How To Feed Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

How To Feed Tomatoes? ›

Dig the hole, than place the fertilizer, in the amount recommended by the manufacturer, in the bottom. Cover the fertilizer with clean dirt to keep the fertilizer from direct contact with the roots. Thereafter, side-dress your tomatoes with fertilizer every three to four weeks throughout the season.

Look for a fertilizer that has a high middle number, which represents phosphorus, in the N-P-K analysis. Commonly available fertilizer analysis that are great for tomato seedlings include 8-32-16 and 12-24-12. Mix the fertilizer with water according to package directions.

Feeding. To boost fruiting, especially with plants in containers, feed every 10–14 days with a high potassium liquid fertiliser once the first fruits start to swell.

Eggshells. Calcium is important for the development of tomato roots, stems, and new growth, and helps prevent blossom end rot. Adding eggshells in the soil below your tomato plants helps provide good drainage, aerates the soil, and provides a slow release of calcium which helps make the soil more porous.

Coffee grounds contain around 2% nitrogen as well as varying amounts of phosphorus and potassium which are all very important for the growth of tomato plants. By mixing some coffee grounds into the soil below your tomato plants you're introducing these nutrients that the plants need to thrive.

Ultra Epsom Salt treatments at the beginning of their planting and throughout their seasonal life can help to prevent and remedy magnesium deficiency in your tomato plants. Simply add one or two tablespoons of Epsom salt for tomatoes to the area before planting seeds or transplants.

Generally, animal dung from non-industrial farms is the most popular organic fertilizer used in tomato cultivation — cow, horse, and sheep-goat manures work best.

Tomato plants have big appetites and need a steady supply of plant food to grow their best. Miracle-Gro® Performance Organic® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules feeds both your plants and the beneficial microbes in the soil (which help plants take up all the nutrition they need) for up to 6 weeks.

Second when tomatos begin to appear and are about 1 inch in diameter lightly sprinkle baking soda around each plant to make them sweeter.

Some growers prefer to use a high-phosphorus fertilizer, indicated by a larger middle number. You can also keep things simple with a fertilizer especially formulated for tomatoes – usually with a ratio like 3-4-6 or 4-7-10. Most importantly, don't over-fertilize.

Can you use 10-10-10 fertilizer on tomato plants? ›

Q: If using 10-10-10 fertilizer, what is the correct amount to use when planting a tomato? A: You don't need much, perhaps a teaspoon of 10-10-10 at planting. When the plant starts setting fruit, apply three Tbsp. per plant.

Hi Darlene - The all-purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer can be used on your corn, but I wouldn't use it for the tomatoes unless you have a nitrogen deficiency in your soil. It's a bit too much nitrogen for tomatoes. Using a fertilizer high in nitrogen can cause you to have big, lush plants, but little fruit.

For greenhouse tomatoes, buy a premixed soluble fertilizer formulated specifically for greenhouse tomatoes. An all purpose greenhouse fertilizer, i.e. 20-20-20, is a poor choice for tomatoes.