A few questions from a beginer

GATORACE · April 29, 2015

Hi Everyone,
I see a lot of people on here that are growing some great Tomato's, so I thought I would ask some questions to help me out this year and in the future. Thank you in advance for any help you be able to provide.

1. I am growing in 10 and 8 gallon containers and have several different variety's I am trying, I am growing in worm castings ( the worms are fed rabbit manure) my plant are about 5 foot tall very thick stalks and are they are starting to bloom and set tomato's. Is this a good medium to grown in, or am I making a mistake?

2. I have been fertilizing with a liquid fertilizer ( I think it is 3-5-5) once a week, per the instructions, it does seem to promote flowering ( but maybe it was just time for flowering ) anyway, I see several references to 13-13-13 being used, am I using a fertilizer that is to week?

3. What can I do to promote growth of the tomatoes at this this point, I don't need 4 lb's to be happy but I don't want to wind up with all tennis ball tomato's either.

4. I have a small 4x8 green house that I want to grow tomatos in this winter, can anyone recommend a good bushy but not to tall type of tomato that will work in there?

I know I will have many more questions, but I don't want to wear out my welcome right off the bat.

Thanks to everyone in advance.

Gatorace.

RayR · April 29, 2015

Are you growing in straight worm castings? No potting mix?
I'd say if your plants are healthy and blooming leave well enough alone.
13-13-13 is a synthetic, you don't want to use any high Nitrogen fertilizer at this point, so don't. If you are growing organically, definitely don't.
Your 3-5-5 sounds like an organic fertilizer, what is it?

GATORACE · April 29, 2015

Yes, I am growing in straight worm castings, as for the fertilizer,
It is called CANNA FLORES, it is organic and I am trying to stay that way, I also just tried some Tomato Tone, it is organic also I think it is a 3-4-6

I think the worm castings may be holding water to long, and then I get a rain and they get really wet, even though they are in self watering plants, I have had some blossom drop, not a lot but some, I think it may be from overwatering. Would a potting mix help that ?

BTW, my plants look ok, but not like some of the ones I have seen on this site,,, WOW is all I can say.

kurt · April 29, 2015

My season is done down here,it might be the timing(heat/humidity).Here are some folks from central"ish" Florida that are still producing,maybe they will chime in or you might get some insight from the thread.Also if you have not already read there is a FlaTag forum here also.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ght=fishergurl

http://www.tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175

RayR · April 29, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by GATORACE

Yes, I am growing in straight worm castings, as for the fertilizer,
It is called CANNA FLORES, it is organic and I am trying to stay that way, I also just tried some Tomato Tone, it is organic also I think it is a 3-4-6

I think the worm castings may be holding water to long, and then I get a rain and they get really wet, even though they are in self watering plants, I have had some blossom drop, not a lot but some, I think it may be from overwatering. Would a potting mix help that ?

BTW, my plants look ok, but not like some of the ones I have seen on this site,,, WOW is all I can say.

I think you are OK with the Tomato-Tone and the CANNA for bloom. Worm castings are a great amendment to potting soils but I've never heard of using just worm castings as container medium. I think you may be right that it's holding too much water. A container mix needs to allow for good water movement (drainage) and air infiltration to the roots. It needs to hold water but not to the point where the roots are drowning in it. It's the same for the beneficial aerobic bacteria and fungi.

b54red · April 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayR

I think you are OK with the Tomato-Tone and the CANNA for bloom. Worm castings are a great amendment to potting soils but I've never heard of using just worm castings as container medium. I think you may be right that it's holding too much water. A container mix needs to allow for good water movement (drainage) and air infiltration to the roots. It needs to hold water but not to the point where the roots are drowning in it. It's the same for the beneficial aerobic bacteria and fungi.

I agree with Ray about using straight worm castings holding too much water. I also think they will tend to compact too much. I think you would be better with a good potting mix. Check what Raybo uses because he has some of the finest looking container grown plants I have ever seen.

Bella Rosa is a hybrid tomato that is relatively compact and produces quite nice tasting tomatoes of good size. Druzba is also a fairly compact heirloom along with a GWR called Grubs Mystery Green. Most of the tomatoes I grow get really large and are a real problem in my small greenhouse. I don't even attempt greenhouse tomato growing anymore because the plants end up crowding the place up too much. If you have the room and height in your greenhouse you might try growing one or two stem plants supported by drop lines and lowering them to the floor when they get to the top.

Bill

Gardeneer · April 30, 2015

Yeah, pure worm casting looks like vermiculite (VERMI ??) . It absorbs / retains too much moisture and can get soggy. You can do couple of things to improve it:

1-- add about 25% perlite.
2= add pines bark fine,
3-- add some compost
4- any combination of 1 to 3

Gardeneer

GATORACE · May 10, 2015

Thanks to everyone for the advice.
This is my first crop, ( I tried a few years ago but by the time I learned what a white fly was it was too late)
I have about 20 plants, about 8 varieties, some heirloom, some hybrid, all are in 8 to 13 gallon containers.
I started some in top soil purchased from a local source, most are in the worm castings, so far the ones in the worm castings seem much,much healthier, big, thick stems.

All have set fruit, I had some BER, but the newer tomatoes don't seem to be showing any sign of it ( fingers crossed).

I have already learned many things to do, and not do from this site for my fall crop, I am looking forward to learning much more.

Again thanks to everyone.

April 29, 2015	#1
GATORACE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: new port richey fl Posts: 4	A few questions from a beginer Hi Everyone, I see a lot of people on here that are growing some great Tomato's, so I thought I would ask some questions to help me out this year and in the future. Thank you in advance for any help you be able to provide. 1. I am growing in 10 and 8 gallon containers and have several different variety's I am trying, I am growing in worm castings ( the worms are fed rabbit manure) my plant are about 5 foot tall very thick stalks and are they are starting to bloom and set tomato's. Is this a good medium to grown in, or am I making a mistake? 2. I have been fertilizing with a liquid fertilizer ( I think it is 3-5-5) once a week, per the instructions, it does seem to promote flowering ( but maybe it was just time for flowering ) anyway, I see several references to 13-13-13 being used, am I using a fertilizer that is to week? 3. What can I do to promote growth of the tomatoes at this this point, I don't need 4 lb's to be happy but I don't want to wind up with all tennis ball tomato's either. 4. I have a small 4x8 green house that I want to grow tomatos in this winter, can anyone recommend a good bushy but not to tall type of tomato that will work in there? I know I will have many more questions, but I don't want to wear out my welcome right off the bat. Thanks to everyone in advance. Gatorace.

April 29, 2015	#3
GATORACE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: new port richey fl Posts: 4	Yes, I am growing in straight worm castings, as for the fertilizer, It is called CANNA FLORES, it is organic and I am trying to stay that way, I also just tried some Tomato Tone, it is organic also I think it is a 3-4-6 I think the worm castings may be holding water to long, and then I get a rain and they get really wet, even though they are in self watering plants, I have had some blossom drop, not a lot but some, I think it may be from overwatering. Would a potting mix help that ? BTW, my plants look ok, but not like some of the ones I have seen on this site,,, WOW is all I can say. Last edited by GATORACE; April 29, 2015 at 03:43 PM.

April 29, 2015	#4
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,500	My season is done down here,it might be the timing(heat/humidity).Here are some folks from central"ish" Florida that are still producing,maybe they will chime in or you might get some insight from the thread.Also if you have not already read there is a FlaTag forum here also. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ght=fishergurl http://www.tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175 __________________ KURT

April 29, 2015	#2
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Are you growing in straight worm castings? No potting mix? I'd say if your plants are healthy and blooming leave well enough alone. 13-13-13 is a synthetic, you don't want to use any high Nitrogen fertilizer at this point, so don't. If you are growing organically, definitely don't. Your 3-5-5 sounds like an organic fertilizer, what is it?

April 30, 2015	#7
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	Yeah, pure worm casting looks like vermiculite (VERMI ??) . It absorbs / retains too much moisture and can get soggy. You can do couple of things to improve it: 1-- add about 25% perlite. 2= add pines bark fine, 3-- add some compost 4- any combination of 1 to 3 Gardeneer

May 10, 2015	#8
GATORACE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: new port richey fl Posts: 4	Thanks to everyone for the advice. This is my first crop, ( I tried a few years ago but by the time I learned what a white fly was it was too late) I have about 20 plants, about 8 varieties, some heirloom, some hybrid, all are in 8 to 13 gallon containers. I started some in top soil purchased from a local source, most are in the worm castings, so far the ones in the worm castings seem much,much healthier, big, thick stems. All have set fruit, I had some BER, but the newer tomatoes don't seem to be showing any sign of it ( fingers crossed). I have already learned many things to do, and not do from this site for my fall crop, I am looking forward to learning much more. Again thanks to everyone.