Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food

[Waiting]

Thanks, Bill. We have a long growing season here in Central California. The price break for going to a larger size is pretty significant so I think I'll get a full gallon.

gary

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by b54red

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

Bill what do you set your dial and spray on?

I normally set mine at 8 oz a gallon for some other stuff.

Worth

[Stvrob]

I see on their website they dont recommend using this product until after the plant begins setting fruit, and to use their vegetable food instead. In the interest of saving $$ and not buying a seperate product, is it really better to wait? Does it make a difference? Or is that just a way to get you to buy two products?

[Stvrob]

Also, I see it on Amazon for less than urban farmes website, is there any downside from ordering it off Amazon?

[JamesL]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

I see on their website they dont recommend using this product until after the plant begins setting fruit, and to use their vegetable food instead. In the interest of saving $$ and not buying a seperate product, is it really better to wait? Does it make a difference? Or is that just a way to get you to buy two products?

I have used both and didn't really see a big difference. Veggie has more nitrogen.
TTF does just fine on its own.

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Also, I see it on Amazon for less than urban farmes website, is there any downside from ordering it off Amazon?

The seller on Amazon is still Urban Farms I believe. I did not check but if I recall correctly, the Amazon price does not include shipping and the direct website does, so the cost is a wash.
The rationale I believe is that sellers have to give a piece of the sale price to Amazon but not any of the shipping cost so companies that sell direct in addition to Amazon split it up like this.

[Barb_FL]

I've purchased their products both Amazon and direct. Shipping is just as fast when going through Amazon. (Gift balance on Amazon)

I've even bought direct and Amazon at the same time and they were shipped together. (

Have any of you tried the granular formula? I did all my seedlings transplants this way and I had the healthiest seedlings ever. I only bought 1 package but significant price breaks for 2+ (which I may do for the fall season). I thought the 6 lb bag went pretty far.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by JamesL

I have used both and didn't really see a big difference. Veggie has more nitrogen.
TTF does just fine on its own.

Actually , looking into the All Purpose version's analysis ( 4.5 - 2.5 - 6.0 ;; Ca = 2.5% ;;; Mg = 0.7% ) if I had an option as which one to use , I would choose the all purpose one. Plants use MOST of N and LEAST of P and K somewhere in between.
The reason for higher percentage of N requirement, other the plant' usage, is leaching. N is highly water soluble and readily will go down with watering, rain..while P sticks to the soil and stays around longer. K is in between. So excess P can accumulate. Soil analysis often show that most established gardens have more than enough P. This is due to accumulation over the years.
That is what I have learned from an expert in another message board. According to him a 3-1-2 ratio offers the best combination. That is How MG products are, how Foliage pro is and How The Osmocote PLUS used to be

What I said above is my take on the subject and I am not claiming that as a fact. So YMMV.

Gardeneer

[Stvrob]

Well I just had to find out what all the fuss is about, so I just ordered a gallon. Stupid me, right after I hit " accept order" I realized I had mispelled my own email address!

[MarcH.]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Well I just had to find out what all the fuss is about, so I just ordered a gallon. Stupid me, right after I hit " accept order" I realized I had mispelled my own email address!

Ha I did that a few months ago for a digital code I was buying. That was a bad feeling right after I paid and noticed the code went to someone else's address.

I bought some of the Urban Farms All purpose veggie fert and put some on my plants 4 days ago. They look like they've shot up out of the ground.

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by MarcH.

Ha I did that a few months ago for a digital code I was buying. That was a bad feeling right after I paid and noticed the code went to someone else's address.

I bought some of the Urban Farms All purpose veggie fert and put some on my plants 4 days ago. They look like they've shot up out of the ground.

Oh great, my rickety old pvc trellis is going to collapse for sure this year!

[creister]

I will say that if you use one of their fertilizers on plants it is not intended for, you still get outstanding results. Last year I used the rose fertilizer on one tomato plant just to see what would happen, and did that plant ever pick it up. I gave my roses a shot of the general veggie fret yesterday morning. I saw results by evening. I am going to buy and use the tomato food this year on tomatoes and what ever else.

[Stvrob]

Does anyone know if Texas Tomato food is completely soluble? I am hoping I can apply it thru my drippers, but I don't want to clog them

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Bill what do you set your dial and spray on?

I normally set mine at 8 oz a gallon for some other stuff.

Worth

Worth, when I use TTF I put one part TTF and two parts water in the Ortho sprayer and then set the sprayer at 1 1/2 oz per gal. The reason I do this is the TTF has a lot of calcium that can clog the sprayer if it isn't diluted. If I am using the Vegetable or A & O then I just use it straight and set the sprayer at 1 Tbs per gal. Sometimes if it is really dry I will dilute it a bit more and just use my Ortho for watering.

Bill

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Actually , looking into the All Purpose version's analysis ( 4.5 - 2.5 - 6.0 ;; Ca = 2.5% ;;; Mg = 0.7% ) if I had an option as which one to use , I would choose the all purpose one. Plants use MOST of N and LEAST of P and K somewhere in between.
The reason for higher percentage of N requirement, other the plant' usage, is leaching. N is highly water soluble and readily will go down with watering, rain..while P sticks to the soil and stays around longer. K is in between. So excess P can accumulate. Soil analysis often show that most established gardens have more than enough P. This is due to accumulation over the years.
That is what I have learned from an expert in another message board. According to him a 3-1-2 ratio offers the best combination. That is How MG products are, how Foliage pro is and How The Osmocote PLUS used to be

What I said above is my take on the subject and I am not claiming that as a fact. So YMMV.

Gardeneer

Since I have used all three on tomatoes I can safely say that the TTF is superior when it comes to fruit production on tomatoes. The other two have a little too much nitrogen and cause a bit more growth of foliage but not the increase in fruit that I get with the TTF. The others may well be much better for many other crops but I am mostly concerned with tomatoes. I also buy the Apples and Oranges and the Vegetable but don't usually use them on tomatoes once they get to the bloom stage except sometimes in mid to late summer I might give them a dose to boost foliage growth on an older tomato plant.

Bill

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by b54red

Worth, when I use TTF I put one part TTF and two parts water in the Ortho sprayer and then set the sprayer at 1 1/2 oz per gal. The reason I do this is the TTF has a lot of calcium that can clog the sprayer if it isn't diluted. If I am using the Vegetable or A & O then I just use it straight and set the sprayer at 1 Tbs per gal. Sometimes if it is really dry I will dilute it a bit more and just use my Ortho for watering.

Bill

Thanks Bill I need to get some soon.

Worth