Liquid vs dry fertilizer & what your preference is

[AKmark]

I have had great success with liquid one part fertilizer, but now I am switching to a two part dry, where Calcium Nitrate supplements the fertilizer. The main reason is price, and it works very good too.

[gregory]

I found a source that sells Texas Tomatoe plant food. I am going to use that in the containers. I will go with Tomatoe tone for the garden

[Ed of Somis]

For some reason...the idea of Tomato Tone folded in the soil at plantout, and liquid fert periodically during the season sounds good to me. I have had good success (unlike some others) with the blue MiracleGro liquid. I am anxious to try my Texas Tomato Food too. So many ideas...

[Mike723]

Hey everybody,

I'm still new around here but it's a pleasure to be around like-minded folks! I initially inoculate all my plants with mycorrhizae fungi. I use dry ingredients for my initial amendments: tomatotone (1/2 rate), earthworm castings (ewc), greensand, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, manure or homemade compost and some azomite for trace minerals. Throughout the season I feed weekly with a liquid fish/kelp blend, followed with homemade compost tea; I back off on the fish (N) once flowering begins.

I occasionally add 1 tbs unsulfured molasses/gal to further promote bacterial dominance. I believe it also plays a role in raised brix levels making for a sweeter fruit but that is HIGHLY debatable. As we know, the majority of a plant's characteristics are based on genetic makeup. Just keep in mind when going for an organic approach that chlorine/chloramines are toxic to microbes and will work against you if you're not filtering your tap. I personally use a Gard'n Gro filter but there are plenty of options out there.
Cheers

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Mike723

Just keep in mind when going for an organic approach that chlorine/chloramines are toxic to microbes and will work against you if you're not filtering your tap. I personally use a Gard'n Gro filter but there are plenty of options out there.
Cheers

first off I would like to welcome you here and thank you for your post.

I would also like to add that if you dont have a filter the chlorine will evaporate out of the water in about 24 hours.

Worth

[Mike723]

Hey Worth,

Thanks for the welcome! Yea I used to actually aerate my tap in the old days - to speed up the process, the issue with that is the chloramines that stick around. These days I'm using drip tape so I need a pressurized source any how.. It just isn't practical for me to let it sit and then have to pump it.. Especially seeing as the filter cost me around $50 dollars on amazon and is rated at 20-40k gallons.. gotta love Amazon lol

[Redbaron]

My preference would be not to fertilize at all. I have been able to do that in the past, but my soil is no where near good enough in Oklahoma yet. The garden is getting close after 6 years of heavy mulches, but the rest isn't.

So I try to add compost and garden tone to the seedlings at plant out, and water with a compost tea blend and for now I still inoculate with Mycorrhizals.

[biodarwin]

Originally Posted by Ed of Somis

For some reason...the idea of Tomato Tone folded in the soil at plantout, and liquid fert periodically during the season sounds good to me.

This is how I did it last year. I used vege-tone for the dry and used texas tomato food for the liquid. I would have used tomato-tone, but I did not have a local source for it.

I had great results.

[Goldie321]

Switched from Miracle Gro to Jobes. Tried Jobes on a few tomato plants I raised in the fall (Florida has two growing seasons). Much better results and no work at all - best part! The spikes for tomatoes go in every 3 months versus gallons of Miracle Gro every 10 days or so. No brainer!!!

[freekie]

I've tried dry fertilizer but since I exclusively grow in containers (no garden, only a balcony) it probably doesn't work as well as it would on ground.
But going to try with liquid this year checking if my theory is true.

[BigVanVader]

I have never fertilized with anything but compost until this year. The fine folks here suggested fish emulsion to feed my seedlings and I gotta say I love it. After some research it seems it works best if applied 2x weekly according to studies done.http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/pro...earch/sea.html I plan on trying this out on some of my plants to see what my results are. Mainly because it was on my amazon wish list and I got 4 big jugs of it for my birthday, plus the one I had already bought Has anyone else used it that often?

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Worth1

if you dont have a filter the chlorine will evaporate out of the water in about 24 hours.
Worth

That's true, unfortunately I think most water companies have moved to chloramines, instead of chlorine. It has a half-life of 30-40 days, as compared to chlorine, which I think is about 12 hours.

Sitting out in the sun will speed the process of removing the treatment chemicals.

And I know a lot of people have success with compost in a container mix, but when I try it for seedlings, I get damping off if the weather turns cold. Part of the problem may be the cold temperatures my greenhouse gets to with no heat at night. Having said that, I am still going to try it in 5-gallon buckets for some dwarfs. I am planning to pot up to a 1-gallon pot, then transplant into the 5-gallon with compost, and try to keep the compost away from the stems. Later in the spring, with warmer temperatures, I think it will do ok.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

I have never fertilized with anything but compost until this year. The fine folks here suggested fish emulsion to feed my seedlings and I gotta say I love it. After some research it seems it works best if applied 2x weekly according to studies done.http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/pro...earch/sea.html I plan on trying this out on some of my plants to see what my results are. Mainly because it was on my amazon wish list and I got 4 big jugs of it for my birthday, plus the one I had already bought Has anyone else used it that often?

I'm using this stuff and I have to tell you with it and Plant tone I have had the best garden ever.
I cant begin to tell you how satisfied I am.
http://www.ladybugbrand.com/products/Johns-Recipe.asp
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2w&cad=rja

[BigVanVader]

Has anyone here used these? They are rated really well and cheap to boot. http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-6005-18-...tilizer+spikes

[Goldie321]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Has anyone here used these? They are rated really well and cheap to boot. http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-6005-18-...tilizer+spikes

Used the Jobe's spikes but I think my soil drains too well and leeches out the fertilizer too fast. I switched to their bagged product for tomatoes & vegetables. Once a week I give each container two teaspoons. Seems to be working out better.