Your plant looks nice and happy. I think you'll be fine continuing as you are. Your fert has a reasonably balanced N-P-K as well as essential micro nutrients.

Your composts and manures would also work but they take longer to break down to a point where the plant can use them.

Personally, this year I'm watering with a powdered fert diluted to roughly 4-2-4 every second water. I also top dress with 1/2 - 1 inch of compost.

FWIW,

Bill

Thanks Bill. Appreciate it. I've been growing it since late February. With respect to fertilizing, once it's in it's final home, should I keep up with the 25% strength or could I up it to 50-100%. I was always curious when to start fertilizing at 100% strength.

In the long run, it is not a matter of using 100% or 25%, what matters is how much total fertilizer you apply. From a general perspective, a 1 ft tall plant could take 1 tablespoon of your fertilizer mixed with a gallon of water and applied ever 3 weeks so long as it is spread over the soil and this means spread out very well. After 2 feedings, you could double the amount. By then, the plant should be 2 feet tall or more. You can use it as a foliar feed, just don't apply all of it to the plant.

DarJones

I think I understand what you are saying but I don't want to guess. Could you elaborate a bit more?

Hypothetically speaking...I have a bhut in a 5 gallon pot. I let it dry out somewhat between waterings and now its time to give it another deep watering . What is the difference between watering with with 100% vs 25%? Obviously the ppm of fertilizer will be different, but what effect will it have on the plant? More growth with the 100% I'm assuming?

I'm no degree holder in plant biology but after a few pints I'll think I am ;-))

If you use 100% every watering or every other;

1 - you risk burning your roots or worse, causing nutrient lock (over fed plants sometimes shut down nutrient uptake... sort of a protection method)

2 - even if the plant handles it well, you're wasting nutrients/money. The plant will only take what it needs if any.

Just my (sober) 2 cents

Hey everyone!

Just a follow up from last year regarding fertilizers again.

This year I'm growing a bunch of tomatoes and peppers in 10-gallon GeoPots and I had some questions regarding fertilizing. I understand the basics but my concern is regarding how much (volume) do plants actually need.

For example. I've read how people go about fertilizing and watering and some people say that you should deeply water your container plants so that water comes out the bottom, then fertilize by mixing a solution and giving a cup or two to each plant. Some people water and fertilize at the same time i.e they mix their solution at whatever strength, then water their plant that way.

If anyone could help clear this up I'd be very very grateful. It seems very simple but it's racking my brain!

Also, I'm still using the above fertilizer. As of late, a few of my plants are showing iron deficiency ( at least I believe it's intervenal chlorosis) I'm growing in ProMix BX. How would you reccomend I remedy this?

Any chance on a couple of pics?

An overall pic of a problem plant, and a closer-up pic?

Here's one picture. Ill post another

Second picture. Hope this helps!