Tomato nutrients

[user10]

Hi there,

Would anybody know any nutrients (food) for young tomato plants (besides water) that would make the plants healthier? Something that would be organic, not things such as fertilizer (ex: 10-10-10-)

Thanks
user10

[eeplox]

You should look into compost tea, manure tea, and maybe epsom salts (but this is said to be ultimately bad for your soil). Diluted urine is another thing to try, as long as you balance the nitrogen in the urine with potash (from wood ashes). Personally, I make a tea using goat manure, urine and wood ashes, left to sit, and then diluted 10:1 with water before use.

[b54red]

I have had really good luck with cottonseed meal and alfalfa pellets. They won't burn the plants and are a slow release balanced fertilizer. They work much better when well worked into the soil before planting but can be added latter. Find an old feed store or milling company and you can usually get them for between 10 and 15 dollars per 50 lb bag. If you want an immediate boost you can try a little Miracle Grow in dilute solution or some fish emulsion.

[veggie babe]

I agree with b54, info I learned from a dear friend last year.
50# alfalfa
50# cottonseed meal
1 bag blood meal
1 bag bone meal
then add lime and epsom salt when planting your tomato plants.
I use this for almost everything I plant, I also like the fish emulsion(except for the smell).

good luck,

Neva

P.S. some critters like to dig up your plants, but so far I haven't had much trouble with that.

[Marko]

I'm using natural bioregulator AGROSTEMIN, but I'm not sure if it's availible in USA and Canada.

[amideutch]

Check out the link below on AGGRAND products. I've used their 4-3-3 Fertilizer and Liquid Lime. The Natural Kelp and Sulfate of Potash would be good after you get fruitset. Ami

http://www.aggrand.com/

[creister]

Earthworm castings, power beyond their listed NPK, and very mild, doesn't burn plants. I mix it about 3 parts soil, 1 part castings. That's what I pot up into. I add a cup of the castings to the planting hole as well.

[user10]

Thank you all for the replies.
Last year I tried out tea compost and turned out fairly good in the mid season.
Unfortunately I will not be planting my tomato plants out doors this year. I might buy a few from a hardware store just for the kicks.

My young tomato plants somewhat died. I disposed 28 plants this morning and presume to do the same tomorrow with the last 12.

It turned out weird. I would check my plants everyday. They were fine.
Just one sunny day, as I opened the blinds, my plants were semi dead. The person that shared the room (a room for plants) with me, said to put a lot of water because they were dehydrated. I did not agree. The soil was somewhat moist. Yet I did what the person said. The next day, they were done.
The best conclusion I got was from calcium deficiency through research. Yet I am not sure.
That person in the same room used the same soil as I. The difference was, I would put just water time to time. She put water mixed with 20-20-20. Her plants turned out great.

The only good thing that helped my plants a bit was extra heat and light.
I just try to avoid fertilizer (Miracle Grow.... etc) for health purposes. That is why I am trying to find organic nutrients (food) that might save the 12 remaining plants.

If anybody has any other thoughts/suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thanks again for all.
user10



 

[dice]

If you have some clover growing out in the yard, you could
get a couple of handfuls, put it in a blender with water,
blend until you cannot see anything but green, then water
with that.

Edit:
You could add a teaspoon of liquid molasses into the
blender with it (5% potassium, some minerals).

[b54red]

Sounds like your plants might not have been hardened off sufficiently before planting them outdoors.

[user10]

Hi Dice, your idea sounds good. It's a fast procedure.
May I ask what kind of benefits do clovers provide (for the plants)?
I have only heard that clovers contain high in protein, but is it valid in my case?


This morning, I changed the soil, watered the plants and brought them outside for 4 hours. End of the day, the signs looked so and so.

B54red, I guess they were not hardened off sufficiently. I still have a few more weeks before transplanting outdoors and that's if my plants progress ..

[dice]

May I ask what kind of benefits do clovers provide
(for the plants)?

Nitrogen, mainly, plus some other minerals that the clover
drags up from the soil via its roots as it grows. It is natural,
slow release nutrition compared to chemical fertilizers.

Alfalfa pellets or alfalfa meal would be a comparable
commercial product (alfalfa contains triacontanol,
a plant growth stimulant, besides nitrogen and other
plant nutrients).

[user10]

dice, that's amazing.
Nitrogen coming from clovers.
It would have taken me a while to buy/receive alfalfa pellets or alfalfa meal. I checked at Home Depot as b54red and veggie babe recommended, but the store did not have at this time.
I am going to try out the clover method right now.
Thx big time!

[habitat_gardener]

Did the clover work? It sounds like a good idea.

I buy alfalfa pellets at the pet store (the one pet store that sells horse feed).

When my seedlings looked needy, I've watered them with alfalfa tea or diluted seaweed.

[user10]

Well, the clover somewhat worked. One out of twelve survived. The good one just semi blossomed. The other eleven plants just halted and wouldn't move (they did not die, yet did not progress). But to say, my plants were very ill when I posted. I should have asked my question a little earlier. I'll know for next time

I have read bits and parts on seaweed in general. And as I read, it's super.