When to start feeding tomatoes?

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Pony Girl

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When to start feeding tomatoes?
« on: April 17, 2012, 12:40 »
When is the best time to start feeding tomatoes? Do you do it as soon as flower buds appear or wait until the flowers open, or would you wait until the fruit starts to swell?

Everywhere I read seems to say something different so just wondered what you found works best?

I've got some cherry tomatoes that are just showing very first buds and which I'll plant out into hanging baskets once danger of frost has passed.

Is it too early to start feeding them now?

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mumofstig

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2012, 12:41 »
yes :) Once you pot them into the baskets they will have new compost (and feed) to get their roots into ;)

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lucywil

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2012, 12:52 »
I normally feed once the first fruit has set and then once a week

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Yorkie

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2012, 17:40 »
The standard advice on all liquid tomato feeds which I have seen, is to start feeding once the first truss has set.  This means when the first 'branch' of flowers have gone over and you can see the tiny little tomatoes where the flowers were.

Follow the instructions on the bottle - don't over feed.
I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days all attack me at once...

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Rampant_Weasel

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2012, 23:02 »
what happens if you do overfeed?

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jay001

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2012, 23:19 »
what happens if you do overfeed?
as a novice of just over 5 wks now i got my miracle gro soluble plant food delivered and promptly fed all my tomato seedlings with it when they were only 1" high and suprise suprise ---they all died diddy bones --lesson learned,but as you say different advice in different places hence you can only make your mind up when you have the mistakes --and successes from other people to go by,plus if i had taken the time to read the outer bucket i would have known not to do it  :D  :D  :D
Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance

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sunshineband

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2012, 07:14 »
what happens if you do overfeed?

(see above post too)

Loads of leaves and less fruit setting, root scorch too
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Pony Girl

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2012, 08:17 »
Thanks all! I will hold off the feeding.  :D

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Thephoenix572

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2012, 12:26 »
When would you plant then in a greenhouse
All the way from my allotment in beautiful Derbyshire. I'm in year 3 of my allotment and wish I'd caught the bug years ago, things growing from strength to strength

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DD.

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2012, 12:36 »
Heated or not?

Heated, anytime. Not heated, mine will go in next month.
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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Thephoenix572

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2012, 13:27 »
Not heated, so next month it is

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Pony Girl

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2012, 08:09 »
I was going to put mine in unheated polytunnel at the beginning of May. Is that OK if I can't cover them with fleece at night or should I leave them a bit longer?

I've put them outside today to start hardening them off.

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DD.

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2012, 08:15 »
In your neck of the woods, you'd probably be OK, just keep an eye on them.

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Pony Girl

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Re: When to start feeding tomatoes?
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2012, 08:18 »
They didn't like the first taste of the outside world! When I came home some of the leaves were very wilted, poor things, so it was probably too cold for them yesterday.

I think I rescued them in time so hopefully they haven't been set back too much!


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