Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankT
Good morning from SE Pennsylvania,
I'm still a rookie on a learning curve! One week ago I planted six different varieties of tomatoes in 8-gallon containers. I searched out Pro-Mix BX to use as my growing medium. After adding a couple of TBLS of lime into each planing hole, I planted each plant quite deeply.
My question now is what would be a good feeding schedule? I'm somewhat confused as to what type of fertilizer to use an HOW OFTEN to apply it.
My containers face the East and get between 7 and 8 hours of direct sunlight daily.
Also, should I be applying calcium nitrate at any time?
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Hi Frank! My first year too and I am loving the experience. I have asked the same question for my tomatoes on here but in another part of the site. The answers I got were varied, but I will tell you what i have been doing that worked for me. I will show you pictures of my tomatoes if you would like, because I believe they are very productive. Being that you are growing in containers, washing away nutrients with watering seems to be the biggest issue. I water very often as I have seen first hand that my brothers hydroponic tomatoes drink 5 gallons of water every day and a half between 8 plants. Since I am watering so often (2 times a day) I fertilize every other watering, but at 1/4 strength. If you don't want to go through that much hassle you can fertilize them at full strength every 4 days. I would only recommend this much if you are watering at least once a day. I am using a combo of Miracle Gro all purpose and Miracle Gro Bloom booster mixed in equal parts. I also keep organic crab and shrimp meal in my soil at all times, and replenish it about every 2-3 weeks. In addition to those I sprinkle half a teaspoon of sulfate of potash (very cheap on ebay) around the base of my plants once a week. My soil is a mixture of about 60% compost, 20% composted manure, 10% perlite, and 10% peat moss. If you or anyone else would like to see pictures to make sure you know what you will be getting from this schedule I would be more than happy to show you the results!!! Hope this helps.