P vs K for More Blossoms?

[lapk78]

Hi all. We had a thrip infestation which interrupted the pollination cycle of my tomatoes and caused about 70% of my blossoms to fall off. I've got them under control now (using spinosad), but the damage has been done. I would like to encourage my plans to put on more flowers. The plants went into the ground mid-March, so are all somewhere between 3 ft and 6 ft tall currently. If I want to encourage flowers to grow, should I use a fertilizer that's higher in phosphorus (P) or potassium (K). I have primarily been using Texas Tomato Food this season, but I don't think it necessarily encourages more blossoms to form. I have already obtained Jack's Blossom Booster 10-30-20, but I have seen some posts saying that a higher K value will encourage more blossoms to form.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[AKmark]

I have used 4-18-38 for several years, and there are other good blends and programs out there. This will help you decipher the needs for the tomato plant to produce- fruit. The info channel these days is quite convoluted to say the least. https://www.haifa-group.com/files/Gu...ato/Tomato.pdf

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I'd say do a soil test prior to adding anything.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by CrazyAboutOrchids

I'd say do a soil test prior to adding anything.

I've never done one of those before. Is that a kit that I can just pick up at a garden center, or must I get some sort of service to perform the test?

[zipcode]

Good fruit set is imo more important than many blooms. Boron helps with that, apply at flowering. Sun and overall good plant growth but not overly vegetative will make sure you have more than enough flowers. High P should be used quite exclusively at transplanting for root growth if you have to use it at all. So overall I'd say go for higher K than high P.

[PaulF]

Originally Posted by lapk78

I've never done one of those before. Is that a kit that I can just pick up at a garden center, or must I get some sort of service to perform the test?

Some State Extensions have kits available and labs do the testing, some places you need to contact an agricultural lab to have the testing kit sent to you.

No matter what, you will need to collect soil from the testing area and mail/take the sample to the lab. They then return the results and recommendations, usually on-line and in the mail.

I test my garden every two years or three if I forget and get a trend of the soil health. I also suggest never adding anything but organics without a professional test. Those cheap home testing kits are a worthless waste of money.

In Texas, Texas A&M is the soil test extension: http://soiltesting.tamu.edu. Go there for information.

[Milan HP]

Hello Zipcode,
I fully agree with you: it's K that helps flowering and fruiting. If I were in lapk78's situation, I'd apply an easily accessible potassium fertilizer with extreme caution. I don't believe any sophisticated lab tests could provide a guideline.
Or, preferably, I'd leave it up to Mother Nature as I believe the plants naturally tend to "replace the loss".

Milan HP

[dipchip2000]

I have always used 15/30/15 for extra blooming. Look at npk on flower blooming fertilizers. always P will be at least twice the N or K. just my experience Ron

[dipchip2000]

use tomato bloom buster 15/30/15 works great Ron

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

I have always used 15/30/15 for extra blooming. Look at npk on flower blooming fertilizers. always P will be at least twice the N or K. just my experience Ron

Here's a good one for you. We use 20-10-20 on our flower baskets we sell to the public, people try to get us to ship them out of state they are so over the top. P is way over done by most, we usually use high P for starters/ plugs, root crop start, etc.

[D.J. Wolf]

It was explained by the plant food expert at my local nursery that N is for top growth, P is for root growth, and K is for overall plant health and blooms. IDK, I use a 12-4-8 liquid formula that has always done good for me, big healthy plants, lots of blooms fruit, really everything you could ask for