For Tasty Tomatoes Great Tomatoes Start with Good Soil   For Tasty Tomatoes You need the best tomato fertilizer to get the tastiest tomatoes. That means the best fertilizer specifically formulated for tomatoes, not just great fertilizer in general. You know the saying, “you are what you eat.” Well, that definitely applies to tomatoes; they are what you feed them. Tomatoes need particular nutrients at different stages of growth to ensure that they grow properly. Proper growth will ensure that the tomato fruits you harvest are sweet and tasty, as well as abundant. (That’s right, tomatoes are actually fruits!) Great Tomatoes Start With Good Soil For tasty tomatoes, start with good soil. After 179 years of living among the plant roots, I know a thing or two about good soil. Tomatoes like a soil that is rich, yet well drained. This means that they like lots of good organic matter , like compost . I will have more articles on compost later.  If you would like to use nothing but compost to feed your tomatoes, you need to prepare the soil at least a month or two before you plant your tomatoes so that the soil organisms have time to break down the compost into nutrients the plants can absorb. Also, augment your compost with rock phosphate so there is enough phosphorus for bloom and fruit production. The soil pH is also an important part of plant nutrient availability and tomato plant health. Tomatoes like a slightly acidic to neutral soil, which is a pH of 5.5-6.8. Within that range, the nutrients that tomatoes need are easily available to the plants. (They are not tightly bound to the soil particles.) Tomato Fertilizer For Tomato Seedlings Growing tomatoes do best with different types of fertilizer at different stages of growth. For supplemental fertilizer at the seedling stage, you will want to add a fertilizer with the ratio of 1:2:2. You can pick up a 2-4-4, 5-10-10, or a 10-20-20 fertilizer. It is the ratio that is important. If the numbers are small, use more; if larger, use less. Those fertilizer numbers refer to the ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium in the fertilizer. You can purchase organic fertilizers or synthetic fertilizer with these nutrient ratios, though I urge you to lean toward the organic. During the seedling stage, your plants will lean heavily on the nitrogen in the fertilizer for good vegetative growth. Tomato Fertilizer During the First Flowering Stage. During the first flowering stage, plants need a higher ration of phosphorus and potassium so that they have a healthy flower and fruit set. Phosphorus is essential to help your plants develop strong roots and blooms. Potassium is active in many different plant systems, including water movement. Without enough potassium, the fruits will not develop properly—they will not be sweet, and will be uneven in color. Additionally, if the plants do not have enough potassium at this stage, the fruits will drop off the plant, and turn into compost. :-( Recognizing Nutrient Deficiencies As the plants grow, you will need to monitor them for proper nutrient levels. If nutrients are deficient, you will notice the following symptoms: Nitrogen deficiency:Yellowing of lower leaves, small or stunted upper leaves and flowers. Nitrogen excess:Excessively bushy plants with bright green leaves. Very few flowers. Phosphorous deficiency:Very dark green leaves with purple veins. Potassium deficiency:Dark green lower leaves that are rolling and curling in at the edges.  These three nutrients are imperative for good plant growth. It is important to monitor your tomato plants throughout the entire growing season so that if you notice a deficiency in one nutrient or another you can correct the problem before it is too late.  If you notice a nutrient deficiency, you will need to add nutrients in the proper dose of liquid fertilizer . Granular fertilizer and compost take some time to break down and become accessible to plants. The liquid fertilizers are immediately accessible and can begin working in plants as soon as you foliar feed your plants. Remember, though, more is not necessarily better. You always need to follow the instructions on the fertilizer label, and apply the fertilizer appropriately. If you feed your plants too much, it can actually kill them. Consider it a really bad case of plant indigestion. If you’ve ever eaten too much of something, you understand. The right tomato fertilizer will make all the difference. Here is some Free Gardening Gifts for You ! Follow Us on Twitter                     Follow Us on Facebook Happy Gardening Roland in Phoenix                     Back to the Home Page   4176 West Hearn Rd, , Phoenix, Az, USA t: 602-89-8342 | f: Your Fax e: Rolandd@cox.net | w: http://www.gogreeninarizona.org/Gardening.html