Tomatoes are America's most popular garden vegetables. They are easily cultivated in the warm months of summer and produce a healthy crop of fruit in small home garden spaces. Tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of daily sun to flourish. You can support the optimum health and fruit production of your tomato plants by growing them in fertile, well-drained soil and by fertilizing them with organic or synthetic agents that offer the nutrients they crave.
Fertilizers can be a critical part of any successful gardening project. In the case of growing food plants such as tomatoes, careful selection and addition of fertilizer to the soil in which you are growing tomatoes can yield larger tomatoes as well as more substantial harvests. Luckily, with some careful consideration, you can choose the right fertilizer and know how to best incorporate it into your soil.
Test your soil
Good tomatoes grow in good soil. They develop the best root systems in deep, organically rich soil that remains consistently moist without becoming boggy. Tomatoes prefer a slightly acidic soil environment with a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8. Before planting tomatoes, test your soil using a complete kit from a local garden center or service available in your area. Select a report that details primary nutrients -- nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as secondary plant nutrients including calcium and magnesium. Select one that also includes an assessment of organic matter content and soil texture.
Improve your soil
Adjust acidic soils with lime products and alkaline ones with sulfur supplements, according to your soil report. Dry, sandy soils and dense clay types benefit from the incorporation of organic materials such as finished compost, aged manure and chopped pine bark. These amendments facilitate better soil moisture balance, act as pH buffers and offer essential primary and secondary plant nutrients to tomato roots. Before planting, apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of these materials to your planned garden area. Work or till this in to a depth of 12 to 18 inches, along with your native soil.
Elemental nutrition
Tomatoes, like all vegetable crops, require certain levels of easily accessible nutrition. Scholarly studies have shown that tomatoes taste better when they receive extra potassium and phosphorus while growing. You will get higher yields of disease-free fruits when easily available calcium and magnesium are present to help prevent blossom-end rot, a common bane of tomato growers. If these nutrients are imbalanced, according to your soil report, you can supplement your soil with organic or synthetic fertilizers that provide them.
Fertilizer choices
Natural plant nutrient sources you can use include meals of bone, blood, alfalfa and fish. Specialty organic products, designed specifically for tomatoes are also available. These contain balanced levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as important secondary nutrients like calcium and magnesium. They also enrich the soil with humic matter as they break down over time. Synthetic fertilizers with a low nitrogen, high phosphorus and high potassium balance, particularly 8-32-16 or 6-24-24, are recommended for productive tomato plants.
Fertilizer ratings
To understand how to choose a fertilizer for tomatoes or for any other plant, it is necessary to first understand how fertilizers are differentiated from each other. Any fertilizer you purchase will have three numbers printed conspicuously on the bag; these numbers are known as the NPK rating, because they describe the concentration, by weight, of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). For instance, if a fertilizer is labeled as 5-10-15, it contains 5 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus and 15 percent potassium by weight, with other ingredients making up the remaining 70 percent of bag weight.
Fertilizer selection
To a substantial extent, the choice of what type of fertilizer is dependent on the unique nutritional needs of the soil in which the tomatoes are growing. Have your soil tested by a local university extension office and see what nutrients your soil is lacking the most. In general, however, tomatoes respond well to fertilizers with a low concentration of nitrogen and higher concentrations of phosphorus and potassium, such as 8-32-16 or 6-24-24. Avoid using ammonia fertilizers such as urea or ammonium nitrate for your tomato plants.
Application tips
A fertilizer fitting this description should be worked into soil just before planting time. Use around 1 lb. of fertilizer per 100 square feet of garden space, unless you are only able to find a 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 fertilizer, in which case you should increase the amount used to 2 lbs. per 100 square feet to provide soil with enough nitrogen content.
Other considerations
The above guidelines describe how to prepare your soil for successful tomato plants, but to fully maximize your fruit yield, additional fertilizer applications are necessary. A solution consisting of 2 tbsp. of 10-52-17 or 15-30-15 fertilizer in one gallon of water should be added to the planting hole when tomatoes are transplanted to outside soil. Finally, side-dress the tomato plants with calcium nitrate at a rate of 3.5 lbs. per 100 square feet to ensure that plant nutrients are not diverted from fruit production into leaf production.
Fertilizers can be a critical part of any successful gardening project. In the case of growing food plants such as tomatoes, careful selection and addition of fertilizer to the soil in which you are growing tomatoes can yield larger tomatoes as well as more substantial harvests. Luckily, with some careful consideration, you can choose the right fertilizer and know how to best incorporate it into your soil.
Test your soil
Good tomatoes grow in good soil. They develop the best root systems in deep, organically rich soil that remains consistently moist without becoming boggy. Tomatoes prefer a slightly acidic soil environment with a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8. Before planting tomatoes, test your soil using a complete kit from a local garden center or service available in your area. Select a report that details primary nutrients -- nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as secondary plant nutrients including calcium and magnesium. Select one that also includes an assessment of organic matter content and soil texture.
Improve your soil
Adjust acidic soils with lime products and alkaline ones with sulfur supplements, according to your soil report. Dry, sandy soils and dense clay types benefit from the incorporation of organic materials such as finished compost, aged manure and chopped pine bark. These amendments facilitate better soil moisture balance, act as pH buffers and offer essential primary and secondary plant nutrients to tomato roots. Before planting, apply a 3- to 4-inch layer of these materials to your planned garden area. Work or till this in to a depth of 12 to 18 inches, along with your native soil.
Tomatoes, like all vegetable crops, require certain levels of easily accessible nutrition. Scholarly studies have shown that tomatoes taste better when they receive extra potassium and phosphorus while growing. You will get higher yields of disease-free fruits when easily available calcium and magnesium are present to help prevent blossom-end rot, a common bane of tomato growers. If these nutrients are imbalanced, according to your soil report, you can supplement your soil with organic or synthetic fertilizers that provide them.
Fertilizer choices
Natural plant nutrient sources you can use include meals of bone, blood, alfalfa and fish. Specialty organic products, designed specifically for tomatoes are also available. These contain balanced levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as important secondary nutrients like calcium and magnesium. They also enrich the soil with humic matter as they break down over time. Synthetic fertilizers with a low nitrogen, high phosphorus and high potassium balance, particularly 8-32-16 or 6-24-24, are recommended for productive tomato plants.
To understand how to choose a fertilizer for tomatoes or for any other plant, it is necessary to first understand how fertilizers are differentiated from each other. Any fertilizer you purchase will have three numbers printed conspicuously on the bag; these numbers are known as the NPK rating, because they describe the concentration, by weight, of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). For instance, if a fertilizer is labeled as 5-10-15, it contains 5 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus and 15 percent potassium by weight, with other ingredients making up the remaining 70 percent of bag weight.
Fertilizer selection
To a substantial extent, the choice of what type of fertilizer is dependent on the unique nutritional needs of the soil in which the tomatoes are growing. Have your soil tested by a local university extension office and see what nutrients your soil is lacking the most. In general, however, tomatoes respond well to fertilizers with a low concentration of nitrogen and higher concentrations of phosphorus and potassium, such as 8-32-16 or 6-24-24. Avoid using ammonia fertilizers such as urea or ammonium nitrate for your tomato plants.
A fertilizer fitting this description should be worked into soil just before planting time. Use around 1 lb. of fertilizer per 100 square feet of garden space, unless you are only able to find a 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 fertilizer, in which case you should increase the amount used to 2 lbs. per 100 square feet to provide soil with enough nitrogen content.
Other considerations
The above guidelines describe how to prepare your soil for successful tomato plants, but to fully maximize your fruit yield, additional fertilizer applications are necessary. A solution consisting of 2 tbsp. of 10-52-17 or 15-30-15 fertilizer in one gallon of water should be added to the planting hole when tomatoes are transplanted to outside soil. Finally, side-dress the tomato plants with calcium nitrate at a rate of 3.5 lbs. per 100 square feet to ensure that plant nutrients are not diverted from fruit production into leaf production.
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