I use hydroponic solution. I use the General Hydroponics stuff, and I fill a five gallon bucket with water, check the pH and adjust with vinegar, then mix in the nutrients according to the directions, and give a cup or two to each plant.

I use Espoma Garden-Tone and have used Gardens Alive "Tomatoes Alive" fertilizer. Pre-organic (I know Garden-Tone wasn't 100% organic)I used generic 5-10-10 or Walmart sells a 6-10-10 in a box that seemed to work fine. Also, Mother Earth News Magazine had an article comparing costs of various organic fertilizers. I put the link below. Lastly there are a lot of FAQs and threads on fertilizer if you do a search.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Earth News Magazine article

I think because your tomatoes survived the early frost and now are doing better than the store bought is testament enough you are doing it right. Don't change your routine and be ready for the bountiful harvest your sure to have. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Ami

LOL Thanks Ami. I just had heard that you should not fertilize too much or you get more leaves and not as much fruit. That or it was fertilize when they flower or soemthing I cant remember.

Guess you have a good point though. With them growing like they are I guess I am doing something right. LOL

Thanks
Nichol

The best fertilization method depends on the soil. In the Chicago area we have a heavy clay loam with a lot of lime. I only fertilize once, at planting, with about 1.5 tbs/gal Miracle Grow, 2 gal/plant solution. It is important to pour fertilizer solution into the planting hole as the planting hole is being filled with soil in increments. The rationale for this is that phosphates do not penetrate soil. If you just pour fertilizer solution on the ground, the phosphate portion will stay on top (for clay loam, not sandy soil, of course). Roots are reputed to have a strong tropism to grow toward higher phosphate concentrations. Thusly, phosphates may benefit growth in concentrations higher than the nutritional need of the plant. Too bad Miracle Grow 15-30-15 is no longer available. The jury is out on the new formulation. Here are some old 15-30-15 results:

Miracle Grow 15-30-15 is still available, it's in the yellow tub and called Ultra Bloom - I just bought more this week.

I use Miracle Grow, Miracle Grow for Tomatoes, and fertilizer sticks.

I used to mulch and compost, but my husband's assumed mowing duties (my allergies prevent me being outside any longer than necessary) and uses a mulching mower - no clippings left to work with.

I know I'm not gardening with what's available from our yard, but I get tons of tomatoes/peppers/eggplant/cukes/melons/basil/dill from not much space.

Hi struwwelpeter,
Interesting what you say: roots grow toward Phosphorus (P).
Obviously, a single dose of fertilizer could not account for all the P those tall tomato plants in photo had taken in.
? How exceptional did you consider the total fruit yield on the plants ?

I use Shultz Liquid Tomato Fert (9-10-15). When they were seedlings I did something like 1/4th the amt recommended on the package, maybe 1-2 times a week. When my plants got about 6 inches tall I started using half strength, and began potting up. I top watered, careful not to get my leaves wet (even though this step is probably unnecessary, being that tomatoes are actually very tough plants). Then, when my tomatoes started some flower buds I went ahead with full strength. I am using sterilized potting mix though(SUNGRO #4), which has basically zero nutrients. Now I then tried to do full strength once every 2 weeks, but I noticed my plants started loosing a few of the bottom leaves after yellowing. So, I am back to once a week at least. My bottle says 5 ML fert for every 2 L water, so I give each 5-7 gallon plant 1 litre of fert at a time with water after to make sure it penetrates.
Results so far:

{{gwi:1341436}}

"Obviously, a single dose of fertilizer could not account for all the P those tall tomato plants in photo had taken in."

It can and it isn't obvious.

For one plant, 3 tbs is about 45 grams. For 15-30-15, that is 13.5 grams P2O5. The P content of dry tomato leaves is 0.25% to 0.75%. The dry weight of a 10' high tomato plant is what, maybe, 1 pound? I know it is very light when I throw it into the compost pile in the spring. For 1 pound of dry leaves, this translates to 1.1 to 3.4 grams P or 2.5 to 7.8 grams P205.

Hi struwwelpeter,
Kind of you to put in the math time.
? So was your yield acceptable too ?
(Am not taking fault with your method.)

"So was your yield acceptable too ?"

Sure, but nothing to brag about. I think that was Supersteak and I got about 15 lbs per plant. Also, I rarely get blossom end rot. I think I got more tomatoes from the smaller Best Boy which is a strange determinant in that it keeps growing by branching. Same treatment though.

Now, I replaced Supersteak with Big Zac because it is better in every respect. I still grow Best Boy.

I scatter 12:12:12 granular fertilizer over the whole area and dig it in when I prep the soil in the spring and then when I put the plants in I water them in with 15:30:15. In mid-late August if/when the lower leaves start to yellow I'll side dress with a little high nitrogen fertilizer and scatter some epsome salts around the plants.

Hi strewwelpeter,
I hope gardenmom forgives any digression.
Estimates are all we are discussing.
Determinate tomatoes commercially look for 60 - 70 fruit / plant that are sellable. Indeterminate toms are what you (senor strew...) grow, so am inexact in feedback.
Since Phosphorus (P) is highly mobile inside of the plant the significant portion that will move into the individual developing tomato occurs by the 1st week of it's fruiting.
Consider that the P content of the fruit that gets taken off the vine is 1.6 -1.8 times more P than stays on the plant inside stem & leaf.
In other words, total fruit yield might be better if the indeterminate tomato plants got more total P than you described. Not a higher ratio, just additional within your balanced formula; after 1st big fruit flush is harvested.
Guestimate means well - am not being critical.

I use my own organic fish emulsion that I make in a 33 gallon garbage can. It starts with 2 lb. of fresh flounder from Walmart, a couple of dead lobsters, browns (leaves and shredded paper) and greens (table scraps), and enough water to cover it in a 5 gallon container. I add 2 tbsp. Epsom salts for the magnesium and add 8 tbsp. molasses all over it to aid fermentation. I let it get ripe for two weeks, stirring every day and trying not to dry heave or drip on my feet (ew!). Then pour into the 33 gallon container (using nose clip) and fill tub with water, recapping quickly. The browns and greens go to the bottom and continue to rot during the season. I fertilize using this tea off the top, filling up to 33 gallon level each time, so my fertilizer gets progressively weaker through the season which is what you need (more fert at beginning, less at end). I give it a stir once a week even though it stinks to high heaven.
I'm growing in containers:
Goliath
Mortgage Lifter
Better Bush
Mr. Stripey
32 of my own germinated plants from a large purple Mexican Heirloom from Trader Joe's
Sweet 100's
Cherokee Purple
Husky Cherry Red
Bin 444
Better Boy
Hothouse
So far so good. I hose down the plants, believe it or not, every day about three times due to the high heat. I have fruit set on all my tomatoes. With these high temps, though, I think we're going into the dormant period. Will wait that out til August when hopefully cooler weather will mean more flowering!

westcoast, nice plants....what are the blue flowers in the box on the deck railing?

ditnc: Thanks, they need more supports so they can get really big right about now though. The flowers are just plain old Lobiella, but they did very well in that cedar box with the lillys for some reason...

I fertilize initially with WOW and N-Lite from Gardens Alive. I also use a foliar spray of kelp about every couple weeks, but any balanced foliar liquid should be fine.

I've used compost tea some times and that works well, too.

I am growing Brandywine Suddith, Cherokee Purple, Prudens Purple, Tennessee Britches, Aunt Gertie's Gold, and Caspian Pink this year.

"Consider that the P content of the fruit that gets taken off the vine is 1.6 -1.8 times more P than stays on the plant inside stem & leaf.
In other words, total fruit yield might be better if the indeterminate tomato plants got more total P than you described."

If you were right, that would be all the more reason to pour fertilizer solution to the planting hole as it is being filled in increments. In non-sandy soils, practically all phosphates added to the top of the soil stay there until plowed under the following year.

However, in my previous analysis, I already exceeded the minimum P content of dry tomato leaves, 0.25%, by a factor of 5.4X, which exceeds your "1.8X more" in the fruit.

Hi struwwelpeter,
I just came across a digital +/-0.01 gram accurate calibrated scale annotation done this year. Thought, maybe, it would be of interest to you for those calculations discussed.
OK, it was for MG 19-31-17 granular fertilizer (fairly close to your referenced 15-30-15) & 1 "level" measurement tablespoon weight = 11.34 grams.
Thus, 3 Tbs. of 19-31-17 = 34 grams total dry weight.