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Old March 10, 2006   #1
TomatoDon
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Default Fertilizers, Sprays, and Growing Tomatoes

Well, I'm trying to get my plans fixed for the coming grow season. Finally got a good grow list from input here, so I think that's set. (Special thanks to jerseyjohn61 and fusion. Will be in touch soon.) And am now doing a lot of research on the internet for fertilzers, supplements, etc. Until this year my ways were pretty basic. Time to step it up.

From what I can tell AlgoFlash seems to be the best fertilizer. Do many of you have experience with it? Every thing I've seen about it in these forums says it's great. I'm going to try it. Here is the link if you are interested:

http://www.algoflash.com/

I also hear Naturize is a really good fertilizer. Do any of you have experience with it? However, from the web pictures, AlgoFlash seems to top them all. The Naturize link is:

http://www.naturize.com/

I've used Aggrand with good success in the past. Some of you might enjoy these links.

http://www.togernet.com/altrum/aggrand.htm

http://www.guarding-our-earth.com/ag...ertilizer.html

I also hear that it is good to alternate spraying every 2-3 weeks with Daconil and then copper. Or is it best to mix it and use it at the same time? Kocide is the brand I hear the most about concerning copper. Any other suggestions? Here's one link about Kocide:

http://store.yahoo.com/btgrowersupply/kocidetno.html

Kelp and fish sprays seem to be favored for foliar feedings, every week or so. Tim Cunningham gave a good post about that under the thread "Foliar Fertilizer Application." As I understand it, the best time to spray is late in the evening. Correct?

I keep hearing different ideas concerning insecticides. Some want all natural, other growers use the regular stuff. I guess it would range from Diazinon to Safer's Soap. Then we get into all the natural repellants such as pepper and garlic spray. Probably works pretty good. What's the preferred insecticide for growers here?

The aspirin spray thing keeps coming up, and it sure sounds like it works. From what I've seen it's best applied every 2-3 weeks, but I can't remember the dosage. Did anyone find the web site with the actual test results? I had it at one time, but can't find it again. They say to use 1.5 aspirins per two gallons of water, but it doesn't say what mg to use. I've seen every thing from 81 mg to 500 mg. Big difference. Does anyone here know for sure? Here is a link about the basics, but it doesn't give the dosage.

http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm

In an earlier post here it was said to add Epsom Salts to the planting hole to prevent BER. It seems the dosage was 1/2 cup. Correct? I also found a commercial product that is supposed to cure this. Have any of you tried Cal-Mag-Plus? Here's the link:

http://www.carefreegarden.com/pages/.../CAL3000.shtml

Red plastic mulch seems to be proven to increase tomato yields. I can't imagine anything looking more tacky in a tomato garden, but I might try some this year. Do any of you here have experience with it? Here is a good link for a supplier, which also carries seaweed solution and Wall of Water:

http://www.mrtomato.com/

I hear mixed reports about Mychorhizal. Any one here with ideas/experience with it?

I also hear about bonemeal too, but am not sure how to use it. Any advice?

I've gotten mixed reviews on Green Sand, and also crushed egg shells, but will use them anyway. It can't hurt.

I'm growing in 4 X 12 raised beds with organic soil mix and a little natural dirt, so I feel I have that right. I will be growing six plants to some beds, four plants in others. Will compare results.

Through great friends here I've determined my Grow List, which will be around 25 varieties (not quite sure on a few yet), and probably 50-60 plants, most of which I've never even seen. This is more than enough for me this season.

I use the standard CRW cages, and am happy with that, so I'll stick with it. And, I may stack them this year if the plants outgrow the bottom cage. Most of my cages are 24" in diameter, but will also try some 36" this year.

As to watering, I always add a PVC pipe to the planting hole and water this way. I let the pipe fill up and overflow, so the plant is watered from the top and bottom.

Prune the low branches. Everyone seems to think it's best not to let the lower branches touch the ground, so I will do that, too. In the past I didn't pay much attention to that, but now I will.

Suckering. I hear mixed reports. Not sure what to do. Any ideas? Seems like it would be a full time job if you have a lot of plants.

This will be my first year to really grow from seed. I hear the best for germination is to use lake or aquarium water, and also the aspirin spray. So, that's how I'll do it.

Well, that's a lot to chew on, but I'm trying to get it all covered so my entry into the world of Heirlooms will be a successful one. I'd rather ask now and get it right than waste a season experimenting on my own. And I thought posting here would be a good way to keep a listing of helpful links others might want and enjoy.

Now...What have I left out?

Spring is just around the corner and I've already got my beds tilled!

Don

EDIT: I finally found the aspirin info:

MARTHA MCBURNEY, the master gardener in charge of the demonstration vegetable garden at the University of Rhode Island, had a bee in her bonnet. After reading up on the 'Systematic Acquired Resistance' (SAR) in plants, which helps boost their immune system, she became convinced that aspirin would render their immune system even stronger and keep them healthier. Although richly laughed at, last summer she tested 'aspirin water' on a variety of plan

How much, and how often?

The dosage Martha arrived at after numerous experiments was 1.5 aspirin (81 gr. strength) to two gallons of water. Important note: The tablets should be the uncoated type. She also added two tablespoons of yucca extract to help the aspirin water stick better to the leaves. (The yucca extract can be substituted with a mild liquid soap).

SPRAYING

Finally, Martha divised a schedule of spraying once every three weeks, no matter the type of plant. The summer when Martha first started testing aspirin water was not the best, weather-wise. It was cool, rainy and damp. Yet, by the end of the season, the plants growing in the raised beds on which the aspirin water had been used looked like they were on steroids! They were huge and green and insects-free. Some disease seemed even to have reversed themselves on cucumbers affected by a virus.

ASPIRIN IMPROVES SEED GERMINATION

Martha also sprayed the aspirin water on the seeds directly sowed in the ground. The result was close to 100 per cent seed germination, compared to spotty germination in the other trial beds.

Martha's experience caused scientists at the University of Arizona (along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)), to start studying how salicylic acid (main component in aspirin) induces plants into releasing their natural defences against harmful fungi, bacteria and viruses. According to an article by Dean Fosdick of the Associated Press, "They envision it as a commercially viable alternative to synthetic pesticides in a natural way to extend the life of susceptible yet popular crops."

One question, though: Is this an organic method? Well, not really. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is 'derived' from the white willow tree, Salix alba. Studies are now being conducted on plants using pure willow extracts to compare the effects to aspirin.
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Old March 10, 2006   #2
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Don,

I see no one has wanted to tackle your thread.

I think it's b/c there are just too many topics to be discussed re possible answers. And too many links.

Why don't you select only TWO topics from all the others to start with, perhaps those two most important to you, and do so in a following post here and see how that flies?
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Old March 10, 2006   #3
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Thanks C,

I'm just going to leave it up and hope different ones chime in on the areas they have advice/experience with.

This was a very long and cumbersome post, but I wanted to put up the web links, and just get it all out in one big post, rather than spend a month or more with different topics. I didn't expect anyone to tackle it all, but thought some would hit a spot or two, and they still may.

Let's watch and see.

Don
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Old March 11, 2006   #4
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I'll be short and sweet.

Don't waste your money on SRM red plastic mulch.

I used it for three years for one row of tomatoes in my patch. I got it for free from my brother-in-law; he manages a plastic film factory.

Side by side comparison of the same varieties grown with black plastic were the same. No larger yields, no increased vigor or earlier production.



I've used a few different colors besides red, too. My brother-in-law has loads of different colors from leftover runs of plastic. I'm using bright yellow again and the traditional black this season.

Why the yellow you might ask? Well, I tried it last year and it appeared as though the plants in that row gave a better yield...but don't go running out looking for yellow plastic sheeting yet! It was only one season; hardly enough time for conclusive evidence. :wink:
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Old March 11, 2006   #5
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Mishka, have you tried white plastic yet? Actually it's white on black. I used it side by side with black for years in NJ, and found tomatoes had more leaf mass and less disease or water stress. The white surface reflects light up into the plant which can explain the quicker growth. It also doesn't absorb heat which means the soil stays cooler, and therefore moister in the heat of summer.
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Old March 11, 2006   #6
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Mishka, yellow is the color used to attract whitefly and thrips on sticky traps (though I have read that thrips like blue better). You are even supposed to avoid WEARING yellow--they jump on you and then you transport them all over the garden or greenhouse. I just could not bring myself to use yellow plastic but obviously you would have noticed if you were attracting every whitefly/thrip in your vicinity.

I had a thrip problem and I was using aluminum foil as mulch on containers hoping it would protect the little plants until they got bigger. (that is a recommendation made by researchers studying thrips.) The reflecting silver confuses the little buggers. farkee (mcp)
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Old March 12, 2006   #7
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I haven't tried white yet, barkeater. Sounds worth trying.

I just got a roll of Mylar-coated Tyvek. It's as reflective as a mirror so I'm worried about it focusing hotspots and burning the undersides. I'll ask him if he has any plain silver/gray colored leftovers.

The yellow didn't seem to increase the number of whiteflies or thrips at all. I used it on an outside row for aesthetics reasons. The only major insect pest that invades my tomatoes is the hornworm; parasitic braconid wasps keep them in check, though.

It's disturbing to some to see the big green goobers hanging there covered in little white cocoons, but I leave them be and let the young wasps develop. The hornworm ceases to feed once infested, anyway. :wink:



I tried a 40' row of pink last year; forgot to mention that in my other post. Nothing noticable to report on that color, either.

I'm thinking I'll try a few new colors this year. :wink:
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say to yourselves with regret

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Old March 14, 2006   #8
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Ugh... that horn worm image just makes my skin crawl!! They are sooooo ugly.
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Old March 7, 2007   #9
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There's a lot of good information here. I'm really fascinated with the aspirin-tea. I'll try that this year.
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Old March 7, 2007   #10
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I think you might find eventualy that Algoflash is in fact the forerunner of the chemical mix in Miracle grow,

Algoflash was first discovered many years ago by an Italian chap based in Italy, it was noticed that he was winning a lot of prizes and competitions-so after a lot of black market sales of this secret new growing liquid, it was finaly bought out and marketed by (Suttons seeds) in the UK,

After the novelty wore off and nearly everybody was using it at around £10.00 a bottle, they suddenly decided to re-name it miracle grow and incorperate it into a potting and seed mix, which for many years took over the total market here in the uk, gradualy people tired of it, and it hardly ever sells to anyone now.

Over the years I have tried many different fertilizers, but I have yet to find one to beat ( Vitax Q4) unfortunatly as far as I can tell- you can only buy it in the Uk, there are no USA outlets that I know of as yet.

It is a granular organic based fertilizer, that also contains all the trace elements as well, especialy Boron, and several other important ones,

I use it all the time, not only on tomatoes but also on flower beds and borders, the difference is amazing, plants are usually head and shoulders above anything else.

In the Uk, this fertiliser became popular amongst people who were growing exhibition vegetables, and nearly always won hands down,
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Old March 7, 2007   #11
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"I hear mixed reports about Mychorhizal. Any one here with ideas/experience with it?"


My experience, purely subjective, is that adding it to either pots or normal soil does nothing.

Suckering seems like a good way to kill time, but probably only annoys your tomato plants.

I agree that red mulch seems to be a useless fad.

In general, I think if you don't "step up a notch" in your tomato growing efforts, your tomatoes might do better than if you do.

I've done more damage to tomatoes over the years by "doing things" to them than I have by just relaxing and enjoying them!

=gregg=
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Old March 7, 2007   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mischka View Post
It's disturbing to some to see the big green goobers hanging there covered in little white cocoons, but I leave them be and let the young wasps develop.
Man, that's disgusting.....
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Old March 7, 2007   #13
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Well, here are my thoughts on a couple of questions:

Insecticides: wait and see what insects bother your tomatoes, then you can find out what controls there are for those insects. I don't have much of an insect problem here other than aphids, and soapy water works for them, so I don't buy any insecticides. You might not need to either.

Spraying late in the evening: I would change this to late in the afternoon or early in the evening, when the hottest rays of the sun are no longer overhead but there is still time before dark. Any spraying should be done early enough so the leaves will be dry again before nightfall. Early blight and other fungal diseases need humid conditions to grow, and foliage that is still wet at nightfall takes longer to dry, giving disease a good running start. If you are in a humid climate already, that makes it that much worse. Also, whenever you water the plants, try not to get the leaves wet.

Daconil and copper sprays: If early blight is a problem in your area, start using Daconil early in the season and re-apply as often as the directions on the package say. When conditions are damp enough to favor fungus infection, I think this will be every 5-7 days; every two or three weeks will not be often enough in damp weather. But when conditions are dry enough to discourage infection, you don't need to spray as often. I don't think there is any need to alternate Daconil with copper, in fact I wouldn't use copper at all. In my experience copper doesn't work well enough to bother with, and it's toxic to beneficial organisms besides.

If you are growing in cages, you don't need to prune. Pruning and suckering is a way of keeping wandering branches under control if you are training the plants to stakes or strings instead of cages, the idea being that fewer branches means less work. A cage is supposed to keep all the branches confined without making more work for you. In fact, all those 'suckers' will bear flowers and fruit, and is one reason why caged plants have higher yields.

Last edited by bcday; March 7, 2007 at 03:34 PM.
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Old March 7, 2007   #14
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MawkHawk, love your GW= avitar, every time I run across it I have to watch it at least 4 or 5 times. awesmoe dude!
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Old March 8, 2007   #15
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Regarding Mychorhizal, I ve used it on my lawn and vegetable garden. Definatly improves growth on the lawn. Does nothing for the tomatoes. TOO expensive.
Not worth it

Bonemeal is a common fertelizer for adding phosphorous to the soil. I use it all the time.

Regarding plastic mulch--- I use black paper mulch that lets in water and is decomposable in the early spring. This year I am going to put down aluminum foil or soemthing else over the black mulch in July/AUgust in order to cool the soil.
We'll see how it works. I think the trick is to keep the soil temperature form getting too low or too high.
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