[Ruby Red]

I grow the usual stuff ie; Tomatoes, Brassicas, Roots , Beans , peas
        etc. Pretty much a bit of everything. In my shed I have a bottle of
        Seaweed concentrate and a box of Blood Fish and Bone. Will these
        things do as Im trying to cut back on any more spending. Oh by the
        way, it goes withiut saying that I use homemade compost and horse
        muck anyway. Thanks.

[richyrich7]

I reckon you are about there Ruby, BF&B acts slow so be sure to use it at or before transplanting, seaweed conc is good stuff esp Tom's seem to do well with it I've found.
If your going to buy anything Tom food is at £1 a bottle at wilko's and I use that on anything that fruits or flowers.

[Jen]

hi RR7
i know you feed toms when in friut but what about now...do i give them a weak drop of any-thing, their still in 3inch pots  thnks   jen

[Ruby Red]

Cheers for the reply rich. There seems to be a bewildering ammount of garden stuff and chemicals in the shops. I will stick with what Ive got then. Thank you.

[DD.]

hi RR7
i know you feed toms when in friut but what about now...do i give them a weak drop of any-thing, their still in 3inch pots  thnks   jen

I only feed once fruit has set, otherwise you are in danger of putting the growth into the leaves.

[Stevens706]

You could always make nettle fertiliser that is free and good for your greens. Just fill up a bucket with nettles and cover with water, leave for a month or so strain, water down and use. Does smell though.

[richyrich7]

hi RR7
i know you feed toms when in friut but what about now...do i give them a weak drop of any-thing, their still in 3inch pots  thnks   jen

I only feed once fruit has set, otherwise you are in danger of putting the growth into the leaves.

Gotta agree with DD.  

[Tinbasher]

Cheers for the reply rich. There seems to be a bewildering ammount of garden stuff and chemicals in the shops. I will stick with what Ive got then. Thank you.

You're not wrong there.  As gardening has become the new rock n roll in the last few years, everyone has got onto selling stuff, which in a lot of ways is a good thing (Aldi, Lidl, Wilkos, all cheap seeds, plants and stuff), but you don't half end up impulse buying loads of stuff you could have done without, just cos it seemed a good deal at the time.  They're crafty like that these supermarkets.  I've never yet been in one, not ever, and come out having  bought or spent the same or less than I intended.

So by now I have all sorts of feeds and fertilisers somewhere or other, some never yet opened, or only nominally used.  Don't know why cos one of the better deals I got was from Stax (trade wholesaler for whom I have a trade card), where I picked up a sack each (25kg) of Growmore, Lime and Bonemeal, all about a tenner each.  That was 8 years ago and I still have loads left.  I have liquid tomato food from Tesco, granular fruit feed from Aldi, Rose feed from Aldi, Hoof and Horn from God knows where, Phostrogen, Miracle Gro, Bio, etc, etc.  Plus a big bag of granular potato feed from T & M, though I have used that for 2 years now and have just enough left for this season.  And I have a sack of manure in one water butt and a sack of nettles in another.  Madness and I'm glad of this thread cos it's reminded me to stop buying any more.  Supposed to be gardening and plotting to save money not as an excuse to spend more.   :cry:

[mkhenry]

One of the most important things to remember when feeding toms is that they have a double root system.
The lower roots are for water, and the higher roots are for feeding.  If you feed too soon the plant will turn up its lower roots to gain access to the feed and thus the amount of toms and their taste will affected, because the roots do not go down deep enough.

You should therefore only feed once the fruit starts to show and swell,  and then you should make sure that you are only feeding the upper roots.  So never soak the soil with feed.

If you water the upper roots the toms may be watery.  :roll:
For this reason I always use collars on my plants.  I water the bag and feed via the collar.  This makes for better trusses and sweeter toms.

[Bombers]

How and what do you make these collars wth MKH?
A picky would be good...

[mkhenry]

How and what do you make these collars wth MKH?
A picky would be good...

Just cut off the end of a 3" plastic plant pot, put it over the tom plant. Make sure its about 2" into the soil.  Some people put soil in the pot some pebbles some both.  Water the roots (I also place another bottomless pot in the soil next to the plant with shingle in, and water that . it slows down the water and makes sure it gets to the roots)) and pour the feed into the pot around the plant  when needed.

You can buy whalebone collars (which are nothing to do with whales ) or dedicated green double skinned plastic ones with a built in bag cutter in most garden centers, but clean sterile old plant pots with the bottoms cut off do the job very well.

[Stevens706]

I agree with the two methods of watering and feeding detailed above, but how does this work for people who grow direct in the soil, they seem to grow well without different watering and feeding methods – just a question??

[richyrich7]

I agree with the two methods of watering and feeding detailed above, but how does this work for people who grow direct in the soil, they seem to grow well without different watering and feeding methods – just a question??

I just treat all mine the same regarding feeding, watering is plant by plant needs. One thing is for sure after toms have produced 6-7 trusses root growth has all but stopped and actually declines as more and more trusses are formed so IMHO it's best to get as much root growth on them as possible, soil grown toms I feel would benefit from a good soaking every few days rather than frequent light watering, this should make the roots grow deeper and further.  

 

[mkhenry]

I agree with the two methods of watering and feeding detailed above, but how does this work for people who grow direct in the soil, they seem to grow well without different watering and feeding methods – just a question??

Anybody who ever grew toms will tell you that there are good years and there are bad years re total harvest.  But most can not tell you why.  I believe the main reason is the watering.
If you just water the soil you will not get , most years, the best flavour possible.  You may some years get a bountiful harvest of great tasting toms, but the following year get a miserable grop.  Then a different result the following year.
 I adopt the methods taught me by the old time gardeners in the big houses who were not allowed failure, under any circumstances.
They taught me the collar method over 50 years ago,  And I always get a great grop of top tasting toms EVERY year.  Even when others are saying "its a bad year for my tomatoes this season" .  So thats why I use collars, its up to each gardener to adopt whatever method suits them best,  But I believe in helping the plants as much as I can.  Why do all that work and take a chance when with a little forthought you can get a good grop every year.  

[Bombers]

Thanks MKH, I'm still a little unsure how you do this. Are there any links to a web site., or better still some pictures?