Thanks for the info Annie. It is clearly one possible approach.

But there are other approaches that are equally successful. Success is dependent on the region, location of the garden, weather, water delivery system used, variety, the type and pH of soil, the gardener's desire to use or not use chemical fertilizers, available time and physical abilities, garden size, pre-planting bed prep, etc. to name just a few variables, for any one approach to be labeled the best for all.

What works for the Louisiana author you cite could lead to problems for many.

Dave

Uh....well, yah!

No duh, Dave! :)

I am so sorry mon ami.
I meant to add that to get best results we should pick tomato varieties that are best suited to our climate/ regions and all that stuff you mentioned. Of course all those particulars are also important. I forgot it when I posted that and I meant to add the LINK. I guess I posted in haste..."post haste" ??? :)

I did mention that the fertilizer information was from the LSU (Louisiana) Agricultural website. The article there does mention the climate challenges they have there in growing tomatoes in a hot humid region.
My comments, below that, however, were based upon my experiential base and therefore of course, my humble opinion.
I did not think I that I implied that it was the one and only solution for all your tomato problems, but if that is how it came off, I beg everyone's most humble and heartfelt apology.

Adieu!

Thanks for the info Sweetannie4. I am one of those who gets smaller toms as the season progresses. I'll try to stay on top of fertilizing...one way or another...this season. Hopefully I'll have larger tomatoes to can this fall. I'm sure it will help the overall health of my plants, too. I tend to wait to fertilize until the plants begin to show they need it. That is probably a week or two past when they should get fed.

Wow, I thought this was going to be spam. Nothing but advice. Yay.

Dave is right, but I like all the varied opinions just because of what Dave says. I have yet to figure out exactly what I need to do to get consistent, large crops from my tomato plants. North central Florida. Center of the state. High heat and humidity with relatively little wind. Most advice does not apply to me exactly as stated. I'll get it figured out sooner or later. Reading and re-reading the same basic advice and its variations eventually allows the light to go off in my head as to which parts of the advice I need to follow and which parts to modify.

Annie - no criticism of you personally was intended. Your enthusiasm with gardening, readily apparent in your photo album, is to be commended. But I do have some problems with the presentation. ;) It's the post title that comes across as kind of here's the definitive answer - here's what you must do. But I don't think you meant it that way.

However, my comments were about the source info you cited and presented in such a matter of fact way, and yes, a link to it would be very helpful.

My main concern is that it is way too much fertilizer and far too often an application rate for many so I wouldn't want to see it interpreted as any standard or norm. It is especially too much for those of us with well-amended beds and well-prepped planting holes. And as I'm sure you know, the excessive use of fertilizers often causes more problems than it cures. ;)

Side dressing is also not an option for many given the support structures they use, the soaker hoses or drip irrigation systems many use, and the heavy mulching many of us swear by. And then there are those who only use organic supplements and those that use drip feeding. All those approaches work too.

Bottom line - the author of this info is offering only one of many possible ways to insure a good tomato season and it needs to be interpreted and presented as such. ;)

Dave

Nice album annie!

Don

Dave,

No hard feelings. I wasn't upset at you. I was totally aghast about my spectacular blunder! My California sense of humour doesn't always come across, I reckon. I was tired and botched up the whole post big time, and GW doesn't have the setup where you can edit your posts or even delete them...too bad. But that's why I said, "No Duh!".

If you hadn't have written that, I might not have caught it, so thank you.

Below is the LINK to the LSU website that I forgot to add in my original post, from which you can access the tomato site. It is an AGRICULTURAL site, so is for farmers mostly or folks who grow 'HOOGE' gardens (and lots of folks down there certainly do too).

The fertilizer amounts in pounds surely were for composted manures, but the 8-24-24...dunno???
It does seem a bit much for 350 sq ft., now doesn't it?

I will say, however, that those amounts were not meant for boxed-in little potagers or small kitchen gardens (like mine), and that is why I added the part about "or according to package directions per plant". I guess that did not come across either, and I am sorry.

Yes, this was specific for Louisiana tomato farming or big gardens but COULD apply to others in the deep South where it is hot and humid and have difficulty with tomatoes setting fruit, as many Tom-types won't set when temps get above 90 degrees. If you are having trouble with that, check with your local Farm Co-ops and Agri-centers. Even most local nurseries will suggest varieties best suited to your local. (The site makes suggestions for Louisiana only). I just forgot to put the freaking link. Again, I apologize. It is not in my normal range of blunders, but guess it is NOW. hehehe

I have to say though that it is good to add a side dressing 3-4 times during the growing season, of either compost or composted manure to give your plants a boost. There are packaged tomato foods that are formulated for tomatoes. I have tried the Ortho (once) and it works great. Keeps your plants healthy and producing big toms all summer. * Make sure you give them ample water if you use chemical fertilizers or they will burn up, especially when the temps go way up.

Glad some of you went to my Photobucket website to have a look-see. Thanks for the nice comments. I actually forgot I still had that link to it. Sure glad I didn't have anything risque on there! Zooks! (JK)

I have to take pain killers every four hours just to function and it does make me a bit goofy. Hope there are no big goof-ups on this post.

~ time to go eat my humble pie,
Annie
"sweetannie4u"

Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana State Univ. Ag Center