Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food

[ReginaAnn]

Placed my order yesterday. 21 pages of T-Ville can't be wrong.

Now the long wait till spring.

[tnpeppers]

Oh, for Pete's sake...I FORGOT to mention that the TTF was a WEEKLY feeding (usually Saturday, just so I would remember it)...I mix up a batch per instructions in a 2-gallon watering can, fill a 20-ounce bottle with that, and pour it down the watering tube on each Earthbox...even with three dozen boxes; it doesn't take that long.

[ReginaAnn]

Seriously LOVE their customer service! Contacted me and suggested I wait till spring is closer and order them for maximum freshness! Can't wait to try the product!!

[ermentrude]

I bought TTF late in the year, probably shouldn't have bothered but my attempts to grow new plants for the fall season failed spectacularly, so I decided to try to eek out what I could from the 3 plants I had left that were put in back in April. The plants were massively stressed from the summer (crispy) and had to be root bound in the earthboxes at that point so I didn't have high expectations.

I dosed the boxes once a week for about a month, new growth came in but I figured it was too late to get any tomatoes before a freeze so I stopped giving them more food. I left them on the auto watering system just in case though. I then largely ignored them for a month. When I checked back, the plants still looked sad but they were covered in tomatoes and still putting out new blossoms. The end result tomatoes had very good flavor.

I'm amazed that anything could squeeze life out of those stressed out plants, maybe that is my inexperience or maybe this stuff is just fantastic. I'm leaning toward fantastic and will be using from the beginning of the year next year.

[b54red]

I think your choice of the word fantastic was spot on.

Bill

[tnpeppers]

I may 'tinker' a bit with the spring crops this year; based on advice from Urban Farms...they suggested that I use their 'Flowers and Blooms' formula on broccoli (although TTF works, as well). They also suggested that I use their 'Apples and Oranges' formula on leafy goodies like spinach, chard and lettuce due to the higher 'N' content and lower 'P' content. Sounds like a plan.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by tnpeppers

I may 'tinker' a bit with the spring crops this year; based on advice from Urban Farms...they suggested that I use their 'Flowers and Blooms' formula on broccoli (although TTF works, as well). They also suggested that I use their 'Apples and Oranges' formula on leafy goodies like spinach, chard and lettuce due to the higher 'N' content and lower 'P' content. Sounds like a plan.

I have only noticed a few things where the results are not interchangeable between the A&O, TTF and Veg. formulas. Tomatoes definitely do better with the TTF. I find I get much better results with peppers using the A&O. I also find the A&O better on bedding or seedling plants in the greenhouse. I like the Vegetable on leafy green stuff in the fall and spring but prefer A&O or TTF on more mature plants. I find the Veg and A&O give fairly similar results on most things but neither will do for tomatoes what the TTF does. This year I am trying the Vegetable formula on my broccoli and cabbage to see how it does compared to the A&O I used last year but the weather isn't cooperating since we have had so much rain the past few weeks. Oh well, I guess I can try it on my spring plants.

Bill

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by tnpeppers

Oh, for Pete's sake...I FORGOT to mention that the TTF was a WEEKLY feeding (usually Saturday, just so I would remember it)...I mix up a batch per instructions in a 2-gallon watering can, fill a 20-ounce bottle with that, and pour it down the watering tube on each Earthbox...even with three dozen boxes; it doesn't take that long.

I'm going to try this for the spring crop. It will last a lot longer.

I have just been buying the gallon size of Veg and TTF but maybe should try the A&O. I just ordered another gallon of TTF and the granulated formula.

Does anyone know if you can mix/match the varieties in the gallon size 4 pack?

[tnpeppers]

No idea. Drop them an e-mail; Urban Farms is excellent when it comes to responding to customer inquiries...

[Waiting]

Will a half gallon see me through the season with only 8 plants?

And should I start off with All-Purpose Vegetable?

Thanks,

gary

[Gardeneer]

Never heard the name "Texas Tomato Food " before.
Curious : Is it synthetic or organic ?
What is its analysis (N,P,K, Ca, Mg, ...etc) ? How much it costs per pound ?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Never heard the name "Texas Tomato Food " before.
Curious : Is it synthetic or organic ?
What is its analysis (N,P,K, Ca, Mg, ...etc) ? How much it costs per pound ?

You can go the the start of the thread but here is the link.

http://theurbanfarm.com/tomatomagic.html

[Waiting]

Worth beat me to it.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

You can go the the start of the thread but here is the link.

http://theurbanfarm.com/tomatomagic.html

OK. Thanks I found the info.
The analysis looks good . Its got Ca and Mg, that tomato and peppers need. But to me seems that it is high on the K (3.8-3.1-7.0). Most plants use much more N than P and K, proportionally.

But if it works significantly better, then that is all that matters.

How about the cost ?

Gardeneer

EDITED to add:
As I mentioned above, it seems to me that K is too high relative to N an P . Now, I am not saying that it is wrong, but I want to know what is the basis (scientifically) for having such a high percantage of Potash ? We know that N is eseential for vegatative growth and too much of it can postpone fruiting but it is vital for foliage growth that is needed for photosynthesis, and breathing.
So I just want to learn a bit more on this.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Waiting

Will a half gallon see me through the season with only 8 plants?

And should I start off with All-Purpose Vegetable?

Thanks,

gary

You should just go ahead and get the Texas Tomato Food. I'm not sure if a half gallon will get you through the whole season or not. That will depend on how long your season is and how large your plants get. When the plants are small it will only take a few tablespoons a week to fertilize the eight plants but when they get larger it will take at least a tablespoon per plant: meaning one gallon of dilution per plant. I will give my older plants that have become quite large even a little more as the season progresses.

Figuring normal dilution rates of one tablespoon per gallon of water and a gallon per plant you will be using 4 ounces each time you fertilize. Once my plants start blooming and setting fruit I fertilize once every 5 to 10 days. The first couple of times I feed the plants it doesn't take much fertilizer but after the first few weeks when the plants get larger I give them on average about a gallon of diluted fertilizer per week.

I have had remarkable results with the product and it can be used on other vegetables with great success. I think I would err on the side of getting too much rather than not enough.

Gardner, I think the mixture is darn near perfect for tomatoes. Since using it my production has skyrocketed and the number of plants I set out now is far less yet I am getting more and larger fruit. Overall I have never had tomato plants as healthy and productive as I have had since using TTF. I have used many types and varieties of fertilizers but have never used anything that approaches the results I am getting now. The biggest problem with the product is it takes quite a bit of shaking to get it mixed up well and when using an Ortho dial-n-spray you need to dilute it and adjust your mix setting so it doesn't clog up the filter. One other thing I see with the product is that it can sometimes cause excessive fruit set in the spring resulting in the need to cull the small fruit in order not to overload the plant and get fruit too small. It took me a few seasons to realize this since living in the hot humid south heavy fruit set had never been a problem. The upside of that is I am able to get decent fruit set during most of the long hot season down here.


Bill