Growing in the weeds (grass)

OldHondaNut · 21 Hours Ago

Often I plant the starters and have other tomatoes I still want to plant. There are always extras "just in case". When placed in a yard area with little prep they grow nice and green but never develop many tomatoes. Maybe 1/5 normal? Any suggestions short of developing another bed appreciated.

From a few years ago, a Bush Big Boy and an Improved Porter:

VirginiaClay · 19 Hours Ago

Do you typically fertilize your lawn? Lawn fertilizer usually has a high N amount and less of P & K, so maybe the soil there has an overabundance of nitrogen, leading to leafy green plants without much fruit.

I'd just dig a bigger, broader hole for each plant (not super deep, but bigger around) to keep the grass away, amend the soil in the hole, and fertilize with something lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium.

Do the plants get the same amount of sun, and at the same time of day, as the plants in your garden beds?

21 Hours Ago	#1
OldHondaNut Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Zone 8a Posts: 122	Growing in the weeds (grass) Often I plant the starters and have other tomatoes I still want to plant. There are always extras "just in case". When placed in a yard area with little prep they grow nice and green but never develop many tomatoes. Maybe 1/5 normal? Any suggestions short of developing another bed appreciated. From a few years ago, a Bush Big Boy and an Improved Porter:

19 Hours Ago	#2
VirginiaClay Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 144	Do you typically fertilize your lawn? Lawn fertilizer usually has a high N amount and less of P & K, so maybe the soil there has an overabundance of nitrogen, leading to leafy green plants without much fruit. I'd just dig a bigger, broader hole for each plant (not super deep, but bigger around) to keep the grass away, amend the soil in the hole, and fertilize with something lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium. Do the plants get the same amount of sun, and at the same time of day, as the plants in your garden beds?