Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food

[elight]

Originally Posted by b54red

Why don't you call Urban Farms and talk to them their contact number is on the web site. I think they originally invented this product as a hydroponic food so maybe they can give you some information that would help you. I do know that TTF will settle out if left standing for too long. I use a hose end sprayer called a Chameleon. It works great for me though I do shake it up every few minutes to keep it well mixed as I am using it. I use it full strength and set to deliver 1 TBS to the gallon but make sure it is thoroughly mixed before pouring it into the hose end sprayer and I do filter it through a fine stainless steel mesh strainer into the hose end sprayer.

I spoke with Ed at Urban Farms. He said that the EZ-Flow will definitely exhibit the settling problem I described earlier, since this particular injector does not agitate the water enough to mix up the settled fertilizer. He said that the settling is mostly caused by the calcium in the product and that they experimented with leaving out the calcium for this purpose, but that it's so critical to the quality of the nutrient mix that they decided to leave it in.

He recommended a Dosatron instead. He said that they use them and have found the quality to be superb. (I think the reason I didn't want to use a Dosatron is because it requires a minimum flow above what I produce in my small garden, IIRC.)

He also described an easy-to-build DIY solution. Get a tank of some sort, fill it with the amount of water you need to deliver to your plants, and the corresponding amount of fertilizer. Get a cheap submersible pump and plumb it into your existing irrigation line (use a shut-off on the fertilizer branch so that your fresh water doesn't pour into your tank). When you want to fertilize, just disengage the shut-off and turn on the pump until the tank is emptied. I suggested that they put a schematic on their website or make a YouTube video as I think there are lots of people like me looking for inexpensive and simple solutions to home gardening, and there's not currently much information out there, and it would help them sell more product.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by elight

I spoke with Ed at Urban Farms. He said that the EZ-Flow will definitely exhibit the settling problem I described earlier, since this particular injector does not agitate the water enough to mix up the settled fertilizer. He said that the settling is mostly caused by the calcium in the product and that they experimented with leaving out the calcium for this purpose, but that it's so critical to the quality of the nutrient mix that they decided to leave it in.

He recommended a Dosatron instead. He said that they use them and have found the quality to be superb. (I think the reason I didn't want to use a Dosatron is because it requires a minimum flow above what I produce in my small garden, IIRC.)

He also described an easy-to-build DIY solution. Get a tank of some sort, fill it with the amount of water you need to deliver to your plants, and the corresponding amount of fertilizer. Get a cheap submersible pump and plumb it into your existing irrigation line (use a shut-off on the fertilizer branch so that your fresh water doesn't pour into your tank). When you want to fertilize, just disengage the shut-off and turn on the pump until the tank is emptied. I suggested that they put a schematic on their website or make a YouTube video as I think there are lots of people like me looking for inexpensive and simple solutions to home gardening, and there's not currently much information out there, and it would help them sell more product.

I have always found Ed to be very helpful and very knowledgeable. That is why I wanted you to contact him. I hope what he told you is helpful.

Bill

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by elight

I spoke with Ed at Urban Farms. He said that the EZ-Flow will definitely exhibit the settling problem I described earlier, since this particular injector does not agitate the water enough to mix up the settled fertilizer. He said that the settling is mostly caused by the calcium in the product and that they experimented with leaving out the calcium for this purpose, but that it's so critical to the quality of the nutrient mix that they decided to leave it in.

He recommended a Dosatron instead. He said that they use them and have found the quality to be superb. (I think the reason I didn't want to use a Dosatron is because it requires a minimum flow above what I produce in my small garden, IIRC.)

He also described an easy-to-build DIY solution. Get a tank of some sort, fill it with the amount of water you need to deliver to your plants, and the corresponding amount of fertilizer. Get a cheap submersible pump and plumb it into your existing irrigation line (use a shut-off on the fertilizer branch so that your fresh water doesn't pour into your tank). When you want to fertilize, just disengage the shut-off and turn on the pump until the tank is emptied. I suggested that they put a schematic on their website or make a YouTube video as I think there are lots of people like me looking for inexpensive and simple solutions to home gardening, and there's not currently much information out there, and it would help them sell more product.

Use a shallow well jet pump in a tank, works like a charm, I have 6 of them. You can run ferts right through the pumps for years out of a tank with a mix like you are looking at, or you can use dry fertilizer for stock tanks with Dosatrons. We use two Dosatrons per GH, one does ferts and MgSO4 the other does CaNO3, they will not mix in stock solutions.

[edweather]

Just want to start out by saying I'm not a fan of any product stating that it stops blossom end rot. Still think Urban farms could re-word that claim a little. That being said, bought a gallon this year, and have not had any problem with blossom end rot, and following the instructions on the jug, the tomatoes have grown very well. In the past, in most years, I always had a little problem early in the season with some blossom end rot. Nothing earth shattering, but usually tossed a few from a few plants until the situation corrected itself. Again, not saying that TTF cured my BER, only that I used it this year, and I didn't have any. FWIW, my .02, Ed

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by edweather

Just want to start out by saying I'm not a fan of any product stating that it stops blossom end rot. Still think Urban farms could re-word that claim a little. That being said, bought a gallon this year, and have not had any problem with blossom end rot, and following the instructions on the jug, the tomatoes have grown very well. In the past, in most years, I always had a little problem early in the season with some blossom end rot. Nothing earth shattering, but usually tossed a few from a few plants until the situation corrected itself. Again, not saying that TTF cured my BER, only that I used it this year, and I didn't have any. FWIW, my .02, Ed

It turned me off too.
This is the same reason Listerine had to stop putting cures or helps cure the common cold or some such rot.
But with plant products the sky is the limit as to what you can claim.

I will say that the product was steered towards soilless growing like hydroponics I think.

[edweather]

Thanks. I grow almost exclusively in containers, and probably should have mentioned that in my previous post. My container mix drains so well, it's almost a semi-hydroponic situation. I water daily, and it quickly runs out the bottom.

[TNTiger]

I just ordered a Hozon - can't wait to start using it with my TTF! I've been using TTF for a few years but the hassel of mixing 1-2 gallon batches has gotten old. Hope it works as well for me as it does for some of you!

[b54red]

I know for a fact that the TTF makes a huge difference in fruit set and proved it this year without trying to. I fertilized with TTF at the 1 TBS per gallon rate every 5 to 7 days up until we started getting that rain every day for about two weeks. My fruit set for the blooms that came out before the rain was almost too much and I had to cull a lot of small fruit. I had little to no fruit set starting about 3 days into the rain and lasting til about a week afterwards and I didn't feed the plants any TTF for that two weeks. I started back with the TTF three days after the rains stopped and gave them a heavier than normal dose of TTF and within three days I started seeing much more fruit set. I have noticed this before when I lay off the TTF for over a week blossoms start dropping and fruit set goes down. It is especially noticeable when it is very hot and dry.

I don't know if TTF really helps a lot with blossom end rot but since I have been using TTF regularly I have rarely seen BER. I have had a few fruits get it when I didn't adequately water during a dry windy time but nothing like I used to see . I think using the heavy layer of cypress mulch does a lot in mitigating BER also because it keeps the soil more evenly moist. Since I have been using raised beds for over 35 years I have had some real problems with BER in the past due to the beds drying out too much and then having to heavily water them. My use of TTF started about the same time I started using the cypress mulch so I guess it is a chicken and egg question.

I set out 26 plants on March 16th and another 27 on March 25th. Since the middle of May I have picked 140 tomatoes with the bulk of them coming from the first bed but the second one is starting to put out ripe fruit now. I plant only medium to large varieties and the fruit set on almost all of them has been very heavy. I lost several large clusters that pulled away from the stems in those two rainy weeks but have not had any splitting problems so I don't guess I got too much rain. After using TTF for several years I am extremely happy with the results and will continue using it as long as I can get it. It isn't the cheapest fertilizer out there but neither is it close to being the most expensive. I feel for the amount of fruit I get it is a good value for the money. I used to spend just about the same amount on Miracle Grow but without the same results.

Bill

[TNTiger]

I got my Hozon on Saturday and used it for the first time. My only regret is that I waited this long to get one! I did the initial test to verify that it delivers a 1:16 mix and it was right on the money so I mixed a couple of gallons of TTF and went to town!

My only disappointment was opening my last box of TTF and TVF to discover that the TTF jug leaked a bunch in transit. Hope it doesn't hurt the mix too much.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by TNTiger

I got my Hozon on Saturday and used it for the first time. My only regret is that I waited this long to get one! I did the initial test to verify that it delivers a 1:16 mix and it was right on the money so I mixed a couple of gallons of TTF and went to town!

My only disappointment was opening my last box of TTF and TVF to discover that the TTF jug leaked a bunch in transit. Hope it doesn't hurt the mix too much.

Knock on wood; but I have never had a jug leak so far. My biggest problem is getting it shaken enough. I now use a spare jug and pour half a freshly opened jug into it and then start shaking and then pour them together for the final shaking.

Bill

[TNTiger]

And now, less than 12 hours after applying, Mother Nature dumped about 2 inches of rain on us. It was not supposed to rain today!! My garden is predominately in raised beds - i wonder if the TTF will have any impact with all that rain.

[TNTiger]

Originally Posted by b54red

Knock on wood; but I have never had a jug leak so far. My biggest problem is getting it shaken enough. I now use a spare jug and pour half a freshly opened jug into it and then start shaking and then pour them together for the final shaking.

Bill

I hear you! I had to put my phone on stopwatch to make sure I shook the two jugs long enough. The TVF jug separates really quickly but the TTF stays in suspension longer.

[Oregonfarmer]

I bought the Texas Tomato fertilizer. Assumed foliar spraying amounts were the same as watering the plants. Urban Farmer suggests 1 tablespoon for watering soil for drench and 1/2 tablespoon for foliar feeding. I know these are suggestions.

Am excited to use the product. Can somebody that uses the product regularly tell me what their schedule is and how much they use.

Thx

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Oregonfarmer

I bought the Texas Tomato fertilizer. Assumed foliar spraying amounts were the same as watering the plants. Urban Farmer suggests 1 tablespoon for watering soil for drench and 1/2 tablespoon for foliar feeding. I know these are suggestions.

Am excited to use the product. Can somebody that uses the product regularly tell me what their schedule is and how much they use.

Thx

I have been using TTF regularly for a few years and love the results I get. I never use it for foliar feeding but rather as a soil drench applied with a hose end sprayer. Once the plants get about 3 feet tall I try to feed them every 7 to 10 days at the one tablespoon to the gallon rate. The amount I feed each plant is determined by the size and condition of the plants which is constantly changing as the season goes on. Before they get that large I would feed them once a week at half that strength.

Bill

[Oregonfarmer]

Thanks