Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Growing in Greenhouses & Polytunnels => Topic started by: Kathie on August 03, 2011, 10:12
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Hi all,
Can anyone tell me how many times a week I can feed my F1 hybrid tomatoes? They are in pots in a polytunnel that is on concrete. Loads of fruit and flowers, I'm just waiting for them to ripen and wondered if I feed them more than once a week it may help them.
Thanks in advance
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Hi, now your tomatoes are flowering :), you should not feed them. Water regular, but don't waterlog the plant. Feed young tomatoe plants once a month. Always read the label on feed solutions.
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As you already have fruit - you should feed them according to the instructions on the bottle. Feeding more often can do more harm than good, and won't make them ripen any earlier.
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Thanks for that folks :D
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if there are no instructions - like if you're using comfrey tea - then I'd go for once or twice a week
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As tlm1965 says, read the instructions on the bottle, over-feeding will not hasten ripening, as mumofstig says.
However, tlm1965 has it totally incorrect when it comes to when to feed them and the frequency thereof!
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Been feeding as per instructions and 17 days later fruit HUGE, but still green. Some must be bigger than grapefruits but no sign of colour change. Lots of green tom chutney me thinks!
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I wouldn't worry Kathie. I've still got loads of huge but green toms. I've only had a few of the Shirley F1 and Flamme variety. I think its just a slow season this year. I understand that ripening tomatoes is more to do with temperature than anything else. You could throw in a few banana skins - again I understand that the gas given off by bananas helps to ripen tomatoes. I tried it last year when I was ripening off my green ones left over from the end of the season and it seemed to work. Good luck and don't give up just yet.
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I usually find that as long as they have more or less reached their "proper" size and preferably are just showing a hint of yellowing they should ripen quite successfully.
Fruit which are undersized and very green have a tendency to slowly shrivel and not ripen in my experience.
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I also feed according to the bottle. I did once read that you should not water the plants more than a little once the tomatoes have set as too much water will grow large relatively tasteless fruit. However, when I tried it, I got blossom end rot, so now I water about 4 pints every other day in grow bags and have a dripped system in the polytunnel fixed to a water butt which fills from the downspout. I picked the first of my brandywine tomatoes yesterday - 14 oz. Been having cherry tomatoes for a couple of weeks.