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Growing Tomatoes

Need a little advice on feeding my container plants

13 years ago

I've got several tomato plants in containers. I got a late start, so they're only maybe 6 weeks or so in the containers. We've had a lot of rain here in the past month or so and I reckon the soil in the containers has been flushed out pretty good. I probably should 'feed' the plants (I haven't fertilized them since planting them). The plants are generally about 3' high, but kind of 'leggy' rather than 'bushy'. They are various varieties, all indeterminate. A few have small fruits. My question is what should I focus on with regard to this 'round' of feeding? Like I said, I think the plants are probably a little too 'thin' and could use some filling out. Does the N, the P or the K number help with that? Or am I over-thinking it and should just go with some standard stuff? Thanks for the help!

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Comments (3)

bigeric
13 years ago
I just planted in some Earthboxes and they recommend a generous helping of 10-10-10 in a strip down the middle of the container.

If its rained a lot I would think you would want to spray a fungicide as well.
digdirt2
13 years ago
How often will depend on the size of your containers, the type of container mix you use, and how often you have to water them. But many of us find that container plants require regular, evenly spaced feedings unlike those planted in the ground. Since it has been 6 weeks for yours I would say they are well past needing to be fed.

Personally I feed mine weekly using a well-balanced liquid fertilizer that also contains micro-nutrients (many brands available) via a fertigation system set up to run though my drip irrigation system. Other growers here who regularly use containers have posted they feed even more often than that using a 1/2 strength diluted liquid fertilizer. You'll find several discussions about this over on the Container Gardening forum.

While setting up a regular feeding schedule now won't really help bulk up the existing stems - they are what they are for the most part - it will insure stronger, better developed future growth.

I use some Earthboxes in addition to my in-ground gardens and, like others who have posted about them on the Container gardening forum, I have never found the single band of fertilizer applied at planting time to be sufficient for the season. So mine get regular supplemental feedings too.

Also keep in mind that if your plants are leggy it is usually due to insufficient sun exposure.

Hope this helps.

Dave
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Thank you everyone for your advice! I looked up osmocote and it does look similar to what I remember. I don't think it was osmocote exactly though. Maybe I'm focusing too much on fertizlizer. It's easier to believe that the only problem is fertilizer, but maybe it's something else. Also, I agree that this would be 1,000 times easier if I knew what the plants were, but I don't! I never had a chance to ask the rental service before the office closed. I'm going to put some more effort into finding out exactly what they are. Someone above mentioned plant books, so I think that is where I'll start. So whats some general advice for dying houseplants? It seems like I should lay off of watering for a little bit, to make sure I'm not overdoing it. This might be the problem actually. I have the same pots that the plants were in, in the office and the way it's set up theres a smaller pot inside a bigger one. The rental service always filled the second one with water, and then the plants would just soak up what they needed. Maybe this isn't the best approach? Maybe theres TOO much water around them. I'm certain the service just did this so they wouldn't have to visit the office too often. Come to think of it, the one plant I have from the office that isn't in a set up like this is doing fine. So maybe I'll change this. Also, there was one plant that was doing fine, but started wilting recently, I think because I gave it miracle grow. How do I help it recover? Does it just take time? Also, thank you again to everyone offering advice. I'm really new at this and you've all been very patient with my newbie questions!
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deep___roots
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There are many specialty tomato fertilizers. I also like Liquid Kelp for a foliar spray every so often. Plants be looking good this year!

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