The Great Fertilizer Debate! Does anything really beat....

[TomatoDon]

I always like these threads because a lot of interesting ideas on fertilizing and fertilizers come to the surface -- some bordering on family secrets, almost as well kept as a bar-b-q sauce recipe!

I've had a lot of fun the past few days stopping by tomato patches around the country side and asking people what they are growing, why, and how they grow them. I've had some great stories on fertilizers. Yesterday, on the way to the gulf coast, I got a 20 minute discourse on the history of north American bat guano, the different kinds of bat guano, and the comparisons of bat guano with tropical bird guano. (Where is a film crew when you need it...and why do you only hear these things at roadside stands by retired sailers and other American classics...)

There's about a million fertilizers and fertilization techniques out there...but just to start this off...does anything really beat tomato formula Miracle Grow and/or a basic fish or seaweed fertilizer? If you could only use those, would your crop suffer? Will anything realistically beat those? If so, what? And why is it better?

I see some thriving tomatoes that haven't had any fertilizer since the day they were planted, and then I see plants in terrible shape that have been pampered weekly, and sometimes daily. (In the nursery business I think they call that "lovin' em to death.") So what works best?

I've mentioned a lot of fertilizers here before, and I doubt I could fit them all in the trunk of a car. No kidding...I collect that sort of stuff to try. But then reality sets in and I wonder...does anything really beat Miracle Grow, or any of the fish and seaweed formulas? I look at all these different kinds and think...wouldn't a handful of fish meal in the planting hole and then a monthly shot of Miracle Grow accomplish the same thing? (While being much simpler and cheaper.) Or are the methods we use part of the attraction and love of it all.

Yes, I did break down and buy one pound of imported bat guano from the retired sailor at the roadside tomato stand in his front yard. So, what do you use, and why? The more creative, eccentric, and secretive it is, the better!

Don