What are your go-to organic amendments for your tomatoes?

[Fred Hempel]

Soil and soil needs are so very variable. Our soils all need different things. But, it might be nice to touch base on what we are using, and what seems to be working. Here are my major amendments.

Organic compost -- Large scale green-waste pick-up and composting in the San Francisco Bay Area makes uniform and reliable organic compost very affordable. We use it mainly for organic matter and soil structure improvement. Of course some minerals and other benefits.

Powdered Oyster shell -- Our field isn't "low" on calcium. But the Calcium-Magnesium ratio is skewed Magnesium. So we need additional Calcium.

Rabbit Manure -- A very "clean" manure and our main nitrogen source. We are lucky to have a rabbit breeder close-by who produces plenty.

Azomite -- A powdered volcanic rock with lots of trace minerals. It is not clear what all the affects are, but fruit density and flavor seems to be enhanced with Azomite. Applying heavier dose this year. No time for controlled experiments, right now, unfortunately.

What are your go-to amendments??

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I run a soil test annually - last year I did it twice at the beginning and end of the season. I amend based on my test results and mostly use stuff from SmilingGardener.com. The last few years, the only thing I used consistently is Rock Dust. I have an over - abundance of Phosphorus and Potassium so I am real careful with what I add.

[PaulF]

The two major amendments used in the garden which is mostly tomatoes are the straw and newsprint mulch applied every year and tilled into the soil in the fall and elemental sulphur applied almost every year as suggested by my annual soil test.

I am wondering if elemental sulphur is organic. I looked up sulphur and got this as an explanation:

Organic and inorganic sulfur-containing compounds can be observed in soil. The key difference between organic and inorganic sulfur is that the term organic sulfur refers to the sulfur present in organic compounds and they are highly immobile in the soil, whereas the term inorganic sulfur refers to the sulfur present in inorganic compounds and they are highly mobile in soil.

Not being enough of a chemist to translate, I think my amendment is organic, but maybe not. So, is elemental sulphur an organic chemical? If not, I apply composted mulch.

[biscuitridge]

Fred-those are all very good amendments but I would question the organic compost, it has to have residual herbicides, insecticides etc. I would add kelp to the list plus a few others but I can't give out my secrets for growing world record tomatoes, lol
As far as soil tests go,I've never tested my soil in either location that I've grown WR tomatoes. The very most important aspect of growing great tomatoes is your soil biology, nothing trumps that! And when you till your destroying biology, yes I know it takes a bit to be able to do no-till successfully, I almost gave up because it just didn't fit my gardening schedule, but biology is more important than amendments but amendments are still very important!

[Hensaplenty]

tomato tone
ash from my firepit
calcium nitrate
Mycorrhiza
crab meal
worm castings
organic chicken manure compost

[kurt]

We fertilize at every watering for our in container maters.Outside with the beans,corns and my favorites Sunflowers ��.We are lucky to get GPS kelp/fish emulsion’s sourced in Fl.Then following our growers out in California(cannabis) the ever best Humbolts Best.Bat guano.All mixed at watering.

[habitat_gardener]

Homemade compost. I add several scoops at planting time and always intend to add more during the summer, but never get around to it.

Purchased worm castings (a little) at planting time, because I bought a bag last year and wanted to use it up.

I also added some horse-manure compost from a local stable to some of the garden beds during the winter, before all the atmospheric rivers.

[Fusion_power]

I currently have about 40 chickens so my fertilizer of choice is dried chicken manure. It is surprisingly well balanced for tomatoes. I have used worm castings, guano, and homemade compost.


My soil tends to be acidic so I add a bit of dolomite lime every 2 or 3 years.

[JRinPA]

Homemade compost I make from fish, our yard waste and leaves, and tree/bush clippings. It is a combo of hot mix, worm, and BSF larvae doing the work. That I consider to be pretty organic. I usually use it at 1 year old. I end up with a lot of carp bones in this, so I made a tumbler for composts. That gets a lot of sticks and bones out, which I then run through a shredder.


From the fresh homemade compost, I feed a vermicompost bin, and that comes out very nicely for seed starting. I empty it down to 25% by about end of Spring and refill it in summer with year old compost, so the vermicompost is about 2 years old when used.



I get leaves when I can and HOPE there are not too many -cides used. That gets used to winter mulch beds.



I get municipal compost that is collected or dropped off yard waste. Supposed to be 5 years old. That has to have at least some residuals, but not much to do about it. Gloves are fairly common to find as well as plenty of small light plastic. Often many rocks mixed in when they scoop it to turn. My best find was a briggs muffler. Still, it is a great source for new beds or easy topping of old beds.



Horse manure that is usually at least a year old. I have yet to see it kill anything with residual herbicides, but it sure has a lot of rocks at times.

[DK2021]

Originally Posted by PaulF

I am wondering if elemental sulphur is organic.

"Organic" in the chemistry sense just means a carbon-containing compound. Organic sulfur-containing compounds are things like sulfur-containing amino acids, or sulfate salts of organic (carbon-containing) acids.


"Inorganic sulfur" can be sulfur present as an inorganic salt, like ammonium sulfate, or other non-carbon-containing compounds like hydrogen sulfide



"Elemental" sulfur is just sulfur (usually S8); it is bright yellow. This is the yellow powder dusted onto plants as a fungicide. By definition elemental sulfur is inorganic.


The word "organic" in chemistry doesn't have the same meaning as in "organic gardening". I don't know the history behind this use, but it was an unfortunate choice of adjectives. Now I see grocery labels that make zero sense to me as a chemist, like "organic sea salt". It's as bad as "gluten-free vodka"...marketing hype that throws in scientific-sounding words that the public swallows hook, line, and sinker.

[TomNJ]

I till in Harmony (5-4-3 organic dehydrated chicken manure) before planting, along with some pulverized limestone if the soil analysis indicates a need. A couple of weeks after planting I top dress with a little bloodmeal (12-0-0) to boost early foliage growth, and then apply a heavy mulch of grass clippings. That's it for tomatoes as I don't want too much nitrogen once they start to fruit.

Other crops such as garlic, onions, corn, beans, broccoli etc. get some more bloodmeal applications and are also mulched with grass clippings. Broccoli and cauliflower go under a row cover immediately after planting to keep out green caterpillars, as does eggplant for flea beetles.

I do a soil analysis every 2-3 years and my garden soil is rich in all nutrients, so I focus on just pH and supplemental nitrogen. The remaining grass clipping mulch gets tilled in at the end of the season to keep up the organic content of the soil. My garden soil is loaded with worms!

[PaulF]

Originally Posted by DK2021

"Elemental" sulfur is just sulfur (usually S8); it is bright yellow. This is the yellow powder dusted onto plants as a fungicide. By definition elemental sulfur is inorganic.

Thanks, I think I've got it. The yellow powder or pastiles applied to my garden are for pH adjustment of the entire space and not specifically for any single crop. The attempt is made to have the whole garden be in balance so no extra amendments are necessary.

Tom, you do it right with organics so far as I can tell. No wonder you do so well.

[b54red]

My favorite organic amendment that is added when preparing my beds for a new season is cottonseed meal. I will have to slack off on the amount I use as the price has doubled in the last few years. It gives a slow release fertilizer value and worms love the stuff.
I also use my homemade compost and some peat moss for moisture retention and pine bark fines to help keep the soil from packing.

My soil is high in phosphorous but always low in potassium so I add some potassium sulfate and sometimes a bit of wood ash. If I can get any chicken manure cheaply then I add a little but I now stay away from cow and horse manure due to the residual 2-4-D that is usually in it due to pasture spraying. I tried using cow manure from a certified organic dairy but the weed seeds were a major problem.

Bill

[FullSwing]

Compost, blood meal, bone meal and kelp meal.