newgardener2016
Full Member
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 5:08 pm
Location: Modesto, CA.

Vegetable fertilizer n-p-k

Hi everyone,
So I'm in CA and getting ready to do another garden tomatoes and peppers. I do not to bad and produce and still learning. I do mine in containers and soil I have always used has a 30% N 10% P-K.
Trying to find a fertilizer/food to give me higher P-K but much lower N to balance and/or give me more P-K for the producing stage. I've been looking online and cant seem to find what I want, any ideas.
Basically I wanna try some new techniques this year and see what happens.
Thanks in advance.

User avatar
Gary350
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7396
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

My tomatoes do best with 5-5-60 fertilizer. Too much nitrogen makes very large plants with few tomatoes. Very high potassium makes lots of blossoms that all turn to tomatoes. Lots of calcium for BER. My plants often produce 20 to 25 lbs of tomatoes per plant growing Big Beef.

I use the same 5-5-60 fertilizer on peppers but peppers get more fertilizer than tomatoes. Lots of potassium makes lots of blossoms & very large peppers. Lots of calcium for BER. Last year I got about 40 Big Bertha peppers per plant. Mexican chilies & Jalapeno were loaded with peppers too.

I fertilize with wood ash for high calcium and high potassium. Wood ash is about 20% to 30% calcium depending on what type wood you burn. N-P-K value of wood ash is 0-1-4. Mix 2 ounces 15-15-15 with 1 cup wood ash this is about 5-5-60 plus calcium for BER. I give tomato plants 1 cup of this fertilizer mix when I plant new plants. I give peppers 1 cup when I plant then more when plants start producing peppers.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

If you want to boost the phosphorus, you can add bone meal to the starter mix and a couple of banana peels will boost the potassium.

I used to use 10-20-20 and 10-30-10 fertilizers but I don't use that much anymore. My soil tests don't require it. In pots I use mostly 6-4-6 (Vigoro citrus food). I wanted to reduce the number of different kinds of fertilizers I have around and I found that I did not need a high number fertilizer to get good results and citrus fertilizer has slow nitrogen and micro nutrients. I have a lot of citrus in pots so it is the fertilizer I most use.

When I start the containers with potting mix, I add about a cup of fertilizers as a starter. I prefer low nitrogen fertilizers. Vigoro citrus food has slow release nitrogen so I don't have problems with dampening off. Side dressings of 1 tablespoon are applied when the seedlings first flower and again with fruit set and monthly for the life of the plant. I grow my tomatoes in 18 gallon pots usually with peat lite or miracle grow potting mix. I only use the 10-20-20 as a starter if I am reusing the potting soil. My plants are still quite big.

I get Vigoro and the bone meal from home depot. Lowe's may have a similar product. Walmart has Expert fertilizer which I have also used and is good although it is not sold in large bags. It depends on how much you need. Bigger bags are usually cheaper.
The 10-20-20 and 10-30-10 are fertilizers made specifically for Hawaii soils. When I make my own potting mix (peatlite) I add osmocote to the mix. The exact number on the fertilizer is not important. It is more important that you get the right ratio. Higher numbers means you can use less fertilizer in quantity. I try to use fertilizers with numbers less than 15 now and very low phosphorus because I don't need it. I do need potassium and K-Phos is the most common form. I don't need the phosphorus so I have been trench composting banana peels. They decompose fairly fast.



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