Fertilizing for indoor tomatoes

[tgplp]

Hey guys!

I am trying to figure out the right way to fertilize my indoor tomatoes. Can anyone help me? They are 1 inch seedlings with only one set of true leaves right now, so I will have to wait a little while, but I thought I would figure out what I want to do first. How old do seedlings have to be to be fertilized? How many true leaves? (these are dwarf varieties)

Here is my plan, feel free to adjust it:

When the seedlings have three sets of true leaves, I will fertilize with fish fertilizer.

When plants have first buds, I will switch to a fertilizer I got today at my gardening center. It is called Earth Juice Bloom.


Thanks!
Taryn

[mdvpc]

Taryn

I dont think Earth Juice Bloom has any micronutrients. Some people use kelp to get micros, I dont know if that is a full spectrum. I grow in containers only (I am assuming you are growing in containers) and I use General Hydroponics Flora Nova Grow, which has the full spectrum of macro and micros. They also recommend using their Bloom, but the P is too high, so I only use the Grow. You may be able to use the Earth Juice Bloom and get some other product for some micros.

[tgplp]

thanks, so maybe I should fertilize with liquid kelp when the seedlings are old enough (how old should they be to be fertilized?), and then when they have buds I should use the Liquid Earth Bloom? Or should I use the Bloom and Kelp at the same time? If so, how would I do that?


Thanks!

Taryn

[dice]

Well, say you are mixing up a gallon to fertilize them with. Before they
have buds, you mix a teaspoon of fish emulsion, a teaspoon of kelp
solution, and a 1/2 teaspoon of Earth Juice Bloom into a gallon of water.
(Outdoor directions say tablespoons, but you probably do not have
enough light indoors in winter to take advantage of that much fertilizer,
and the excess will just wash out with watering.) Water every couple of
weeks with it.

After they start to flower, increase the Earth Juice Bloom to a teaspoon
per gallon, keeping the other stuff the same. That should do it.

[dice]

PS: What are you using for a calcium source? Might need to think about
where you are going to get that from, so you don't end up with mostly
healthy plants with fruit with BER.

If you use a liquid calcium supplement like Cal-Mag
( http://www.planetnatural.com/site/cal-mag.html ), you may
need to apply that separately from your fertilizer or you may
be able to mix them together, depending on the specific product
(some of the liquid mineral supplements say "don't mix with phosphate
fertilizers", meaning Earth Juice Bloom in your case; read the instructions
on the bottle or at the manufacturer's website to find out if that is ok.)

[tgplp]

Thanks Dice!! Quick question: you say toincrease the earth juice bloom one teaspoon, so, do you mean increase it from one to two teaspoons? Also, how many true leaves should the seedlins be before I give them a dose of the first mix?

Taryn

[amideutch]

Taryn, here is a link as to what I used for my seedlings. After they are well established I started using BioBizz BioGrow. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=14249

[dice]

I meant 1/2 teaspoon of Earth Juice Bloom before they have buds,
and increase that to 1 teaspoon of Earth Juice Bloom after they
have buds. Once fruit are developing, adding a tablespoon of molasses
would help if you have that (developing fruit use up a lot of potassium,
which is the main nutrient supplied by molasses).

[tgplp]

Thanks! What age do you fertilize your seedlings?

[dice]

Well, I mix earthworm castings or a pinch of some fertilizer like
Tomato-tone (not necessarily that, depends on what I have on hand,
but I have used Tomato-tone this way) into the 3" pots when potting
up from seed-starting cells to 3" pots. That happens when they have
at least one set of true leaves. So from then on they are getting a mild
dose of fertilizer steadily. (Just more of it dissolves as I water, which is
whenever they are getting dry.)

I do not use all liquid fertilizers on seedlings, so I cannot compare directly.

From one set of true leaves on they should be ok with those mild doses
of organic fertilizers, since they break down fairly slowly in the potting
media. The Earth Juice Bloom is the only one of those we have discussed
with synthetic chemicals in it which are instantly available to the plants
(which is why I suggested cutting it back to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon
initially and then as much as a teaspoon per gallon after the plants have
started to flower, to avoid fertilizer burn).

[tgplp]

Sounds good. Thanks!

[bobberman]

Too much is worse than none. When the plants gets its set of first true leaves a very mild solution of sea weed liquid in water is the best in my opinion once a week! Most potting soils have enough food for young plants for several weeks so don't be in too much of a hurry!

[tgplp]

Agreed, Bobberman! Thanks for your input- I have some plants that are a bit more than a month old, and they seem to like the fertilizer I am giving them. I won't fertilize the younger ones yet, though, I wouldn't want to burn the poor guys!