Great Ways To Fertilize Tomatoes Naturally: Healthy soil with organic matter is the key to successful tomato plants. Microbiological, physical, and chemical fertile soil helps tomatoes develop and produce good fruits.
Growing tomatoes using compost and fertilizer works best. Well-aged manure compost attracts and promotes beneficial soil life, while time-release fertilizers feed tomatoes throughout their development cycle.
Let’s examine the plant’s requirements to choose the finest items. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential macroelements for proper development.
Great Ways To Fertilize Tomatoes Naturally
Nitrogen is essential for early vegetative development. Nitrogen deficiency causes leaf yellowing, poor development, and early degradation, whereas too much prevents fruiting.
However, profuse blooming and fruit production need phosphorus. Too much will prevent the plant from absorbing nitrogen, limiting stem and leaf development. Potassium controls photosynthesis and fruit ripening. However, too much acidifies fruits.
Other tomato-friendly macro and microelements include calcium, magnesium, iron, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. Thus, the ideal tomato fertilizer must provide sufficient levels of essential nutrients and compensate for soil inadequacies.
Most organic tomato fertilizer is cow, horse, and sheep-goat manure from non-industrial farms.
How and When to Fertilize Tomatoes Properly
General tomato fertilizer recommendations depending on growing cycle:
1. Before you plant tomatoes
Tomato plants need nutrient-rich soil, thus compost should be placed underground before planting when the soil temperature is low. Deepen holes to 15 inches (40 cm), add cow dung compost and other organic fertilizers like bone meal and shattered eggshells, then cover with dirt.
2. The seeds
Tomato seeds have enough nutrients to grow leaves, therefore they don’t need extras.
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3. After transplantation
Nitrogen fertilizer three or four weeks after transplanting is safer since tomato plants adjust to the new environment. Add phosphorus-rich fertilizer like bone meal, which has an NPK ratio close to 3-15-0, to nitrogen-rich soil.
4. When flowering
Tomatoes require potassium to raise soil potassium levels twice as high as nitrogen. A fertiliser with an NPK ratio of 8-32-16 or 6-24-24 works well. The tomato fertilizer you pick will have different distribution instructions.
5. When fruiting
For optimal fruit set, tomato plants need phosphorus. Water-soluble fertilizers with 24-8-16 or 18-18-21 NPK ratios include it. Spread the product 6 inches (15 cm) from plants.
How to Select the Best Tomato Fertilizer
Tomato fertilizer depends on soil composition and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) ratio. A soil test is the easiest approach to know which nutrient your soil needs and which tomato fertilizer to use.
If your soil is well-balanced and composted, apply fertilizers with an NPK of 4-6-3. In low-nitrogen soil, apply a 10-10-10 NPK fertilizer while plants are young. Before fruiting, use a low-nitrogen fertilizer.
Instead of tomatoes, grow broccoli, kale, Brussel sprouts, spinach, or sweet corn in nitrogen-rich soil. These nitrogen-intensive crops can help you balance your soil next year.
Nitrogen in fertilizers may further acidify soil, therefore consider this when choosing products. Soil pH between 6.2 and 6.8 is ideal for tomato growth.
