Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

Stvrob

The gallon container of TTF dilutes in water to make 256 gallons of fertilizer water. 1 tablespoon per gallon.

I gook your post to mean that you put out "4 gallons for 12 plants" to mean 4 gallons of TTF or about 384 ounces of TTF per plant and that is what I meant by a boat load. Now, I'm thinking you meant you put out 4 gallons of diluted fertilizer (1 tablespoon per gallon) than that seems fine to me.

Dewayne mater

Oh.
That would be a very expensive mistake. I use 1/4 cup to make a 4 gal batch for a 1:256 dilution. Divided among 12 plants, thats 1/3 gal or about 43 oz per plant. I suspect that amount will increase as the plants gets bigger and the temps increase.

I syphon the 4 gallons thru the drippers, and its done in about 25 minutes. Usually when I water I run the drippers several hours. Perhaps Im overwatering in general?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Oh.
That would be a very expensive mistake. I use 1/4 cup to make a 4 gal batch for a 1:256 dilution. Divided among 12 plants, thats 1/3 gal or about 43 oz per plant. I suspect that amount will increase as the plants gets bigger and the temps increase.

I syphon the 4 gallons thru the drippers, and its done in about 25 minutes. Usually when I water I run the drippers several hours. Perhaps Im overwatering in general?

It is hard to over water in our climate if it isn't raining frequently. I tend to go light on the watering when the plants are first set out and then again when they are loaded with ripening fruit. The rest of the time I try to keep them well watered and fertilized with TTF once a week in order to get good fruit set in this heat. Under watering when plants are blooming will get you a lot of dropped blooms and much lower fruit set during hot weather. Since it is already topping 90 here I'm starting to water much more heavily along with mulching of most vegetables.

Bill

[budfaux]

Received a gallon of both TTF and VF last week. Purchase prompted by the glowing reviews I've read, and posts from a fellow Alabamian certainly didn't hurt either. I'll need to give my plants more "breathing room" this season and also try different mulches and layer mulches deeper.
If I can sweet talk my missus into posting pics, I will, as I'm slow in this computer age.

And Worth, if you see this post, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you make a comment recently that if you saw pics of decent Celebrity plants, you might consider growing them again? I'll see what I can do in that regard.

Also, if this product can revitalize plants after the blast furnace of July and August, I may do (try) cartwheels in my front yard.

[cherokee]

Urbanfarmer I am using your veg. formula on my seedlings after transplanting I will be using drip tape irrigation using a 100/1 injection pump if I add TTF to the water in the container diluted and mixed with water will I have to standby and stir to keep the TTF in suspension?

[parah]

My Texas Tomato Food is getting some white precipitation. I shake the bottle every time... maybe I need to shake harder?

[Barb_FL]

I shake hard and pour into a 16 oz wide mouth container. Then when I use it, I just need to stir the smaller container.

[OzoneNY]

Does ttf have a shelf life? I only have 12 plants and I am not sure I will use it all in one season. Can it sit for 12 to 24 months if kept on a garage shelf?

[charley]

i dabbled with ttf last fall but this spring i put out some pretty nice plants already but one week after applying it my plants jumped up like never before.but what im most impressed with is the fruit set.every blossom on goose creek has a tomatoe .and my other plants very little droped blossoms.this is turning out to be my best year yet.

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by cherokee

Urbanfarmer I am using your veg. formula on my seedlings after transplanting I will be using drip tape irrigation using a 100/1 injection pump if I add TTF to the water in the container diluted and mixed with water will I have to standby and stir to keep the TTF in suspension?

At 256:1 dilution nothing settles at all, it almost looks clear enough to drink. Almost, but not quite.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by OzoneNY

Does ttf have a shelf life? I only have 12 plants and I am not sure I will use it all in one season. Can it sit for 12 to 24 months if kept on a garage shelf?

Good question and concern.
Things in liquid form has much shorter shelf life than solid/dry form. So I wouldn't worry much about granular fertilizers' shelf life but not liquid ones.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

So tell me what three elements N P and K that have been here since the beginning of time are going to break down into in our lifetime.
The minerals in it aren't going to break down into anything either.


I have some liquid stuff I have had for years and using it.
It seems to be just fine.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

So tell me what three elements N P and K that have been here since the beginning of time are going to break down into in our lifetime.
The minerals in it aren't going to break down into anything either.


I have some liquid stuff I have had for years and using it.
It seems to be just fine.

Worth,

Of course N, P, K wont't break down and neither they shoul go bad. BUT the plants cannot uptake pure elements out of the periodic table. So they have to be in a certain chemical composition form like nitrate, sulphate ... etc.
So the question is : how long those compounds will stay in the original composition. That is called shelf life.

Gardeneer.

[b54red]

I have never had any last longer than a year. If I have any left after the tomato season I use it on my fall and winter crops. I also use it on my new seedlings for the next year.

Using it at the rate of one tablespoon to the gallon of water and applying it every week to 10 days during the season you shouldn't have much left over at the end of the season. Once the plants get full size I usually apply about a gallon of diluted mix to each plant every week so with 12 plants that works out to around 5 to 7 ounces of the concentrate used each week. Of course during a season there will sometimes be weeks where I am unable to apply the fertilizer for one reason or the other but that is the way I use it with great results.

The first couple of applications I use a slightly more diluted mix to encourage more root growth. After that I apply it according to the way the plants are looking. If the plants become a really dark green I will let up a bit and if they are looking a bit pale or dropping too many blooms without setting fruit I will up the amount I apply. When I feel that the plants need more fertilizer I rarely go above the one TBS to the gallon dilution rate but instead will apply a bit more of the dilute mix or apply it more often. I don't always give each plant the same amount but rather try to read the individual plant and apply accordingly.

Bill

[Worth1]

I just looked on two totally different forms of liquid fertilizer.
One was Mirical Gro liquid all purpose plant food, the other was Lady Bug liquid concentrate fertilizer that smells like a fish processing plant.
Neither one has an expiration date nor do they have a (Shelf Life Best If Used by).
I have had these things laying around for several years now and both work just fine.
I have never seen an expiration date nor shelf life on any fertilizer I have ran across.

Worth

[Worth1]

I would like to add that instead of babbling on here about the shelf life of Texas Tomato Food.
I sent them an email asking the question.
Maybe we will hear from them here or I will get an email back maybe.
Worth