Tomato Feed

Hello, I am not sure which tomato feed to get this year.

Last year I decided to try Asdaâ??s feed. Since after reading as long as the NPK was right then there should be no problems. I canâ??t find what roughly tom feed should be. So what is the ideal NPK ratio should tom feed be?

I have been looking at the below:

Westland Nutri 5.3-2.7-8
60mls to 1 Gallon
Feed Every Week
1L Bottle £3.50

Westland (Normal Stuff) 4-2-6
½ cap (about 30ml) to 1 Gallon (4.5 Litres)
Feed Every Week
1L Bottle £2

Tomorite 4-4.5-8
20ml to 1 Gallon (4.5 Litres)
Feed Every Week
Second Truss Twice a Week
1L Bottle £3.48

Tesco 5-5-10
30ml to 1.5 Gallon (7 Litres)
Feed Every Week
1L Bottle £2

Asda 4-4-12
30ml to 1.5 Gallon (7 Litres)
Feed Every Week
High Yield Every 3 to 4 Days
1L Bottle £2

Asda and Tesco feed seems the best. They have the highest K, which I think is what you want for the fruit. It makes 500 millilitres more feed and price wise itâ??s the same as the Westland (Normal Stuff) but that has a lower NPK.

The Westland Nutri looks like it would work out to be the dearest, 60mls used per feed.

Thankyou

djrock

 

I thought the most used was Wilkos own brand

 

I use B&QS own brand.


To be brutally honest, I haven't ever checked the NPK, but from experience I get the best strawbwerrries from this particulr brand.

 

I seriously wonder if it makes a great deal of difference what brand of fertilizer you use. I tend to pick up what is the cheapest I can find; sometimes I just use liquid growmore and am never seriously disappointed with the crop. I wonder if the type of compost used to grow toms in pots or bags, for instance one with enhanced moisture retaining properties, might be a more pertinent consideration.

I further wonder if there has ever been a controlled trial of various fertilizers to find out if they really do what they claim to on the packaging..."WHICH" perhaps?

 

I think you should look for an NPK in the ratio of about 1:1:2 - so about twice as much "K" as the N and P. A Tomato feed that is labelled as such is also likely to have suitable trace elements.

I'm using Doff this year 'coz it was a lot cheaper than Tomorite (which I have always used in the past)

I did a bit of comparison a month or two back, sorry bit Nerdy isn't it?!!

Suttons Tomato Superfeed says a 750g pack will make 900 litres of liquid superfeed and contains NPK 10:10:24 plus magnesium, calcium, trace elements & seaweed extract - cost is £6.95

I've got 2.5 Litres of Doff Tomato Feed here, makes 1,162 Litres of feed (15ml / 7L). NPK = 5:5:10 with "magnesium and added trace elements (not listed)" £4.99 (from Amazon)

Tomorite 2.5 Litres is £13.25 @ Amazon. NPK = 4:4.5:8 makes 562 Litres (20ml / 4.5L) (Recommended 4.5L per grow-bag once, / twice a week)

so I took the cost and divided that by the total diluted volume that a bottle can make - so I have a cost-per-litre of diluted feed (assuming that they can all be applied at the same rate / plant)

On that basis:

Suttons 900 litres for £6.95 = 0.77p / L

Tomorite 562 Litres for £13.25 = 2.36p / L

Doff 1,162 Litres for £4.99 = 0.43p / L

However, the instructions on Doff say : "Growbags or Ring culture: use at double-strength" which levels the playing field a bit ...

and then there is the application rate:

Full Doff instructions:

"In the greenhouse: when the first truss has set apply the feed every 7 days. 7 litres should be sufficient for 9 plants. Feed every 3-4 days when the second truss has set.

Outdoors: when the second truss has set apply the feed every 10-14 days. 7 litres should be sufficient for 12 plants

Growbags or Ring culture: use at double-strength and feed every 7 days

High performance recommendations: for higher yields the above rates can be applied twice as often - i.e. in the greenhouse, in grow bags, or ring culture, feed every 2-4 days; outdoor tomatoes can be fed every 5-7 days"

Source: The2.5L bottle I bought this year

Tomorite says:

"Under glass: When first truss has set feed at alternate waterings

Outdoors : When second truss has set feed every 7-14 days. Use 4.5 litres for two plants.

Growbags: Use 4.5 litres per bag, feed once a week, under glass increase to twice a week when the second truss has set"

Source: http://www.wyevale.co.uk/Scotts-Levington-Tomorite-+1lt/0800000338,default,pd.html - select back of bottle and zoom in

Personally I found that frequency too often last year - my Tomatoes were in 14" pots stood on soil, and the fruit split despite very even watering, and I think they were being over fed.

Put a more simple way:

I got through two bottles of Tomorite last year - call that 26 quid. If one bottle of £4.99 Doff would do me instead (given that it makes twice as much as the Tomorite) that will work for me!

 

good grief.
I remember in the old days when Amazon only sold books and CDs!

 

Now my brain hurts. Think I'll go and lie down. :wink:

 

ive got some miracle grow from last year, could i use that to feed my tomatoes ?

 

YES you could, but i use that on all my flowers and a specific tomato food just seems better for me , same as i use a specific food for the ericacious plants ,
horses for courses
:thumb:

 

"ive got some miracle grow from last year, could i use that to feed my tomatoes ?"

Depends what the NPK ratio on it is. Its needs to be in the ratio 1:1:2 - so 5:5:10 or 7:7:14 would be fine (and anything "close" to that ratio)

They make a "Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food" which I presume you have not got? The NPK for that is 18-18-21 - so not really 1:1:2 :(

The "Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food" NPK is 24-8-16 - so completely the wrong way round - that will favour more leaves, rather than more fruits.

Anyway, best to check the NPK on the packet that you have got.

 

i've just got the miracle grow for plants so i'll get some tomato food, they have got flowers but no fruit yet so i will wait till then to actually give them some.?

 

Normal advice is to wait until the first truss sets (i.e. has little fruit where the flower was), but I think once its actually in flower would be OK too. Tape the plant to dislodge pollen so that the fruit pollinates, and spraying with water will help pollination too.

 

Is anyone growing comfrey for fertiliser use?
It makes an excellent tea for tomato feeding.

 

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Is anyone growing comfrey for fertiliser use?


Yes and it's good too!

 

I aim to use Blood, fish and bone topped up with some additional Potash.

I would be interested in more information on comfrey tea