Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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July 14, 2009 | #31 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,543
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Alex, to make comfrey tea, I chop up the comfrey (I use the spent flowering stalks, yellowed and chewed leaves, and anything that's turned brown) in a bucket, cover with water, weigh it down if necessary, and cover. It can steep for a day or a couple weeks or more, getting stinkier every day. If you let it sit more than a couple days, it will smell like an open sewer when you open the bucket! To use, I pull out the stems and put them in the compost bin, then I dilute the liquid before applying to plants. Generally I water the plants first, then add a quart or so of comfrey tea to a bucket of water, use some of that, then water the plants again to rinse away the residue.
Someone on another site was using fresh plant material to feed plants -- essentially pulverizing the green plants and using the juice or slurry immediately. If I don't have a bucket handy, I just chop up the comfrey stalks and use them as mulch. Whenever possible, I chop up garden waste and use it as mulch instead of putting it in the bin. |
July 14, 2009 | #32 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
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That sounds great, Thanks.
Alex
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I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan |
July 15, 2009 | #33 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: VA
Posts: 39
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I try to garden organically, but I am not averse to miracle grow..especially as my garden is fairly new and I haven't dropped a semi truckload of compost in yet...
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July 15, 2009 | #34 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,543
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zopi, There are good reasons not to use synthetic ferts, or even organic ferts more concentrated than 10-10-10. See
http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=10943 Basically, dumping these concentrates kills life in the soil, which impairs the ability of the plant to feed itself using the soil food web. The plant then becomes dependent on the fert fix, like a drug addict. All the other services provided by the soil food web, such as providing micronutrients as needed or boosting the plant's immune system, are impaired or unavailable. |
July 15, 2009 | #35 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: VA
Posts: 39
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I guess I should have added...very sparingly...In our last garden you had to run from the plants and never enter the garden at night, started with a 6" layer of solid compost and turned that in about two feet deep, and added greens all winter...HUGE tomatos...good stuff...just haven't gotten there yet at our new place...
The only reason I used any synthetic fert this year was because we got a slow start..plants couldn't take off because of all the rain, it stopped raining and they kind of stagnated..two applications later and they took off...haven't done it since...next year won't matter...will have organics aplenty. |
July 15, 2009 | #36 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NY
Posts: 113
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It took me 3 years of prepping my soil before I started seeing any results, once I got serious about soil biology and stopped using most any harsh chemical I started seeing the real changes. Now days I take 2 soil samples a year to be tested, one in the fall to see where I am at and to amend and one in the spring to see if any additional amendments are needed. I use a professional lab, no disrespect intended, but I've tried the local co-op extention and found them to lack the detailed tests that I preferred.
The plants go crazy, its a prime example of feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants. I usually apply compost tea once a week, I have gone as far as to have my tea tested for D.O., PH, Nitrogen levels and I've looked at it under a microscope, very neat to say the least! I am very serious about my soil and my plants, not only my competition plants, I treat my tomatoes like they are royality....lol I will supplement with foliar feedings when necessary. |
July 16, 2009 | #37 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 630
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Quote:
Love your worms and microbes. |
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July 16, 2009 | #38 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
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"Feeding the soil to feed the plants" is perhaps the best advice on how to fertilize, in my opinion, and the most compelling reason to avoid chemical fertilizers.
Alex
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I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan |
July 17, 2009 | #39 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 630
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July 17, 2009 | #40 |
Tomatoville® Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 4,386
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And I think that is also true, even if you grow in containers.
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Michael |
July 18, 2009 | #41 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 53
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It took me far too many years to catch on to how to fertilize; this group was probably the biggest help -- the descriptions combined with the pictures of lush plants showed I was doing things all wrong. I now use a no-till method and put several inches of compost and manure on top. In each hole I work tomato-tone at planting time into the cubic foot or so around each plant. In past years I have fertilized mid-season but this year my soil is so good and the plants are going so well that I have not felt the need to add anything. All I need to do is to grow a winter cover crop, something I have not stepped up to do yet.
Scott |
July 18, 2009 | #42 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 6
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fertilizing... and horse manure...
I called a local stable about getting some of their manure. Success! I now have about 4 wheelbarrow loads of it sitting in my back yard and a promise that I can have all that he's got piled up behind his barn. Being a unseasoned gardener leaves me with lots of questions. When lasagna gardening, layering newspapers, cardboard and then organics, can I just use the manure and not add any composted materials? I am preparing what I call postage stamp garden spots for next spring. I went to my local Sam's and got the cardboard that is the size of wooden shipping pallets. I have put 7 layers of newspaper, 3 layers of cardboard and then loaded the top with the manure. Will this be enough? The ground is clay and seems to grow crabgrass just fine. Oh, I also added coffee grounds too, just on top of the cardboard. The grounds I get free from the local Starbucks. By setting up the layers now for next spring I hope that what I am doing will amend the soil enough for plants to be healthy and productive. Any advice?
Barbara, aka, macondla |
July 18, 2009 | #43 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
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Quote:
change for 40lb at HD) and toss handfuls of gypsum around. The dolomite is really just to supply some magnesium (and calcium). A bed like that usually does not need much pH adjustment, if any, so you do not want to mix much dolomite into it, just enough to make sure that you have some magnesium in there. Gypsum supplies calcium without changing the pH, and you can use it more generously than the lime. (Costs about the same.) If I were doing it, I would mix in some greensand, too (at the recommended rate on the bag). Rich in iron, provides a number of other trace elements, and quite slow release. One application should last for years. If you search around, you can probably find a 50-lb bag for $20-30, enough to do all of the beds and have some left over for future use. Topping it all with an inch of dirt makes the worms happier (provides a source of grit for their digestion), and a layer of shredded leaves or straw on top makes it more user friendly. (Composted manure does not have much odor, but the neighbors usually don't know that, and that avoids tracking it into the house or wherever when you have to step in it to do something after it has been raining.)
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July 18, 2009 | #44 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia
Posts: 946
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I garden in heavy clay. I don't dig anymore, or at least only if I absolutely have to dig something out. New beds are prepared by spreading lime, to break up my acidic clay, and a mineral fertiliser to add the trace elements, laying down a thick mat of newspaper, then covering with whatever mulch is at hand - grass clippings, straw when it's cheap etc. After a year I fork open the soil, mulch it again then that's it. I start planting. Plants get a foliar feed whenever I make up a batch of compost tea, probably averages out at monthly, and I add compost as a top dressing whenever I have any just before adding more mulch. I try to leave plant roots in the ground, unless the plant is obviously diseased, and I try to rotate crops where possible. Everything is either fed to the worms, composted or used as mulch.
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Ray |
July 19, 2009 | #45 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 6
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fertilizing... and horse manure...
Dice and Ray,
I want to thank both of you. I will do as you advised. Making my list of things to buy. I will be getting it all and as I add the new beds do them from scratch like you have said to. There are two in place now that I will topping off with what's missing. Having all this help for next year means that my edge for success just jumped beyond my expectations. I know that the weather and other elements are things that have the final say, but at least my plants don't have to fight me for survival now too..., at least not as much... Barbara, aka macondla, sooo many Barbara's and just one macondla |
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