, because the nutrients leach out and are gone. If you are compensating for poor soil, by using lots of chemical ferts, then most likely you need to add more, especially if your soil is sandy or very free draining.
The best thing for tomatoes is good, rich organic soil. If you have that, the organics gradually break down over time and the plant takes what it needs. I never fertilize tomatoes (or anything else), I just keep feeding my soil. I add compost at planting time and again mid-season and in the meantime I keep the soil mulched with organic stuff that gradually breaks down.
Fertilizer spikes and other chem ferts add NPK, not necessarily in the most usable form. They don't add trace nutrients, or tilth, or help the soil retain moisture and air pockets. They don't add micro-organisms to help break down the nutrients.
The best thing for tomatoes is good, rich organic soil. If you have that, the organics gradually break down over time and the plant takes what it needs. I never fertilize tomatoes (or anything else), I just keep feeding my soil. I add compost at planting time and again mid-season and in the meantime I keep the soil mulched with organic stuff that gradually breaks down.
Fertilizer spikes and other chem ferts add NPK, not necessarily in the most usable form. They don't add trace nutrients, or tilth, or help the soil retain moisture and air pockets. They don't add micro-organisms to help break down the nutrients.
Mike, I use an organic fertilizer in the vegetable garden.
This neck of the woods seldom gets what could be called a "drenching rain" but the soil is extremely rocky and porous - glacial till. For good or bad, the big veggie garden is watered with overhead sprinklers - field sprinklers on 4" pipe, just like the alfalfa fields nearby.
I fertilize before planting and again about the time the earliest of the early began to produce fruit. The organic fertilizer takes so long to break down I suspect that there is even some of it (especially phosphorus) from previous years.
Steve
This neck of the woods seldom gets what could be called a "drenching rain" but the soil is extremely rocky and porous - glacial till. For good or bad, the big veggie garden is watered with overhead sprinklers - field sprinklers on 4" pipe, just like the alfalfa fields nearby.
I fertilize before planting and again about the time the earliest of the early began to produce fruit. The organic fertilizer takes so long to break down I suspect that there is even some of it (especially phosphorus) from previous years.
Steve