Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by 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

I asked about the shelf life. Its the mycorrhizae in the formula that will eventually become inactive and die. I also asked if it would be better to keep it refrigerated and the answer was No, that would be worse.

[Irv Wiseguy]

Urban Farmer answered the shelf life question on page 2 of this thread (a long, long time ago).

In a moment of weakness I just broke down and ordered a gallon.

Originally Posted by Urbanfarmer

Some of the myco will lose potency over time. Myco effect is subtle. Differences between new and year-old nutrient aren't distinquishable to the eye.

The oldest nutrient we've used was 2 years, with the same results.

One caveat: this nutrient likes to be room temp or slightly above. If it gets cold and/or sits for long periods there will be some sediment. Put the bottle in a warm water bath or hot greenhouse to 90 degrees and shake for several minutes and it will come back and be perfectly usable.

All that said, we always prefer fresh, and recommend only buying enough nutrient for each season. We make fresh tanks every week, and keep next to no inventory. It's all bottled on the spot. When big orders come in, it's a mad house.

Best regards.....

[Worth1]

I just got the email back saying how busy they were and thanked Tomatoville for all of the great words about their product.
And for some reason they haven't been getting notifications like they used to.
Also substantiated what was already said here about shelf life.
So in my opinion the stuff wont as will none of the other products out there at least not to amount to anything.


Worth

[flyfiishn]

Wondering at what stage you all began using the TTF. My plants are in the ground now only 1.5 weeks old so I have been feeding them with a diluted fish-kelp emulsion a couple of times just to help them from planting shock. They are looking good now and beginning to reach upwards.

Just wanted to know if you wait until the plants start flowering in earnest before you started with TTF. Seems the P & K levels would lend themselves to this much more readily for flowering plants.

[Worth1]

I think plants need fertilizer from almost day one.
Mine get hit with what ever I have as soon as and before they go in the ground.

Worth

[b54red]

I prefer to give my seedlings a little dilute fertilizer the day before they are set out and then not give them anything including water til they start wilting. I also don't set them deep as many do because of the added danger of bacterial wilt and damping off which happens quite often when I bury plants deep. Of course that probably wouldn't be a problem in most areas but it is here and especially if the soil is really warm and damp.
The main reason for not watering or fertilizing right after setting them out is to encourage new root growth so they will have a healthier root system to help them through the hot dry times coming later in the summer.

I just checked on my last bed of tomatoes I set out 6 days ago into moist soil and they are just now starting to wilt even though the last few days have been up in the 90s and today it is already nearly 90. I am fixing to go out and give them a dose of TTF mixed equally with Apples and Oranges along with a little of their lawn fertilizer which is high in nitrogen. The reason for the nitrogen boost is we have had about 8 inches of rain over the last week and everything in the garden looks like it is a bit low on nitrogen. The tomatoes planted 3 weeks ago are blooming good so I am giving them the recommended dose of 1 TBS per gallon of TTF while I'm out there and will continue to do that every week. I find giving them fertilizer every week (unless they look too dark green) keeps production and fruit set more reliable than fertilizing less frequently.

Bill

[flyfiishn]

Originally Posted by b54red

I am fixing to go out and give them a dose of TTF mixed equally with Apples and Oranges .
Bill

Please explain apples and oranges for the feeble minded (me)

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by flyfiishn

Please explain apples and oranges for the feeble minded (me)

Yet another product Urban farms sells.

Worth

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2w&cad=rja

[b54red]

Originally Posted by flyfiishn

Please explain apples and oranges for the feeble minded (me)

I use it on my citrus and use it mainly for non tomato types of vegetables and it works great but it is not as good for tomatoes as TTF. They have another called Vegetable for general use. Both the Vegetable and Apples and Oranges are terrific for all types of bedding plants. I use one or the other on all my seedlings until they go into the garden.

Bill

[flyfiishn]

Roger that, thanks all!

[b54red]

I have been doing a little experimenting in the last few weeks with blending a couple of the Urban Farm products for a few specific crops to see how it would work compared to just the TTF, A&O, or Veg. I got a gallon of the Lawn Fertilizer that is very high in both nitrogen and potassium. My garden soil is slightly low in potassium and some crops do well with a lot of nitrogen so I mixed TTF with the Lawn fertilizer anywhere from 50/50 to 65/35 and all in between. I used this on broccoli with fantastic results at one tablespoon to the gallon. I also used it on my newly planted tomatoes and peppers and continue using it on my peppers for now. The results so far have been very promising. I have now switched to TTF alone on my tomatoes as they are blooming and setting fruit now but I will continue it on the peppers for a while longer since it hasn't negatively affected fruit set and has increased the plant health overall. Actually my fruit set on my peppers has been unusually high so far but if it drops off or the plants get too vegetative I will switch back to the TTF or the A&O. I am using it on my cucumbers and so far it seems to really be giving them an extra boost in growth and setting fruit.

I am hoping to see better fruit from my cucumbers due to the added N & K. I think it was a real help with all my young plants due to the heavy rains we had leaching out nitrogen from the soil a few weeks ago. Before I used it everything was looking a little pale and now everything is robust and green. I even used it at a reduced dosage (2tsp/gal) on my Maxibel green beans and they have produced better than any I have ever grown.

Oh yeah. I found a dispenser that works better than the Ortho dial-n-spray because it doesn't clog up as bad at the filter and it goes by the name Chameleon and I purchased it at Lowes. It works best at the fan spray setting. I like the shower setting better on the Ortho.

I like experimenting with different things in the garden and sometimes it seems to work. Of course many times it doesn't.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

TO Each His Own !

Not knocking TTF or anything else. We all have choices and preferences.

I like MG blue water soluble (24-8-16) the best bang for the buck.
It is 52% pure fertilizer ( 24+8+16 =52%) and it costs about $2.20 / lb.
That is like $4/lb for pure fertilizer.

To supplement that I get a bag of Epsom salt and some dolomitic lime ( for the lacking Ca and Mg). I am all set.
I also happened to have some granular 16-16-16 and some 24-0-0 from 2 years ago..
I spend less than 15 bucks a year on fertilizer on all my tomatoes ( ~ 40 plants), peppers (~ 25 plants) plus other garden veggies. I have been doing that for years and it works for me. YMMV

Gardeneer.

[brooksville]

Experiencing great fruit set so far this year. What I am really impressed with is Apples and oranges on the Blueberry bushes. I used to have bad chlorosis because of Ph. This year I fertilized, added sulfur and still had yellow leaves and dark veins. After 3 applications of AO the chlorosis is gone in all but 2 bushes. I also had a plant that was struggling, a lot of berries but no leaves. I stripped the berries, fertilized, and now new growth is emerging. I think I would have lost that bush had it not been for AO. This stuff is great!!

[b54red]

I use A & O on almost everything except tomatoes once they start blooming and I have even used it on them when out of TTF. Wait til you see what the regular application of TTF does for fruit set on tomatoes down here in our sweltering heat. I even have a Brandywine Sudduth's with new fruit set in the last few hours even with temps nearing 100 today and it is one of the most difficult varieties to get to set fruit once it gets really hot.

I don't know how the TTF does it but if you keep your tomatoes well watered, mulched and feed TTF weekly you can overcome some of the stress brought on by the terrible heat and humidity in the deep south and have fruit set that will sometimes amaze you.

I was really worried that I would have a terrible season because of the very late start I got with no tomatoes in the garden til April, then tornado like winds which blew off blooms and branches like crazy leaving my garden a wreck and now very high temps. My earliest set out plants are only about 3 ft tall yet already they have mostly recovered from that terrible storm two weeks ago and have put out lots of new blossoms and are setting fruit. Now if the foliage diseases and pests will hold off for a little bit longer I might have a good crop even though I still have 3 beds left to plant in tomatoes; but this heat is really slowing me down with the bed preparation.

Gardeneer: I used the exact formulation of Miracle Grow you use for many many years as my main fertilizer and it was a very easy to use and good fertilizer. However the first year I got some Texas Tomato Food I compared the results using both. Each did fine in the early part of the spring before the sweltering heat arrived; but after that there was no comparison in the amount of fruit set. It is very difficult and many think impossible to get decent fruit set down here once the temps get well above 90 most days; but I have been getting continuous fruit set during even the hottest weather since I started giving my plants TTF every week. I also make sure to do the other things necessary for fruit set in the heat like giving them plenty of water and heavily mulching the plants to keep the root zone cooler. No way is the fruit set heavy during the worst of the heat nor or the tomatoes as large; but having a regular supply of fresh vine ripened tomatoes from mid summer through early fall is a real treat down here. I'm sure in your cooler climate that fruit set is not the problem it is down here and you should use what works well for you as should any gardener. I found the MG a very good product and still use it on some fall and winter crops. I always have the very large box on hand if I need it or if I run out of TTF.

Bill

[brooksville]

I am still picking up trash out of the garden from the storms a few weeks ago. There is a definite gap on the vines from where we lost blossoms from the storm.