Tomato Plant

[rose2008-2008]

Does anyone know if you have to feed Tomato plants?. My friend gave me a plant and im watering and its perking up and has tiny green Tomatoes on already but she said she was not sure if you had to feed them with plant food? (obviously LOL).

[carolyorkie2010]

YES!!!! You do have to feed them. Some people pour cold tea over them, but there is also Tomato food you can buy, called Tomorite. I've never had much success with tomato plants myself. I think if you dont feed the plants, the tomatoes will be bitter and small and horrible. I'm sure you'll get more advice on this thread, Rose.

[stroppy*cow]

Remove the sideshoots regularly when they are about 2.5cm (1in) long. Those grown as bush or hanging basket types do not need to have sideshoots removed.

Water regularly to keep the soil/compost evenly moist. Feed every 10-14 days with a balanced liquid fertiliser, changing to a high potash one once the first fruits start to set.

Remove yellowing leaves below developing fruit trusses.

Once the plants reach the top of the greenhouse or have set seven trusses indoors or four trusses outdoors, remove the growing point of the main stem at two leaves above the top truss.

If you allow the soil or compost to dry out and then flood it the change in water content will cause the fruit to crack; always aim to keep plants evenly moist.

Irregular watering, together with a lack of calcium in the soil leads to blossom end rot - the bottom of the fruit turns black and becomes sunken.

[rose2008-2008]

Ohhhhhh,,, im not up on plants but if your eating something (Tomatos) is the fertilizer use a bit dangerous?. Will it work with tea then ha ha . Ill give it a Cuppa. I dont want to eat Fertilizer,,,, im just a bit queer about things like that.

[ilove2patch]

All plants need feeding if they are going to produce decent fruit. You can get liquid tomato food in the £ shops.:)

[rose2008-2008]

Ohhhh Okay o mmmm lovely,

[carolyorkie2010]

Some of my neighbours mix horse manure in with their compost for the tomato plants, Rose.

[rose2008-2008]

NOW that sounds GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Good natural Fertilizer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[carolyorkie2010]

Grab a shovel and follow a horse, Rose ,ha,ha

[suzieseaside]

---

@rose2008-2008 wrote:

Ohhhhhh,,, im not up on plants but if your eating something (Tomatos) is the fertilizer use a bit dangerous?. Will it work with tea then ha ha . Ill give it a Cuppa. I dont want to eat Fertilizer,,,, im just a bit queer about things like that.

---

There's nothing dangerous about fertilizer - it's just nutrients - mainly nitrogen. potassium, and phosphorus, sometimes some others like sulphur, magneium, calcium, plus some trace elements - all in a simple form that plants can use to grow and make food that humans eat.  We need those elements and trace elements too - in a form that we can use them.

[suzieseaside]

Although of course you wouln't want to mix fertilizer with sugar or other things and blow something up!

[bitsnknots]

We always use Tomorite for our tomato plants.  I ate the first one of our tomatoes earlier and it was delicious.  You only need to feed your tomato plant once a week.

[right-then-petal]

heres a little known fact

did you all know a seed from a tomato once eaten will not digest or be destroyed

you eat tomato

you use the tiolet

seed go's to sewerage farm

is spread out in fertilizer bed

tomato grows again

you buy and eat

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/culture/blogs/all-men-are-liars/its-a--of-a-job-20131210-2z2ce...

i'm having salad without the pip's

[ilove2patch]

Mine are still green but a good size. Can't wait to taste them. I have had eight cucumbers though!

[rose2008-2008]

Ohhhhh mind them CUCUMBERS PATCH!!!!! LOL. Rightho people oohh im getting a right little gardener. I always hated my dad dragging me up his allotment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I HATED IT WITH A PASSION!!. But plants are lovely really. And flowers. And VEGGIES!! LOL

[captainbovine]

My name is Captainbovine and I'm a gardener.a.holic

[*chez*]

If tomatoes are growing in a pot its best to feed from the top and water from the bottom ( stand the pot in a tray)

This is beause the plants have 2 diferent types of root..... the ones at the bottom are best at absorbing water and the ones at the top are designed to absorb feed..

[Anonymous]

Tomorite's fine but we've found that Chempak's tomato feed is even better. Tomato feed is also good for feeding flowering plants to give them a bit of a boost.

Can't beat freshly picked, home grown tommies, still slightly warm from the sun..............yum 🙂

If you get a glut, apart from the obvious uses like chutneys etc, try cooking some & really, really reducing them then freeze in tubs - lovely through the winter in spag bol sauces, soups, fry-ups etc. I skin them as I find they go tough in the freezer & my teeth can't cope with them!  A taste of summer when it's  -10 outside 🙂 

[5129frederick]

Best tomato plants to grow from seed and sell for 40p each at the bootsale?  "Moneymaker!"  Of course!    

Jokes aside, Moneymaker tomatoes are exceedingly easy to grow, and produce coptious amounts of tomatoes.  Here, though, is where people make the mistake.  To produce the best tomatoes, snip off all the micro small tomatoes while they are still green.  They will not produce anything and will just draw energy from the main tomatoes preventing further growth.  Limit your tomatoes to about eight per plant.  They take up a surprising amount of room, and the end result are good, red firm tomatoes about 2 1/2" in diameter.  A good salad tomato with not too thick a skin.  Too much water though, and they'll crack.  Hope this helps.

[mustavaquid]

I wouldn't bother buying Tomorite or any liquid food. You'd be paying for what is mostly water in an expensive, heavy and bulky plastic container.  Many, many years ago when I grew tomatoes and stuff I used Phostrogen which is a concentrated powder, clean to handle and easily mixed in a watering can.  I found its nutrient values to be far higher than the liquids and far better value for money, after all, apart from growing your own for the taste etc., there's no point in spending a lot of the money saved on expensive plant food.  In those days there was just the one type of Phostrogen, niothing specific for tomatoes although there may now be, so I used it on everything and was never disappointed with the results.  Being a powder it is easly to store in dry conditions and won't easily lose its power. I've still got some stashed away from 30 years ago.