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| hi gang,
my tomatoes seem to be doing very well this year i've always looked for fertilizer with high phosphorus and potasium content and a low nitrogen content. i now hear that all plants need something like 3-1-2 ratio because plants can only absorb small amounts of phosphorus and and potasium and to much phosphorus will lock up other essential nutrients. i'm confused i use almost all organic fertilizer but always put at blooming time a pinch of triple phosphate. plants look good however , have i done wrong? marcantonio |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I use Espoma Tomato-Tone 4-7-10 as per their directions and everything looks good. John |
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- Posted by carolyn137 z4/5 NY (My Page) on Sat, Jun 21, 08 at 9:53
| Personally I don't pay much attention to what some folks say about fertilizer ratios. In the past I've used 5/10/5, triple 10, and my farmer friend would sometimes fertilize my tomato field with triple 18 using a mechanical hopper set up. And the plants did wonderfully. What you use is also going to be dependent on what the composition of your soil is, whether you use a cover crop and on and on. These days I grow more organically and about 600 less plants/season so I use, usually, Espoma or spray Neptune Harvest seaweed. Carolyn |
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- Posted by marcantonio zone 7 long island (italo61@aol.com) on Sat, Jun 21, 08 at 12:34
| hi carolyn, so glad to hear from you now i feel relieved, i also use espoma plantone as well as tomato tone i also spray with seaweed. in the planting row i also add bone meal and kelp with a sprinkling of epsom salts. this year i added two bales of peat moss and just by lightening the soil what a difference not a sign of blight and everything looks very healthy. marcantonio |
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| In the planting hole I mix a good handful of cornmeal along with a handful of oatmeal. A little peat for drainage, a half cup of 10-10-10 slow release. About a tablespoon of Epsom salts. Then top the soil with a couple inches of vermicompost as mulch. During the season Neptune's Harvest fish/seaweed fert every other watering. Spray the foliage once a week with Daconil and wait. The waiting is the hard part. Plants do very well. |
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| Jbann, Oatmeal???? Never heard of that one before!! What in the world is it supposed to do?? My daughters (both of whom are home for the summer) berate me on a daily basis for not eating breakfast -- "the most important meal of the day". Never thought tomato plants might need breakfast! Thanks, |
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| I'm sure oatmeal will provide some protein (nitrogen) in a gentle fashion, after all it is organic and will break down into soil food. Of course it wasn't purchased for that purpose but since it's been hanging around a year I figured "Why not?" other grains work. Now the corn meal, yes, that was purchased for the soil. |
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| Oatmeal... Just what my pocket gophers need. |
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