Do you have holes inn the bottom of the container ?What soil/potting mix is in the container ?What zone are you in ? or the temps? I don't think you need manure and MG fertilizer at the same time. the best all purpose fert is in a ratio 3:1:2 or like 9:3:6 or 24:8:16, thats all purpose .? I am using the exact same ones you have MG Tomato Plant Food 18:18:21 and Expert AllPurpose 15:30:15. The MG is actually made for Tomatoes so I have been using that for years.

Yes, the containers are 5 gal and have holes at the bottom. I used Garden soil (I don't remember the brand) bought from Home depot and mixed with that staff that makes the soil light... my neighbour gave it to me, she uses it a lot. For the new ones I'll plant I already have the cow manure and MG Garden Soil for lowers and vegetables. I am in VA, zone 7. The MG 24-8-16 I used is an all purpose fertilizer.
Do you think I can plant 2 plants in one container? I am just confused when to use the fertilizer again and if I have to use at when I plant the new plants or just wait a few weeks.

Thanks a lot for your time!
I hope I answer all the question so you can help me.
Do

Next year, if you use containers again, just use potting soil and dont' go through the extra work of having to lighten garden soil with perlite or anything else--garden soil is way too heavy for containers. Just go with container/potting soil. I grow a lot of container toms and I use a fertilizer enhanced potting soil--I start all my seeds in it too.

MG Garden Soil for lowers and vegetables

Miracle Grow GARDEN Soil is not to be used in containers. It says that right on the bag. It is for adding to in-ground or large raised beds only. In containers, especially ones as small as 5 gallons, it compacts far too much and drains poorly.

If your plants are still young enough to transplant they need to be. Otherwise you will have constant problems with them and little production.

And larger containers too would be a good thing if you can do the transplanting. And no, there is no way you can put 2 plants in one container unless it is at least 20 gallon one.

For containers, as Trudi said, you only use potting mix and yes, MG makes a regular potting mix.

The MG fertilizer or the Expert brand are normally used weekly at 1/2 strength or less. If the manure you added was fresh manure the plants won't survive anyway but in the future avoid using it in containers even if it is composted manure.

As to your possible 'disease' without seeing at least a photo of it it is impossible to say for sure. But the most likely problem is root rot because of the poor drainage.

Dave

Now, that you told me about the garden soil, I read the bag. You are wright. I will try to attach some pictures but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.
I realize that my plants look weak and the ones in the back, with darker leaves, look more healthy are were given to me by a friend. Those were the ones that I need to plant.
I don't even know now if I can transplant my plants in other pots or even in the ground. I have all grass in my backyard and will take some time to prepare the ground for planting.
The manure I added was composted manure. I've watched a video on their website and they planted 2 tomato plants directly in the bag (with just composted cow manure) and they say they guarantee you'll get a lots of tomatoes...
I would like to transplant them if I can but I have the same size pot, no bigger ones. I let you guys look at the picture and let me know what should I do next.

Thanks a lot for all your help. I really hope my plants can still be saved.

Noo, I just can't see how I can attach images. If somebody can tell me how, I will gladly do it. Thanks!

You'll get big plants, but you'll only get lots of tomatoes if the varieties you plant have the genetics to produce lots of tomatoes. Some toms are not prolific croppers.

It seems like it would be too difficult for you now to cut the sod and amend the soil--that's something for when you ahve time and the knowledge on how to do that. I suggest visiting the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum here at GW and read about how to do that as best you can. For now, if you're able to manage it, switch the soil in the containers and replant the toms in potting soil.

Trudi D, I have 4 Celebrity plants, and as I know, they are determinate.
I would like to replant them in containers using potting soil, but will I be able to do so when a plant has 1 tomato pretty big growing and flowers and another one has a few small tomatoes and flowers. The other two have just flowers... but some of them started to dry already and probably from the disease.
If you give me the ok :) to replant them (I know I have to do it in the evening), when should I use the plant food 15-30-15 that I already bought?
I already have 2 bags of Black Kow Composted manure. Can I mix it with potting soil when I replant them?
Do you have an idea how to upload pictures on this forum?... so I can show you my plants...

Thanks a lot for your time and advice!

'Trudi D, I have 4 Celebrity plants, and as I know, they are determinate.
I would like to replant them in containers using potting soil, but will I be able to do so when a plant has 1 tomato pretty big growing and flowers and another one has a few small tomatoes and flowers. The other two have just flowers...'

Yes, you can transplant now, but best to wait for a few days of rainy weather, or move the containers to mostly shade for a few days after transplant and gradually move them back into part shade to full sun. Make sure they're well watered, you can set up a sprinkler on a timer to water them during the hottest hours of the day.

' but some of them started to dry already and probably from the disease. '

Hmmm. Celebrity is very disease resistant. What is drying? The tips of the leaves, the stems are bending over? What ever else? Need more info here. Generally, a tomato in a container will use at least a gallon of water a day, if it's sunny, windy and hot then you may need two or three gallons of water daily.

'If you give me the ok :) to replant them (I know I have to do it in the evening), when should I use the plant food 15-30-15 that I already bought? '

Evening, shade and overcast weather are all fine for transplanting, get them together and you have a higher chance of success. Transplanting in full sun, on a bright, warm and windy day is going to add a lot of stress to the plants and you too. Gardening should not be stressful for plants or the gardener. Best wisdom is always to learn by looking--your eyes are the expert in your garden. If the plants look droughty it's because they are. Water well the morning of any hot windy day and water again at the end of the day.

I use plant food at a fifty percent strength in all my containers, but I don't start using it right away because I've got fertilizer-enhanced soil in them. If the soil is new I don't have to feed for a few months, but if the soil is several months old then I start using the fertilizer after plants put out their first flush of flowers. Many of my containers are older than a year, I take out the top eight or so inches of soil and replace that with new from the bag. The old soil isn't wasted but goes to containers I use for "Summer Sowing" which is the warm weather version of Winter Sowing.

'I already have 2 bags of Black Kow Composted manure. Can I mix it with potting soil when I replant them?'

No. Don't. I don't like using composted manure in any container. It may not be sterile, it may have weed seeds, and it may be too strong in strength to add--you can't just add it in willy-nilly without knowing its potency. I would check with the SCM forum for their advice if there aren't any suggestions on the product bag. I use composted manure when I'm amending soil in the ground. You said you would like to make some beds in the ground, the composted manure mixed with bagged garden soil will do a lot to quickly get the bed soil amended, but do also add in a lot of fresh greens (I like grass clippings).

'Do you have an idea how to upload pictures on this forum?... so I can show you my plants...
Thanks a lot for your time and advice! '

Get a Photo Bucket (or similar) account and link to the pics using the Optional Link URL space at the bottom of all GW posts. Or learn html and insert the code directly into the post. GW is not very modern so you'll need to learn some basic html if you want to put hotlinks directly into your text.

Hope this helps--I know it's all bewildering, but for now, the first you need to do is get the plants re-potted with potting soil. Once that's done then worry about photos and html. The plants are what really counts.

T

Thanks T!

My plants got flowers, enough of them and some started to dry and instead of growing a tomato, flower is dying and little by little that tiny flower stem starts to dry too. The plants are tall, let's say 2 feet tall, but stems are pretty seldom...
The plants have black spots on the leaves, and I think it's from the rain... but 2 weeks ago I started to use a spray with copper. Hope they will do better!
Thanks a lot!

Good luck!

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