Fertilizer suggestions for late plantings

[bigbubbacain]

I was forced to plant this year's tomatoes later than usual. I'm finally seeing more growth and blossom formation, but I need some suggestions about fertilizing. I added Dr. Earth's Pure Gold 2-2-2 at planting time, but I was thinking about supplementing the numbers during foliar feeding. I don't know if I should spray with a higher phosphorus for more blooms, or keep the N-P-K balanced. I’ve only got about a month left before the night temperatures get too high for fruit set and need to try and maximize growth and blooming as much as possible.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[zipcode]

My personal opinion is that foliar feeding is a waste of time. One could spray with stuff that has plant hormones, etc, that would be beneficial (like kelp). High P is more for roots than flowers. Just avoid too high N, and hope for lots of sun.

[b54red]

You might be surprised at how late in the season you can get tomatoes to set fruit if you do a few things to help them. One of the best is to give them a dose of Texas Tomato Food every 7 to 10 days and also make sure the soil doesn't get dry so don't ever let up on the watering when it gets really hot or the blooms drop which is one of the main reasons so few fruits set in the heat. Keep the soil mulched heavily to keep moisture even and slow evaporation. Limit the number of stems and keep them sprayed for foliage diseases. If they get hit by pests take immediate steps to get rid of them because during the heat their damage will stress the plants much faster.

I'm not sure where in Texas you are but foliar feeding generally will increase the chance of foliage diseases down here in the heat and high humidity. Of course in Texas you could be in the half of the state that has low humidity. I set out some plants late every year when the temps are already in the 90s and usually have decent fruit set on them but of course the fruits are not usually as large or as numerous.

Bill

[bigbubbacain]

I'm actually close to the coast and foliar feeding has never been a potential disease issue for me because I spray very early in the morning and the plants dry before nightfall. Most of my foliar disease issues happen for me if I put plants out too early in the season. I will say that I haven't lost a single plant to disease since planting in mid-April.

Yesterday I called the company that makes TTF and I'm waiting for them to go back online with order fulfillment. They're currently down at the moment.

[bigbubbacain]

Originally Posted by zipcode

My personal opinion is that foliar feeding is a waste of time. One could spray with stuff that has plant hormones, etc, that would be beneficial (like kelp). High P is more for roots than flowers. Just avoid too high N, and hope for lots of sun.

I've actually had tremendous improvements in the past with foliar sprays and I DO use kelp as an adjunct to a calcium carbonate additive designed specifically for spraying. I've done my research on foliar sprays and they are quite beneficial if applied before sunrise, so as to take advantage of the leaf physiology and the photosynthesis cycle. I use Cal-Carb made by Xtreme Gardening and designed primarily for hydroponics.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by bigbubbacain

I'm actually close to the coast and foliar feeding has never been a potential disease issue for me because I spray very early in the morning and the plants dry before nightfall. Most of my foliar disease issues happen for me if I put plants out too early in the season. I will say that I haven't lost a single plant to disease since planting in mid-April.

Yesterday I called the company that makes TTF and I'm waiting for them to go back online with order fulfillment. They're currently down at the moment.

If you are not having disease then I don't understand not getting any fruit set just because it gets hot. Last year was extremely hot here with many days topping 100 in a row yet many of my tomatoes kept producing but I did have to fight off the spider mites a couple of times. I also use foliar feeding but only to fix a short term problem like iron deficiency. I have one bed with a calcium deficiency and may try your Cal-Carb and see how it works.

Instead of only planting after mid April you could sure extend your season by starting some plants in early March. I know Early Blight can be a problem when plants are set out early and even though I have sprayed my plants regularly with Daconil I still already have a few with some EB but it isn't enough of a problem to stop me from enjoying tomatoes sometime in the next week or two whereas I will be waiting quite a while for the tomatoes I planted on April 23rd to have any fruit ready to eat. You could have the best of both worlds by staggering your planting so you have some earlier fruit and better production due to the cooler weather and heavier fruit set on those early plantings.

Keep trying to order the TTF every day until your order goes through. I have placed two different orders this season and I had to try several times before I found days when they were accepting orders. I think they are just swamped with orders and can only fill so many with all the problems this shut down has caused. I don't think they are answering the phone since I tried calling several times so you will have to keep trying on the website.

Bill

[Tracydr]

You might also use a shade cloth or structure. This really helped me when I lived in AZ.

[KathyDC]

I also use Texas Tomato Food and have great success with fruit set, even when getting a late start. (Which I am this year, halfway anyway -- I had about half of my early seedlings get swamped by rain, and had to restart seed later than I would have liked. I finally planted out my second set into the ground this past weekend, here in 7A.)

I don't typically do any foliar feedings because of the fungus/humidity issues here, the only thing I spray is Bill's bleach solution and that's usually after they're afflicted. This year I am trying a soil drench of Bonide Revitalize hoping it will help head off fungus problems (I am also doing this as a foliar drench but only while the temps stay below 80).

TTF is my secret weapon, really. Nice big fruit and zero blossom end rot once I started using it. Also, I have been able to find it on Amazon if you can't order directly.

[KathyDC]

For everybody looking, Urban Farms put up a new batch of their fertilizers (including TTF) this morning, and orders are open. I just got a couple gallons myself. Good luck!

[b54red]

Kathy it is funny you mentioned the bleach spray as I had to use it already. Gray mold has already started up in my garden this year so I went ahead yesterday and sprayed all my tomatoes and went ahead and sprayed my squash and cucumbers to prevent that powdery or downy mildew that gets on them when the weather is damp and humid.

Bill

[KathyDC]

Ugh! Sorry to hear! I have hopes for the Revitalize but it's just a matter of time here, too. Right now the temps are barely pushing 80 so it won't be a problem for maybe another month, but it's coming.