Tomato-Tone Discrepancy on application amount?

[nniemiec]

There are (2) different amounts conveyed:

website says 1.25 cups per 8 quartz of soil

VERSUS

the 8lb bag says: "1.5 Tbsp per quart" (8x= .75 cup)


which is it? why the discrepancy?

[Worth1]

It isn't a discrepancy look carefully.
One is for depredation and the other is feeding.
Potted vs garden and so on.
http://www.espoma.com/wp-content/upl...Esp_Tomato.pdf

[Barb_FL]

This is from that link Worth posted:

"For potted plants mix one part Tomato-tone to 30 parts soil mixture (1.25 cups of
Tomato-tone for every 8 qt. of soil).
"
Since 8 qt of soil = 2 gallons, and if using say a 7 gallon root pouch filled to the top, that would be 4.375 Cup of TT; on a 10 gallon container filled to the top that would be 6.25 Cup of TT.

Either my math is wrong, of that is a lot of TT. I usually start the container with 1 Cup of TT and then before a hard rain is coming, add 2-3 TBLS to the top and let the rain soak it in.

(Worth - from reading your posts, last couple of times, I added Plant Tone to the top)

3 Cups of TT for an EB is standard.

[nniemiec]

Thank you both for weighing in! Wow, so for an 18 Gallon tote (self-watering system) that's just over (11) cups of tomato-tone if prepping from scratch.

[Worth1]

The whole way they have it wrote up is confusing.
I think they knew what they were trying to say but struggled saying it.
I have the same problem sometimes
Worth

[feldon30]

Under the old formulation, I used to calculate 2 months of feeding and mix that into the soil in a 10" circle around where the plant would be. So about 1 cup per plant. Over the season, the roots spread out and keep finding food. Then I'd sprinkle more and also foliar feed.

With the new formulation, I tried doubling that and it still wasn't enough. Trying something different this year.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Under the old formulation, I used to calculate 2 months of feeding and mix that into the soil in a 10" circle around where the plant would be. So about 1 cup per plant. Over the season, the roots spread out and keep finding food. Then I'd sprinkle more and also foliar feed.

With the new formulation, I tried doubling that and it still wasn't enough. Trying something different this year.

Feldon if you go back and look at the old formula VS the new formula not only did they change the ratio but in just the nitrogen section what it was.
The old was 2% ammoiacal nitrogen and the new is 0.2%
Not to mention the rest of the nitrogen has changed.
Tomato tone old new.jpg

Here is a good read on nitrogen.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...scOwPyTS4e_4Sw

I personally am not a fan of tomato tone but do use the plant tone with added liquid feedings of Alaska fish fertilizer in the beginning.
Then in time the rest of the nitrogen starts breaking down into something the plants can use.
It works for this hillbilly in his soil very well.
As I have said before you simply cannot go out and buy a fertilizer and expect great results if you dont know what your soil needs.
There is no one formula for everyone.
My indication that I have plenty of P and K are things like I cant hardly pull an onion up in soft soil the roots are so vast.
All I am trying to say is to use a little common sense when feeding plants and understand the type of nitrogen and other nutrients you are buying.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

I quickly learned that using TT would cost a lot of money for all the tomato plants we have. At $10 per bag of TT, I can buy a ten pound bag of 10-10-10 which fertilizes a lot more plants for half the cost.

[Gerardo]

1 use a 16 0z plastic cup, and I give each wheelbarrow (aprox 30 gal of mix) a double dose of Tomato Tone.

The new formulation yields quite a different product. I like the fact they've limited their ingredients.

Cocoa Meal
podopen2.jpg

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gerardo

1 use a 16 0z plastic cup, and I give each wheelbarrow (aprox 30 gal of mix) a double dose of Tomato Tone.

The new formulation yields quite a different product. I like the fact they've limited their ingredients.

Cocoa Meal
Attachment 59073

I personally think the new is better with the lower P and K I said that in another thread too.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I quickly learned that using TT would cost a lot of money for all the tomato plants we have. At $10 per bag of TT, I can buy a ten pound bag of 10-10-10 which fertilizes a lot more plants for half the cost.

I thinks so too: W/ 3-4-6 analysis you are getting 13% fertilizing power and the remaining 87% is just filler. And I bet it is expensive by the pound too. I got some 16-16-16 (L. Miller brand, broken bag), 50Cents per pond and it has almost 50% fertilizing power. Or get a 5lbs can of MG (24-8-16) for about $2.25 /lb. It is also about 50% fertilizer.
Nothing against organic fertilizers , except that they costs beyond my wallet . JMO

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I quickly learned that using TT would cost a lot of money for all the tomato plants we have. At $10 per bag of TT, I can buy a ten pound bag of 10-10-10 which fertilizes a lot more plants for half the cost.

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I thinks so too: W/ 3-4-6 analysis you are getting 13% fertilizing power and the remaining 87% is just filler. And I bet it is expensive by the pound too. I got some 16-16-16 (L. Miller brand, broken bag), 50Cents per pond and it has almost 50% fertilizing power. Or get a 5lbs can of MG (24-8-16) for about $2.25 /lb. It is also about 50% fertilizer.
Nothing against organic fertilizers , except that they costs beyond my wallet . JMO

I agree it is too expensive for someone trying to grow food for the house to live off of on a large scale.
If memory serves me much of this stuff didn't used to be so pricey.
Much of it is made from byproducts and scraps from the livestock and poultry industry.
When I lived on a farm we didn't buy fertilizer for the garden and if we did it wasn't much.
Fertilizer was for city slickers.
Worth

[fonseca]

Prices for Espoma products increased by close to 50% on many package sizes after they reformulated to be more organic. Higher application rates, less pounds per bag. I think they are overpriced now considering the main ingredients are CAFO byproducts.

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I thinks so too: W/ 3-4-6 analysis you are getting 13% fertilizing power and the remaining 87% is just filler.

That's not how organic fertilizer works. Organic fertilizer will still be in your soil, releasing nutrients, long after your synthetic fertilizer has washed out.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I quickly learned that using TT would cost a lot of money for all the tomato plants we have. At $10 per bag of TT, I can buy a ten pound bag of 10-10-10 which fertilizes a lot more plants for half the cost.

I bought a 20lbs broken bag of 16-16-16 for 9 bucks.(45 cents per pound, almost 50% pure fertilizer, 50% filler)

Also, How can add this TT stuff to the potted plants in the course of season ? You cannot dig and disturb the roots !!

[Worth1]

Not to get on any kind of soap box because you guys know I use all kinds of fertilizer including stuff like MG, 13-13-13 and so on.

But I have this to say just to be expressing the different lines of thought.
Yes expense is a very important thing to look at.

Here is the rundown on these lines of thought these are all more or less quotes.
We are stewards of the land and need to take care of it for future generations.
I cant afford the fancy organic fertilizers it is beyond my budget.
We cant afford (not) to use organic fertilizers.
The constant use of the non organic fertilizers will cause salt buildup and kill the critters in the soil more or less making it dead.
I wont use stuff like Plant Tone blood meal and so on because the stuff in it comes from animals that have been injected with growth hormones antibiotics the critters have been treated like garbage and so on.
I dont want chemicals in my food from petroleum based fertilizer so I use stuff like Plant Tone and blood meal etc.
I wont use anything that came from the exploitation and mistreatment of animals.
I wont use anything that comes from the result of polluting our environment like oil.
I wont use anything that comes from Conglamo.
The list can go on forever.

Now back to me and my thoughts.
We all have our own set of values and we all have a price and a so called trade off point.
A set of standards so to speak.
Some people wont use cotton seed meal because the cultivation pollutes the environment so to speak.
But on the other hand they wear clothes that have cotton in them.
Some people wont wear leather but will wear synthetic cloth and shoes that come out of a chemical plant that pollutes the environment and kills fish and critters.
Where we chose to make that trade off is our personal choice and not someone else's place to decide for us.

One final thing.
It is really too bad that the organic trend has caused the price of organic fertilizers and so on to skyrocket.
What it has done is to take healthy food and living from the tables of the poor to the mouths of the rich.

We all want to do the right thing but sometimes we simply cant afford it nor do we have the ability to do it.
When rich or people go out and protest and force laws for the environment many times this puts poor folks farther in the poor house.
The automobile is a perfect example.
Gone are the days when a 20 year old kid with a wife and family can go out under a tree and fix his car wit a set of tools from Sears like I used to do.
Now he has to spend money he doesn't have for another car or get that one fixed by someone else.
How does he do it?
Credit that keeps him and his family in the poor house.

I got off track for a moment but this infuriates me to no end.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
Worth