Need Opinions

creister · March 29, 2007

I am going to use an organic fertilizer with my diy earthboxes. I can use either all worm castings, or half worm castings and half alfalfa meal mixed together. What do you all think would be better for the tomatoes? I was leaning toward all worm castings.

bydsign · March 30, 2007

I used an organic fertilizer... but it was Tomato Tone.

Without knowing what the N-P-K breakdown is, it might be a
little difficult to answer your question.

The N-P-K breakdown gives the ratio of

Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Potassium

creister · March 30, 2007

If I remember right, alfalfa meal is 3-2-1 or 3-2-2. Worm castings are 1-.1-.1 from what I can find. I have read some reasearch about worm castings, and from what I understand, they are much more than what just these numbers indicate. I don't believe that tomato tone is completely organic. It is a very very good fertilizer as I have used it before.

feldon30 · March 30, 2007

Almost all the ingredients in TomatoTone are organic, with just a few exceptions. I am guessing it would cost another $1-3 per bag to be fully organic, and it's really not that important to me.

Epsoma TomatoTone is 4-7-10 which is a good mix for tomatoes, although Earl's hole planting method boosts the numbers to 4-19-10 because of the addition of more bone meal.

The complete label for TomatoTone is here:
http://www.espoma.com/content.aspx?t...ntCategoryID=4

amideutch · April 1, 2007

Creister, If your going to use Mycorrihiza inoculant in your containers stay away from the high "P" stuff. Alfalfa meal should be fine. People have a mindset that more is better and with fertilizer that is not always the case. You might want to look at foliar feeding your plants as well. Compost tea is one method.

TJS · June 24, 2007

I know I'm late to this thread but with worm castings a little goes a long way. What I've seen is that over 20% is a waste of black gold. I've also read that too much will repel water. I would also add that alfalfa meal will probably start to get physicaly hot, so with that a little goes a long way as well.
Tim

organichris · June 24, 2007

Creister,

If you're looking for opinions, I'm all about that. But don't take mine too seriously since this is just conjecture. I'd go with 70% worm castings and about 30% alfalfa meal, but that's just me.

March 29, 2007	#1
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	Need Opinions I am going to use an organic fertilizer with my diy earthboxes. I can use either all worm castings, or half worm castings and half alfalfa meal mixed together. What do you all think would be better for the tomatoes? I was leaning toward all worm castings.

March 30, 2007	#2
bydsign Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Zone 10 - South Florida Posts: 91	I used an organic fertilizer... but it was Tomato Tone. Without knowing what the N-P-K breakdown is, it might be a little difficult to answer your question. The N-P-K breakdown gives the ratio of Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium __________________ Darlette Last edited by bydsign; March 30, 2007 at 03:29 AM.

April 1, 2007	#5
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Creister, If your going to use Mycorrihiza inoculant in your containers stay away from the high "P" stuff. Alfalfa meal should be fine. People have a mindset that more is better and with fertilizer that is not always the case. You might want to look at foliar feeding your plants as well. Compost tea is one method. __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

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March 30, 2007	#4
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Almost all the ingredients in TomatoTone are organic, with just a few exceptions. I am guessing it would cost another $1-3 per bag to be fully organic, and it's really not that important to me. Epsoma TomatoTone is 4-7-10 which is a good mix for tomatoes, although Earl's hole planting method boosts the numbers to 4-19-10 because of the addition of more bone meal. The complete label for TomatoTone is here: http://www.espoma.com/content.aspx?t...ntCategoryID=4

June 24, 2007	#6
TJS Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chas SC Posts: 70	I know I'm late to this thread but with worm castings a little goes a long way. What I've seen is that over 20% is a waste of black gold. I've also read that too much will repel water. I would also add that alfalfa meal will probably start to get physicaly hot, so with that a little goes a long way as well. Tim

June 24, 2007	#7
organichris Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 630	Creister, If you're looking for opinions, I'm all about that. But don't take mine too seriously since this is just conjecture. I'd go with 70% worm castings and about 30% alfalfa meal, but that's just me.