When do YOU fertilize your seedlings?

[Lorri D]

I see lots of different answers on line. My plans are to wait until I transplant them into 4"x 4" cells and used diluted fertilizer. When do you fertilize your new tomato seedlings?

Thanks everyone!

[Tracydr]

I give them a very dilute liquid fertilizer, one of those ones that is made for houseplants and comes with an eyedripper, when the leaves start getting pale. Usually it's around 4 weeks or so, then again when they get pale again. I use about 3 drops per gallon, seems like about once every week or two. Not much, at all.

[luke]

I fertilized mine for the first time this year, and I could tell a real difference. I actually only fertilized my leftovers that I still am holding for friends, so didn't hit them with the fertilizer until they were about 8 wks old.

I used the Alaska Fish fertilizer (5-1-1) and the impact was immediate.

Next year I will fertilize earlier.

[babice]

Originally Posted by luke

I fertilized mine for the first time this year, and I could tell a real difference. I actually only fertilized my leftovers that I still am holding for friends, so didn't hit them with the fertilizer until they were about 8 wks old.

I used the Alaska Fish fertilizer (5-1-1) and the impact was immediate.

Next year I will fertilize earlier.

luke - I'm curious, what kind of noticeable difference? You mean they grew more? Were they more green? How much did you use per plant?

[RebelRidin]

I usually do not fertilize but I usually don't have many over 6 weeks. Just noticed my first ones for this year starting to yellow up their lower leaves a bit. I will feed a house plant fertilizer (peters) at half strength.

[lakelady]

I did as Ami suggests this year and when I potted them up into solo cups gave them a tiny pinch of tomato tone. They look fabulous but are growing a bit too fast as I've got quite a while until plant out

[casserole]

"I see lots of different answers on line." yes you do

[John3]

Quote from Mischka - here's the link http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....&postcount=18:

Here's another reason why I highly recommend unfortified (no NPK added) seaweed-derived fertilizers for use in starting from seed.

The truth is, tomato seedlings don't need any fertilizer at all while they only have their cotyledons. (embryonic first two leaves) Despite this fact, I can't count how many times over the years when I've read about folks starting tomato plants from seed for the first time being tempted to fertilize them at this stage of growth.

What happens all too often is that they use Miracle-Gro or other similar concentrated NPK fertilizer and end up burning their seedlings to a crispy death, even when they diluted it down to 25% of the normal mix ratio.

My advice: Resist the temptation and don't do it. Ever.

Wait for your seedlings to develop their first true leaves. They will sprout up from the center of the two cotyledons and differ in appearance from them. At this stage of growth they are still tender i.e. vulnerable to overdoses of fertilizer, so apply it very sparingly.

Seaweed-derived fertilizers are much safer to apply at this point, since they have a low NPK rating to begin with, when mixed at the manufacturer-recommended ratio. A caveat: exceeding the mix ratio of any fertilizer with water will not speed up growth or do anything otherwise beneficial for them. It's much more likely that you will, in fact, stunt their growth or kill them outright.

I cannot stress this enough.

There are few things more discouraging than finally starting your own seedlings successfully, only to watch them wither and dry up from an overdose of fertilizer.

[carolyn137]

I agree completly with what Mischka said. I have used both low NPK seaweed and fish preps in the past for one reason or another and am very partial to the Neptune Harvest seaweed b'c it's cold processed.

And not b'c is was the former owner of that company, his kids run it now, was the source of seeds to me for Neves Azorean Red, via an intermediary as you can read at Tania's page for this variety.

Squantos Secret is also not bad, and I haven't checked lately to see if that product is cold processed. Processing seaweed by cold processing preserves many micronutrients that would be lost by heat treatments/

So many soiless mixes now come with added fertilizer in them already, usually of low NPK content.

But since I no longer raise my own plants, Craig ( nctomatoman) does that for me, I have almost zero experience using either the added fertilizer ones for seed starting or the soiless mixes I used to use to transplant seedlings into/

[PaulF]

Since I normally use the soilless mixes containing fertilizer mentioned by Carolyn my seedlings are fertilized from seed to dirt.

[DawgDrvr]

When I pot them up into empty 1 liter soda bottles after the second set of true leaves , I dilute
expert gardener 15-30-15 fertilizer (from Wally world) . I add the fertilizer using a 2.5 oz plastic cup then wait two days and then just strait water. I fertilize every 2 weeks . When I plant them in my with my SIP system in my Tires, I fertilize once a week (12 OZ cups) until 2 weeks before harvest . then nothing but water . it works for me .

[amideutch]

Even though I don't use tomato tone a little pinch shouldn't hurt as antoinette used. These are the products I use when growing my seedlings. If you just want to use one product then go for the Roots Organic Buddha Grow at a NPK of 2.0-0.5-1.5 and the combination of ingredients used is about the best mix I've seen especially when we are talking about seedlings. Ami

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Even though I don't use tomato tone a little pinch shouldn't hurt as antoinette used. These are the products I use when growing my seedlings. If you just want to use one product then go for the Roots Organic Buddha Grow at a NPK of 2.0-0.5-1.5 and the combination of ingredients used is about the best mix I've seen especially when we are talking about seedlings. Ami

Ami, I think I'd read a very old thread you posted about a "pinch" and probably referred to "something like tomato tone" . Either way, it was great advice for potting up seedlings that now have sets of true leaves and has worked out great !