Near harvest I myself like to stress the plant, make it think it's going to die. That way it puts everything in the fruit. Works well. I limit water, and nutrients. But hey that's me! Amazing cool with stone fruits, you can boost brix by 5 points or more. With indeterminate tomatoes I really do not do it. But it seems like a good idea with determinates. With indeterminates I usually lower nitrogen once fruit is formed. At times I may boost it like with cherry tomatoes that really run nutrients through. Often producing hundreds of tomatoes on one plant. It needs to be fed. Fruits usually do not form during very hot weather so it's a good time for nitrogen. When conditions are right for fruit formation, I do limit feedings. Dry farming is a science, and these techniques are based on dry farming practices.

That is the point several people have made. We don't know your position and neither do you. You are just making guesses. The only place to start is with a soil test so then you will know exactly what to use and how much. Most soil tests will show that nothing, or very little of 1 or 2 things are required. Keep the products you bought and once you have the soil test it will tell you what and how much to use. If you refuse to get a professional soil test done then the only safe option left is to stick with lots of organic supplements like compost and composted manures, not fertilizers. .Supplements like the Black Cow Composted manure you linked above will provide any needed nutrients without the fears of over-application. But composted manure doesn't need to be that expensive either.Walmart, HD, Lowes and many other stores all offer several different brands of compost and composted manures. Link below is just one example of non-manured compost. Also see: http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=manure&ic=16_0amp;Find=Find&search_constraint=0 Also will I have to add this types of organic food every year ? Or one time is good for few years ? Yes you will need to add them every year at least 2x a year. There is nothing you can add one time and be good for years. So I water my garden every alternative day from normal tape water. But I have observed that, if there is a heavy rain, all plants grow really fast. No one should ever water their garden every alternative day. Any experienced gardener will tell you that. Doing so only creates water-dependent shallow rooted plants with poor production. Vegetables require deep much less frequent waterings and only when they need it, not when it is convenient for the gardener or on some sort of fixed schedule. But not all vegetables require the same amount of water nor do they all require watering at the same times and the needs vary greatly depending on the weather and the size of the plant and the stage of growth it is in. You need to learn how much water each of your vegetables require on a weekly basis at each stage of growth. Plants appear to perk up from rain due to all the extra nitrogen in the rainy air. Your tap water is no different from most anyone else but the pH of the water makes little difference. Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: HD - Mushroom Compost

Rhizo, True, the Study was on hydroponically grown tomatoes, but I would suggest growing in a 5:1:1 soiless mix in a SWC would have similar nutrition requirements. Correct? If one tries to use only one fertilizer (as in a buried strip in an EarthBox), it would appear in doing a mathematical average of the N-P-K numbers in the Paper, a combined number of 10-5-16 would be optimal for tomatoes. I am also assuming the soiless mix in an EarthBox with its wicking action would approximate nutrient needs in a hydroponic environment, or close to it. So, what commercially available fertilizer best matches an N-P-K of 10-5-16? This would be an interesting trial vs. Foliage-Pro or Tomato-tone..... Raybo

A lot of professional growers use a low/no phosphorus formula for young seedlings, such as 15-0-15. This is supposed to prevent stretching and leggy seedlings. It has worked for me with annual flowers, but tomatoes and peppers still seem to stretch if left under lights more than 4-5 weeks. Once seedlings get a little older, a 2-1-2 ratio is good. The low phos fertilizers can be hard to find--you might have to order online or mix your own. I mix mine from fertilizer I bought at a hydroponics store. (Side note...I think the folks that frequent that place may be growing some kind of "cash crop"). Any ratio will be workable as long as you don't overfertilize. Wait until you think the plants really need it, then wait a couple more days. I usually wait until the second set of true leaves at least start to appear before fertilizing, and then give a very dilute solution. Jason Here is a link that might be useful: Seedling Fertilizer