Why is Tomorite so expensive?

:( Why is Tomorite so expensive?
This has been bugging me for a while,nearly �£4 for a litre in some places....surely this is a "rip off"...
Does anyone know who sells it cheaply?
Does anyone know of a cheap effective alternative?
Every book ,magazine,TV programme says feed with tomato feed.
What do YOU think?????????

[ 11. May 2007, 07:31 AM: Message edited by: roders ]

 

Hi Roders seemingly "Wilkinsons" do their own brand of this ,not too sure but might be worth having a look.!

 

Worm juice from the wormery - swear by it :D

 

Roders, I don't know. I don't grow tomatoes.

But I think they can charge anything that people are willing to pay. The cost is not neccessarily related to what what you get. Its like why do some people pay 30% interest on credit cards. I personally would not pay for a liquid feed. You are mostly buying water. I use Miracle Grow (but I am sure there are others that are cheaper and as good). Later in the season when I want a high potash content for flowers (and fruits) I add Sulphate of Potash (�£1.75 per kilo) to the Miracle Grow solution. It has a nutritional value of 0,0,42, ie an extremely high potassium content.

 

Hi there

What is tomerite?

TO

 

Usually �£2-99 in most places round here, or try Cempak high potash. Tomato feed is brilliant for cannas and gingers it's not just for tomatoes, it brings on the flowers bigger and better on most plants.

 

If you've got some Tomorite you could always do your own mini-trial by feeding some plants with it and a couple of others with, perhaps, an alternative from your local pound shop. That way, by comparing crops, you'll know if the extra being charged is worth it!

 

I suspect the reason for the price is that it's a well-advertised and well-known brand. If they know the name, people trust the product, and if it's dearer, they think it's better.

Same applies to Superglue. It sells because it has a well-known name. I found an alternative - same cyanoacrylate stuff - that was literally 40 times cheaper!!! And just as good....

I used to make futons - all eco-friendly, top-grade materials. Then I went on a business course and explained how I calculated prices. (Cost plus a reasonable mark-up.) I was promptly told to double the price, because if the price is high, customers make an assumption that the quality is too. There seems to be a bizarre snobbery or comfort factor in buying expensively!

There's nowt so queer as folk! :D

 

Hi Tiggs & Oscar. I don't know Tomerite, but I think it is a liquid feed that is high in potassium, which is good for flowers and fruit (ie tomatoes - they are fruit).

Plants need food. They get it naturally from the soil. But plants in pots or growbags need regular feed, because they can't get it from anywhere else. Plants need three main types of food N (Nitrogen - for foliage growth), P (Phosphorous - for root growth, and K (Potassium for fruit and flowers). They also need a host of other trace elements in small quantities. If you look on the side of a packet of fertiliser it will tell you the amounts of these chemicals. Miracle grow for instance has an N,P,K of 15,30,15. The numbers show the percentage by weight. Phostrogen (another fertiliser) is 14,10,27. So Miracle grow will be better during spring when you want the foliage and roots to grow, and later on I would use Phostrogen (with the higher Potassium level) when I wanted to encourage flowers and fruit.

Tomerite is just another fertiliser with a high potassium level. Plants don't care about trade names all they want is N,P and K, the active ingredients. If you take the weight of the packet and multiply it by the percentage of active ingredients, you will get the weight of active ingredients. If you then divide this by the cost you can calculate the cost per kilogram of active ingredients. I haven't done this calculation for Tomerite, but I suspect that as you are mostly buying water, you are paying a high price for the active ingredients.

 

why not do the free option. http://gardenspace.newarchaeology.com/organic_plant_food.php
I use this method, i did a trial on my own plot, miraclegro / tomorite / nettle feed. There wasn't a lot of difference, except in the costs.
I did notice tho' that the bugs left the plants alone, where i used the nettle feed. If you do have a go, you might want to place the container as far from the house as poss, or put a cover on, it is a bit pongy.........well really stinky.

 

Having posted the above, I have just visited my local Homebase and recorded the figures from all their fertilisers for sale. the columns below are, manufacturer, product, NPK ratio (see post above), and cost in �£ per kilo of active ingredient. I have added the N, P and K together to give a total of active ingredients. The results are :=

Plant feed
JAB --------- Sulphate of Potash 1.3kg --- 0,0,48 ------ 3.67
JAB ----------Growmore - 4kg ------------ 7,7,7 ------- 4.75
Bayer --------Phostrogen - 1.25kg ------- 14,10,27 ---- 5.47
Bayer ------- Phostrogen - 2kg ---------- 14,10,27 ----- 5.87
Miraclegrow - all purpose - 2kg ----------- 24,8,16 ------ 6.24
Miraclegrow - all purpose - 1kg ----------- 24,8,16 ------ 7.27
JAB --------- Blood, fish and bone - 4kg -- 5,5,6.5 ------ 7.56
JAB --------- Sulphate of ammonia - 1kg -- 21,0,0 ----- 10.90
Westland ---- liquid - 2 litre -------------- 5,2.5,10 ---- 11.40
JAB ----------Bone meal - 4kg ------------ 3.5,7,0 ----- 11.88
Bio --------- Top rose - liquid - 1 litre ---- 5,6,12 ------ 13.00
Miraclegrow - slow release - 1 kg ----------18,9,11 ----- 13.13
Homebase --- tomato feed - liquid - 2 litre -3.9,2.6,7.7 -- 17.57
Levington --- Tomorite - liquid - l litre ----- 4,4.5,8 ------ 21.15
Miraclegrow - slow release tablets 165 g ---10,11,18 ----- 62.00
Miraclegrow - liquid feed - 0.57 litre ------ 12,4,8 -------- 73.03

Lawn feed - virtually all nitrogen.
Miraclegrow - lawn feed - liquid - 2 litre - 36,6,6 --- 8.32
Miraclegrow - lawn feed - liquid - 1 litre - 36,6,6 --- 10.40
Evergreen --- lawn feed - liquid - 1 litre - 24,0,0 --- 24.96
Evergreen --- lawn feed - spray - 100 cc 27,0,1 --- 213.93

You can pay anything from about �£5 per kilo to over �£200 per kilo. The choice is yours. Be aware that the NPK values differ. Some like the Sulphate of Potash are very specialised being pure potassium. You need to get the balance right for your purpose. The absolute NPK figures tell you how much the active ingredients cost you. But the balance between them tells you in what way they will help your plants to grow. There is probably no difference in cost betweeb N,P and K as chemicals, so the difference in price is due to solid/liquid, brand name and size of package. Overall Growmore came out as very good value, but it is not so easily dissolved in water. Phostrogen (high potassium)and MiracleGrow (balanced feed) are easily soluble, and come out as the best overall.

Roders the answer to your original question as why Tomerite (mine was �£3.49) is so expensive, is that it is a liquid. You are mostly paying for water. Phostrogen is a quarter of the price, and just as good.

[ 11. May 2007, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: PeterS ]

 

Excellent work, Peter!

Here there's a specialist fertiliser for just about every plant, and the commercial composts are almost entirely without nutrients. A friend of mine has a van and brings his in from the UK!!

Maybe gardeners are being even more "ripped off" here! :(

Must admit I tend to go for the dissolve-it-yourself option - but the packets are often the equivalent of �£5 - �£6 for 1.5 kilos. High price for convenience....

 

Thanks Peter,very much that seems to have covered the whole minefield.
In conclusion I will consider adding powdered potash to Miraclegrow and will make some nettle brew.........have used cumfrey liquid as well before but the smell was dissgusting,especialy in the hanging baskets outside the front door.

Thanks again.

 

Tesco version of tomorite is just as good, �£1.50 a litre.

I use it and its great!

 

PeterS,

Thanks so much for not only answering my question but posting such excellent info. I've saved it.

TO