Liquid Plant Food

[AlittleSalt]

I'm not sure in which section to start this thread, so I'm putting it in the General area. If one of you nice mods want to move it to a more appropriate place - go for it

A friend asked me when I fertilize or feed plants. I gave him my best advice, "Don't follow my advice because I don't know."

Well, I've been learning some, and am trying a simple test/experiment on what I have read

N = Nitrogen which helps stem and foliage growth.
P = Phosphorous which helps grow roots, produce flowers, and seeds.
K = Potassium which promotes the health of the plant - maybe helps disease resistance.

I chose to use MG Tomato food which is:

N 18
P 18
K 21

I've been using this on some our tomato plants out in 3 raised beds. I haven't used any plant food on the tomato plants in the in-ground garden. The plants in the raised beds are bigger than the ones out in the garden. (I should mention that the tomato varieties are the same in both areas) Apples-to-Apples comparison.

Now that the tomato plants in the raised beds are just starting to produce flowers and a few tomatoes - I was wondering about using a different tomato food. This one is liquid just like the MG, but it has different numbers:

N 15
P 30
K 15

Going by what I have read, it seems like it is time to boost the Phosphorous levels to help the plants produce more flowers and tomatoes.

I am curious to what you think on this?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I'm not sure in which section to start this thread, so I'm putting it in the General area. If one of you nice mods want to move it to a more appropriate place - go for it

A friend asked me when I fertilize or feed plants. I gave him my best advice, "Don't follow my advice because I don't know."

Well, I've been learning some, and am trying a simple test/experiment on what I have read

N = Nitrogen which helps stem and foliage growth.
P = Phosphorous which helps grow roots, produce flowers, and seeds.
K = Potassium which promotes the health of the plant - maybe helps disease resistance.

I chose to use MG Tomato food which is:

N 18
P 18
K 21

I've been using this on some our tomato plants out in 3 raised beds. I haven't used any plant food on the tomato plants in the in-ground garden. The plants in the raised beds are bigger than the ones out in the garden. (I should mention that the tomato varieties are the same in both areas) Apples-to-Apples comparison.

Now that the tomato plants in the raised beds are just starting to produce flowers and a few tomatoes - I was wondering about using a different tomato food. This one is liquid just like the MG, but it has different numbers:

N 15
P 30
K 15

Going by what I have read, it seems like it is time to boost the Phosphorous levels to help the plants produce more flowers and tomatoes.

I am curious to what you think on this?

To be honest I dont buy the idea of using more p on a tomato or any other fruit.
The plant uses more N than any other one of the 3.
Second you cant turbo charge a plant and make it produce more tomatoes than what it can take up.
I can almost guarantee you using the below proportions if you were to do a soil test in 3 years you would get back results saying you have too little N and too much P and maybe K.

I still think an elective PH test above anything else is the most important thing.
A simple test at home will at least tell you on what side of 7 you are on.
If vinegar makes your soil bubble you are above 7 if baking soda makes it bubble you are below 7.
Easy and cheap.
You want it to be below 7, 7 is NOT the ideal PH for tomatoes 6 is much better.

Worth

[jillian]

Originally Posted by Worth1

To be honest I dont buy the idea of using more p on a tomato or any other fruit.
The plant uses more N than any other one of the 3.
Second you cant turbo charge a plant and make it produce more tomatoes than what it can take up.
I can almost guarantee you using the below proportions if you were to do a soil test in 3 years you would get back results saying you have too little N and too much P and maybe K.

I still think an elective PH test above anything else is the most important thing.
A simple test at home will at least tell you on what side of 7 you are on.
If vinegar makes your soil bubble you are above 7 if baking soda makes it bubble you are below 7.
Easy and cheap.
You want it to be below 7, 7 is NOT the ideal PH for tomatoes 6 is much better.

Worth

I have never tested my soil, though I probably should. I like cheap and easy....and I do have vinegar and baking soda around the house. Worth, how to go about doing this? Sounds like it would be simple, however if anyone could mess it up it would be me

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by jillian

I have never tested my soil, though I probably should. I like cheap and easy....and I do have vinegar and baking soda around the house. Worth, how to go about doing this? Sounds like it would be simple, however if anyone could mess it up it would be me

All you have to do is put some soil in a jar and put some vinegar in it or baking soda mixed with water.

You will need two samples of soil to do this.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Okay, I tried it on the soil and neither did anything but get wet. I used our PH meter and it showed 6.7. Two jars with soil samples.

Edit

Just tried it in Kerr jars = The vinegar just soaked in.
There were bubbles in the jar with baking soda and water. I mixed it 1 Tbsp Soda to 3 oz. water.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Okay, I tried it on the soil and neither did anything but get wet. I used our PH meter and it showed 6.7. Two jars with soil samples.

Then your soil is neutral and your meter is really close.
Anything you put on your soil the plant will respond to.
Here is what can happen in a high PH soil.
You dump all of the magic bullets on it money can buy and nothing happens.
You then go on line and say the fertilizer is garbage.
Then someone like me asks what the PH is.
You check and it is 8.
So now you lower the PH.
BOOM now you have too many magic bullets and you almost burn up your plants.'
Ask me how I know.

Worth

[Worth1]

Salt I would also like to ad that without a soil test ht only thing you can do is observe and respond.
Mostly guess work.
It is what I do and get away with it.
Lets say the garden is as happy as a clam and everything is where it should be.
Then a more balanced fertilizer is the way to go maybe with a little more N.
This year I upped the N and things did great.
But I am feeding a few trees too.
Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Sounds costly Worth (Post #6)

The only thing I've ever used out in the main garden is very little 10-10-10 and even less Epsom Salt. I'm really not sold on either, so this year I tilled in leaves and planted without adding anything else.

We have a lot of different types of soil out here. Less than 50' away from the garden that is a pale yellow soil with a lot of clay. It registers at 5.5. I've read that potatoes would like growing in that 5.5 PH.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Sounds costly Worth (Post #6)

The only thing I've ever used out in the main garden is very little 10-10-10 and even less Epsom Salt. I'm really not sold on either, so this year I tilled in leaves and planted without adding anything else.

We have a lot of different types of soil out here. Less than 50' away from the garden that is a pale yellow soil with a lot of clay. It registers at 5.5. I've read that potatoes would like growing in that 5.5 PH.

So would blueberries.

Worth

[RayR]

And if it's compacted clay soil then nothing but some weeds may grow in it.

[AlittleSalt]

It is very compacted. If you were to swing a pickaxe at it - it would bounce back up at you.

It would take a lot of work moving the soil and blending a lot of shredded dried leaves to make the soil friable, but it might be worth it just be able to grow things like blueberries. There's a flowering plant, 'Hydrangea' that the flowers are either white or blue depending on if the soil is alkaline or acidic. It would be nice having the two growing beside each other.

[Cole_Robbie]

I think phosphorous is for flowers and fruit set, and potassium is for making the fruit larger, which I'm sure is a vast oversimplification, yet still mostly true. I've used Morgan County Seed's "tomato fertilizer pack" for three years now; it's 2 parts, alternating with each watering calcium nitrate and 4-18-38.

[AKmark]

Potassium also prevents blotch ripening, yellow shoulder, grey wall, that is why HG has so much potassium in their mix for tomatoes.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

It is very compacted. If you were to swing a pickaxe at it - it would bounce back up at you.

It would take a lot of work moving the soil and blending a lot of shredded dried leaves to make the soil friable, but it might be worth it just be able to grow things like blueberries. There's a flowering plant, 'Hydrangea' that the flowers are either white or blue depending on if the soil is alkaline or acidic. It would be nice having the two growing beside each other.

You could try dynamite!
Yes it would take a lot of effort over years to change that yellow lifeless dirt into something that any plant could thrive in. It's more practical to build a raised bed on top of it.

[Worth1]

27 yards of sharp sand a sub soiler AKA ripper and a huge tractor driven tiller would do it.

Worth