What is the Best Tomato Fertilizer?

Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 8:44 am

: Image via Wikipedia

Tomato gardening is easy, but there are some tricks you can use to further increase the quality of the produce you reap from your tomato crops. First of all, make a decision on the type of tomato plant to make use of.

The old fashioned sweet-type variants are recommended, but some of the newer hybrid varieties are acknowledged to be more resistant to pests and a range of fungal diseases.

Some cultivated variants are also sweeter and juicier than the rest, while other variants depend on soil type and climatic factors for their over-all quality.

You also have to think about the farming techniques you’re going to use for your tomato plots. Some gardeners pinch out the suckers, while others prefer not to. Choose a good support system for your tomato plants, or you can simply let the plants trail if you have more than enough space.

After you have chosen a type and a plant training style, the next thing to do is decide which fertilizer to apply. Tomatoes need a continual supply of nutrients. This means you have to choose tomato fertilizers that have a good ratio of the three main ingredients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Before buying a fertilizer product, check the label for the NPK proportion. This corresponds to the quantity of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer formula. For instance, a packet with 5-5-5 on it indicates equal proportions of N, P, and K are present, while 5-1-1 means the tomato fertilizer contains five times as much nitrogen as phosphorus and potassium.

Each constituent plays an essential role in the development of your tomato plants. For greener leaves, nitrogen is crucial. For better and on-time flowering and fruiting, you need the right amount of phosphorus. Rooting and root growth can be enhanced by potassium.

If you’re set on going natural all the way, these nutrients are readily available in organic form by making use of fish emulsion. This is a liquid fertilizer created from fish waste and is exceptionally fast acting. The fast release trait is particularly significant for a heavy feeder like tomato. You can apply this organic tomato fertilizer directly on your plants, or you can use the granulated type and just incorporate this in the top soil.