Saeweed emulsion? Or fish? Seaweed is about 0-0-4 or 1-0-4 NPK. PLUS you diluted it??? And fish is top heavy in nitrogen, usually around 5-1-1 or 4-1-1 NPK, a bad ratio for tomatoes to start with, unless Neptune's Harvest Fish & Seaweed, which has the best ratio for tomatoes, at 2-4-1 0r 2-4-0.5.

Still, you are underfertilizing.

The leaves you mulched with were using whatever N (nitrogen) to break down. Adding the mushroom compost, less than 1-1-1, is helping break the leave down, which will be great... for next year.

Are your beds 'flat' or raised beds? I fell for that "veggie blend topsoil" or "compost & topsoil blend" about 10+ years ago when I made raised beds. Looks lovely dumped in your driveway... until it rains. That's because they shred it into the truck. When it rains & then dries, it's all one big "lump" again! If it's enclosed raised beds, treat it as a giannt container. Containers shouldn't use topsoil for optimal results.

I ammended my beds every year since then with municipal compost, a couple more inches each year, which I BUY every year. I'm in the city and catch hell if I try to have a compost pile or semi-enclosed bin, plus besides driving 15-20 miles or so, it's only about $18 a load, (including tax), dumped into the back of my pickup. Or about $2.50 per large garbage can if I shovel it. (why bother?) I bought sooooo much compost over the last 5-10 years that my yard looks like landscaped sanddunes, but leveled out--the last 20 feet length of my yard is/was almost a foot higher than the rest of the yard!

For root bound plants, the best way I have found is to blast the rootball apart with a hose. The roots will be hanging down by themselves when you go to plant it and you can plant them deeper too, and the soil will fill in around the roots and they will no longer be going in circles.

To get tomatoes this year, if your temps are below 92 and first frost won't be until fall, you still have time to FERTILIZE REGULARLY (weekly with a high middle # fertilizer or tomato blend or bloom booster formula water soluble fertilizer, or every 5 days with a Neptune's Harvest fish/seaweed blend or Maxicrop seaweed powder) AND WATER WELL (regularly.) If fyou feel your soil is clayey, add lots of compost, which will also provide calcium, magnesium & sulfur.

Heck, some of my plants didn't get into the ground (or 4 or 5 gallon buckets) until just a couple weeks ago. Some of my containers that got planted in June are starting to produce now. Just picked 4 Speckled Romans today and the pup/bed-tiller has been eating her share of Sungolds & Matt's Wild Cherries for the last couple weeks...

Hope this helps.

Hi Korney - lot of good info - thanks.

Answering questions:

It was seaweed emulsion - diluted according to package directions. It was a concentrate.

Raised beds, about 6-7 inches high with the new soil (size is 8x4 and 12 inches deep - but not filled all the way). At the bottom of the soil is a cardboard barrier I was using to smoother weeds - the cardboard was in place for about 3 months prior to the bed being put in. There should be some goodies for them there if the cardboard can break up enough - and their poor little feet can squiggle down - which I doubt in this heavy soil....and root bound to begin with - too late to water their feet.....they've been in about 3-4 weeks now.

What I am counting on is building up the bed about 4-5 inches with the "good stuff" and the toms can shoot out new roots on the buried stems to utilize the nutrients.

I gave the fish emulsion twice in a week, about 10 days ago, so I'm taking it I can add that again?

I am wondering when I can amend with more mushroom compost. The bag said 1-3 inches, which I pretty much did the max. If I take another bag or two of mushroom compost, mix it with a few bags of top soil and I have some peat moss around and some more old leaves, would this "dilute" the mushroom compost and I could add to a higher level in he bed?

If any of the tom branches are in the way, should I nip them off, or just fill up?

Thanks for all info - I begin to build hope!

t-bird, it's almost a year later, what else did you do THIS year to improve on last year? And how was last year?

A desperate situation, so I will recommend a serious solution. You need to get a drill auger (like used for planting daffodils). Drill holes every 6" around the bed and add compost. Water into the compost holes.

The idea is to get water under the surface and soak around the area.

In the Fall, dig the soil well and mix in 3" of compost or leaf pro. That should solve the water entry problem next year.