Maf,

Thanks for the tip about Phostrogen. You say you use it at 1/4 strength for your overwintering plants. Do you up the rate when you have plants with 2or 3 trusses of growing tomatoes on? I notice the instructions say 1/4 strength at every watering for container grown pants, but these could just be flowering ornamentals, or in our case fruiting, hungry plants.

My last question-Do you mix the Epsom salts at the beginning into the compost or mix it in when dissolving the Phostrogen?

Having said that was my last question I should be very interested to know which OP varieties you find set fruit well in our increasingly cold Springs. My only real failure to get any set fruit so far this season has been Spear's Tennessee Green(-in the greenhouse with a minimum of 10degC at night.) I realise it is all part of the fun of trying new varieties but it would be good to know of 'no hopers' and those with a good chance of success!
My real stars for setting this year have been Berkeley Tie Dye Pink(recommended by B54Red-many thanks!) and Maya and Sion's Airdrie Classic from Jeff Casey. Most of my others have been pretty good.
Gill

gill,

I kept the Phostrogen at quarter strength the whole time, I was worried I would get salt build-up or a nutrient imbalance if I went any stronger. I was fertigating once a day, but once a week I would just use plain water instead for a flushing effect.

I used the Epsom salts about once a week, either mixed with the Phostrogen or (usually) on the plain water day. I didn't use much, maybe a teaspoon per 5 litres of water.

Best OP's for setting fruit in the greenhouse this year have been Pervaya Lyubov, Tsar Kolokol and Malachite Box (Malakhitovaya Shkatulka) and outside has been Japanese Black Truffle. My Brad Gates stuff (including Pink Berkely Tie Dye) have been much slower to flower than these Russian types, despite being sown at the same time and being treated the same. In the greenhouse the Brad Gates ones are only now setting fruit (and lots in the case of Red Boar, Black and Brown Boar and Sweet Carneros Pink) but they are still pea size or smaller. For a comparison the largest Tsar Kolokol is bigger than a tennis ball and Pervaya Lyubov has many, many at the golf ball size.

maf, I have had excellent results with BioBizz BioGrow which I have been using for the last 5 years. Also Neudorf Tomaten Dunger. Ami

[URL]http://www.growell.co.uk/biobizz-nutrients.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.amazon.de/Neudorff-W-GmbH-KG-NEUDORFF/dp/B002CW7M6E[/URL]

Thanks Ami, those look good. I might try some of the Biobizz Bio-Grow, I like that it is organic too.

Maf'
It sounds as if you shall get a good progressive crop of tomatoes instead of them all coming at once. Time to taste and appreciate any new varieties.
One I didn't mention which I tend to accept will always perform well is Kumato. I know a lot of people don't like it. We do and it performs so well and keeps extremely well. It is said to be a hybrid but my source, from Australia , is adamant that they are OP. Maybe she has bred them out to be OP.
I am not sure whether this thread is the right place to be discussing varieties. Apologies if not

a terrible pain
 

Wow finding fertilizer around here is a terrible pain. I drove all over the place today looking for 13-8-13 or anything close the only thing I could find was 10-10-10 "plant food" Everyone carries Osmecote but thats time released stuff and defiantly not for weekly feeding. I ordered the Mettlieder Micro nutrient package thinking Id have no problem finding the fertilizer and trying to find them separately and mix them would also be a nightmare. I guess I'll wind up just mixing the micro nutrients with tomato-tone (a paltry 3-4-6) and using that. Or mixing with the 10-10-10 or becoming unglued mentaly by trying to mix separate types.

Vinny, Check out General Hydroponics (FloraMato). The NKP is tailored for tomato growth and if you want to bump the nitrogen during the growth phase you can add some calcium nitrate. These nutrients are dissolved in water and then applied to the plants.
It's always a good idea to get a soil test done if your growing in the dirt.Then you know exactly what you are dealing with before adding more ferts. If your growing in containers using soilless growing medium then that's a different story. Also check out the mycorrhiza products as they assist the plant in nutrient uptake and disease resistance. Here's some links which also include organic nutrients in dry form. Ami

[url]http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-FloraMato-10-6-18-Pound/dp/B000WA4ZZE[/url]

[url]http://www.planetnatural.com/site/search_engine.html?show_all=1&prod_group=Organic%20Fertilizers&category=Dry%20Fertilizer[/url]

Thank you for the links, I'm growing in 10 gallon smartpots with MG potting mix and a little cow manure compost. Good results other than all my plants dealing with fungal issues (black spots) and leaf miner flies between the 2 it's a miracle I have any foliage left. I'm starting to see fruit now and I'd like to help the plants with a really good feeding regiment. I've been using a kelp tea and a fish emulsion every other week and tomato-tone but I'm not sure it's really enough.

For fungal issues you can go the non organic route with Daconil which is a preventative or you can go with the bio/bio-friendly combination of Actiovate and EXEL LG which are a curative, systemic fungicides and all three have been topics of conversation her at TVille.
I would go with the GE FloraTomato in lieu of the tomato tone since you have fruit set and apply on a weekly basis.If you have any Hydro dealers in the area see if they carry BioBizz BioGrow if you want to go organic and you can apply it every time you water your plants. I've used it for the past 4 years and have had excellent results in my container grow outs. Ami

FloraMato looks good just need to find a place to get it. The Amazon seller is out of stock. The hydraponics store not far from me sells BioBizz Top Max but wow its 50.00 for a 1 liter bottle, I wonder how long it would last.

[QUOTE=Vinny;234902]FloraMato looks good just need to find a place to get it. The Amazon seller is out of stock. The hydraponics store not far from me sells BioBizz Top Max but wow its 50.00 for a 1 liter bottle, I wonder how long it would last.[/QUOTE]
Seems like there are a lot of online dealers charging far less for the Biobizz stuff. Sounds like an interesting product.

You want the BioGrow. Top Max is to increase the size of the MJ buds. Ami

I can use Actiovate and Exel LG at the same time right? I ordered both of those today. I'm hoping that those will end my fungal issues. Looks like I have Septoria leaf spot or something that looks very similar.

No Guaranty that they will cure your fungal problems depending on how advanced they are but I for one and others who have used it and have had good results. The trick is to start using them before your plants are infected and continue on during the course of the growing season. Yes, Actinovate and EXEL LG can be mixed and applied at the same time.
Ami

Actinovate and ExelLG made a huge difference with my plants in a couple weeks it's just a few leafs here and there that have spots and it doesn't seem like it's effecting the leaf as it was before, not rapidly killing the leaf. Still picking a few spotted leafs here and there but nothing like the mass execution of foliage that was happening before, I wish I had known about these products in the spring it would have saved many of the plants I lost to this stuff. Mettlieder micro nutrients and the product I got instead of Floramato (which is apparently no longer being made) which is made by the same company are making a visible difference as well I believe. Thanks for all the help in this thread.