Quote:
Originally Posted by PureHarvest
Agree with Nematode. I am not familiar with liquid tomato tone. If you were to use a complete, powdered and soluble fertilizer, I think you would see immediate results. It is up to you to decide whether or not your ferts need to come from organic sources or not. That is a subject that is like asking which political party you should join, and I will not sidetrack this thread with my opinion, other than to say I like both types of fertilizer for different purposes and that used correctly and at the correct rates, both are good.
You are doing fine. Remember that the damage (yellow leaves, brown edges, curling) that you are seeing is something that has already happened in the past, whether a couple of days or week ago. The newest growth will tell you what is happening now. Is the newest growth green?
I see saucers under your pots. So, there might be things that are not getting flushed out the bottom when you water. Would be good to see water running out of the bottom now and again to make sure you are getting a flush. This could explain the burning edges. Salt build-up from not flushing out during watering would burn leaf edges.
Do not up-pot at this stage in the season. You could do 2 plants per pot if you are removing side/lateral shoots (suckers) to keep the plants from getting bushy/large.
I do not see any really bad signs of disease. Most disease for a container grower using potting mix is gonna be airborne, not from the soil, so do not worry too much from not having pruned off your lower leaves.
As far as watering, I would imagine this time of the year, daily watering in the morning is not over doing it. Water until it runs out the bottom (maybe a gallon per 5 gallon pot). Once it stops dripping out the bottom, pick the pot up a bit or tip one over a bit to the side and feel how heavy it is. Now you know what a fully watered plant feels like.
You can do this as a spot check after you water or in the afternoon to see if they might need a second watering on a hot or windy day. Sounds like you get afternoon shade, so that might not be necessary.
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oops i realize that i gave bad information in my original post... the product i was using is NOT liquid tomatone, it's called "great big tomatoes - liquid compost", my bad! it's a concentrate that i've been diluting with water as per instructions on the bottle, but upon closer inspection you guys are totally right that it doesn't contain the nutrients i need at all! i think i've been starving my poor plants.
i have granular miracle gro fertilizer which i switched to immediately after reading your posts. thanks for the wake up call!!