How often to add amendments?

16 years ago

My seedlings were planted in raised beds at last frost date 5 weeks ago. Some are beginning to set small fruit. I am so thrilled I want to mail birth announcement to all my friends. I wish I had discovered the joys of gardening years ago.

I have read that a common mistake that beginners make is over-fertilizing. The Miracle Gro box recommends a schedule of every 7 to 14 days. This seems like a pretty heavy diet of 18-18-21. But as a beginner I donÂt know enough to make that assessment.

Yesterday I gave them their first treatment of amendments. Was this too much to give them all at once?

- Watered with MG Tomato Formula per instructions

- Foliar spray of dilute MG Tomato Formula

- Watered with Fish/Kelp Formula per instructions

- Foliar spray of dilute Fish/Kelp

- Thick layer of red wood mulch

Today I finished with a few final touches.

- Foliar spray Aspirin 3/4 of a tab per gallon

- Foliar spray of Daconil

My soil is pretty decent; store bought topsoil and about 25 % composted cow manure. So it has good structure and drains well. Should I follow the instructions on the MG box (7-14 days) or something less intense?

I am very grateful for any advice. Thank you. Fred in Maine

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Comments (2)

Pyewacket
16 years ago
I think you just fertilized your plants four times at one go. The fish meal/kelp AND the Miracle Gro done both as root feeding AND foliar feeding might have been a bit much. I'd stick with one or the other of those two types of fertilizer, or alternate them.

Foliar feeding and root feeding with the fish meal/kelp is probably ok, but not with the Miracle Gro.

I'd suggest going longer between fertilizing rather than shorter, 3 or even 4 weeks should be plenty. Over fertilizing during bloom set can reduce yields. Also, too much nitrogen makes the plants grow a lot of foliage, but not much else.

Note that fish meal/kelp is around 4/3/3, and most chemical fertilizers used for tomatoes are 5/10/10 or 10/10/10. The balance of what you're using (18/18/21) isn't off so much as the strength is. That ratio of fertilizer can burn foliage, so if you're going to foliar feed it could cause trouble. You can continue to use the fertilizer, just cut the strength, that is, mix it with twice as much water as the directions say. You'll end up with 9/9/10 (roughly). I'd just root feed with the Miracle Gro.

Stop using the Daconil immediately! It's intended for turf grass and ornamentals, not food plants! If you water from below (like drip irrigation or hose watering) you shouldn't have any trouble with fungi. I have never treated any tomato plant with an antifungicide in 25 years of my own gardening and another 20 watching my Dad do it.

The aspirin spray shouldn't hurt anything, although I don't know that it'll do much, either, no matter what the University of RI says! Still it's cheap - maybe I'll try it on my eggplants and tomatoes this year.

Mulching is a great idea and will help to stabilize conditions for the plants, keep them from drying out, keep roots from getting too cold or too hot.

Hope that helps.

Sojourner
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jbann23
16 years ago
Whoa, fertilizer isn't an amendment. An amendment is something, preferably organic, that builds the soil. Get the soil built and the plants nearly take care of themselves. I've seen fruiting tomato plants growing from a concrete set of steps. They're a tough weed and don't need nearly as much help as we shower upon them. Back off a bit and I'm sure the glorious weed will flourish, and produce. We really do love the plant a bit too much. LOL.
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How often to add amendments?

Comments (2)

Pyewacket

jbann23

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