Tomatoes in the ground

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

Did you put any fertilizer down?

We put composted cow manure down.

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

We put composted cow manure down.

id still throw some 3-13 or 3-17 on each plant. Teaspoon each. JMO.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

id still throw some 3-13 or 3-17 on each plant. Teaspoon each. JMO.

I'm not familiar with those products. Fill me in?

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I'm not familiar with those products. Fill me in?

commercial grade fertilizer the 13/17 refers to the % amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium in the mix. its what damn near everyone uses north to south. If you knew your PH level you could add or detract what was needed to make the soil more or less acidic as needed, between 4-7 is the basic guideline on soil ph.

edit- had a truck. But anyway this will explain ph better than i can. if you dont wanna screw w/ it just sprinkle a teaspoon of 3-13 around each plant and abit less 3-17.
i paid i think 10$ for a 50# bag and spead it over the yard and garden then kept some in reserve for spot fertilization. This is how i learned to do it from dad & grandpa.

http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/soil_pH/plant_pH.htm

[Ugly Duck]

I won't amend or fertilize my soil... stuff just grows crazy huge around here. Its old but undisturbed black adobe that is so rich in nutrients that plants often exceed 2X their advertised heights. If I amend the soil for better aeration, roots find it too easy to build an extensive network and plants get all gargantuan and unruly. I also withhold water as much as possible to get plant size down to manageable. I abandoned some hybrid-tea rose bushes 12 years ago along the back fence... never sprayed or pruned or watered 'em. Now they are 8-ft monsters covered in blooms. I figure tomato plants would grow too big like all the other plants do... so I'll treat 'em mean & hope they don't go humongous on me.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Ugly Duck

I won't amend or fertilize my soil... stuff just grows crazy huge around here. Its old but undisturbed black adobe that is so rich in nutrients that plants often exceed 2X their advertised heights. If I amend the soil for better aeration, roots find it too easy to build an extensive network and plants get all gargantuan and unruly. I also withhold water as much as possible to get plant size down to manageable. I abandoned some hybrid-tea rose bushes 12 years ago along the back fence... never sprayed or pruned or watered 'em. Now they are 8-ft monsters covered in blooms. I figure tomato plants would grow too big like all the other plants do... so I'll treat 'em mean & hope they don't go humongous on me.

Nutrients are only available in the right conditions. That's easy to fix. If you can grow huge veggies w/o amendments you're lucky. I wish I didn't have to think about how to grow anything. I'd just sprinkle seeds and feed 100s.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

commercial grade fertilizer the 13/17 refers to the % amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium in the mix. its what damn near everyone uses north to south. If you knew your PH level you could add or detract what was needed to make the soil more or less acidic as needed, between 4-7 is the basic guideline on soil ph.

edit- had a truck. But anyway this will explain ph better than i can. if you dont wanna screw w/ it just sprinkle a teaspoon of 3-13 around each plant and abit less 3-17.
i paid i think 10$ for a 50# bag and spead it over the yard and garden then kept some in reserve for spot fertilization. This is how i learned to do it from dad & grandpa.

http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/soil_pH/plant_pH.htm

I get it. That's the same shit we apply to our farmland in liquid form. Except it is listed as N-P-K. Do you get that from the co-op or what? I guess I haven't seen any plant stores carrying commercial fertilizer.

EDIT: I are dumbass. Looked at some osmocote, and it is similar. I'm picking up what you're throwing down.

I'm not concerned about Phosphorous. Conditioned cow manure has a ****load of phos in it. I would be nitrogen deficient if anything. I may put down some osmocote I bought if the plants start looking nitrogen deficient.

Thanks for the help, Mo.