Sure Hope To Get Good Tasting Tomatoes :)

John3 · April 5, 2012

Tomatoville Members have posted long posts and posts with just tid bits of information for growing in your garden and having gleamed through what information I found here has lead me to Step by Step's. I take no credit for the information as most of it is put together from other Tomatovillians. I will have to say with special thanks to Ami and Raybo (even though Raybo is doing self contained microcosms for growing and this collection of information is mainly for in-ground planting)
If you think other products should be included let me know.
If you have questions I will try and answer them - but I am not a pro.

So I'll start this off with a quote from Raybo
Quote:
Also, another "tip" when watering in the Mycos, I always buy a couple gallon jugs of Crystal Geyser or other cheap brand of bottled water specifically to avoid killing off the (good) bacteria, etc. in the Mycos you've just paid good money for, if you had used tap water.

Raybo

John3 · April 5, 2012

Seed Starting to Transplanting
Saltwater Farms - SeaCom PGR
these quotes are from Tomatovillian Mischka
Quote:
I use SeaCom PGR because I want my seedlings (and plants) to benefit from the cytokinin, which is more concentrated in that formulation.

I've done side-by-side comparisons on flats of same variety seedlings, one treated with SeaCom and one without and there's been a noticeable difference in seedling size and stem thickness.
AND note on using on tomatoes
Quote:
Here's another reason why I highly recommend unfortified (no NPK added) seaweed-derived fertilizers for use in starting from seed.

The truth is, tomato seedlings don't need any fertilizer at all while they only have their cotyledons. (embryonic first two leaves) Despite this fact, I can't count how many times over the years when I've read about folks starting tomato plants from seed for the first time being tempted to fertilize them at this stage of growth.

What happens all too often is that they use Miracle-Gro or other similar concentrated NPK fertilizer and end up burning their seedlings to a crispy death, even when they diluted it down to 25% of the normal mix ratio.

My advice: Resist the temptation and don't do it. Ever.

Wait for your seedlings to develop their first true leaves. They will sprout up from the center of the two cotyledons and differ in appearance from them. At this stage of growth they are still tender i.e. vulnerable to overdoses of fertilizer, so apply it very sparingly.

Seaweed-derived fertilizers are much safer to apply at this point, since they have a low NPK rating to begin with, when mixed at the manufacturer-recommended ratio. A caveat: exceeding the mix ratio of any fertilizer with water will not speed up growth or do anything otherwise beneficial for them. It's much more likely that you will, in fact, stunt their growth or kill them outright.

I cannot stress this enough.

There are few things more discouraging than finally starting your own seedlings successfully, only to watch them wither and dry up from an overdose of fertilizer.

Actinovate
Quote from Tomatovillan Suze
Quote:
I use Actinovate from the very beginning on my seedlings - I even add some when I soak down the seed starting mix. I don't use every single time I water (as that would be a waste of product) but I do add some to the water every second or third watering.

Testimonial alert - year before last, I had a bad experience with 4-5 flats of my seedlings having some damping off problems. Got a bad/old bag of seed starting mix. I'd already been reading about Actinovate, but had never used it before. Actinovate reversed the damage and about 98% of those seedlings in the flats lived and thrived, even though several already had mild girdling at stem level. I did set aside about 10 control seedlings that didn't get treated (and all eventually died.) Since then, I just use it from the get-go when starting seed, good stuff.

Found out that year it also works wonders on turf.

So anyway, all my seedlings are already inoculated with Actinovate.

Transplanting
STEP ONE
Actinovate/MycoGrow Soulable/Biota Max/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured ------- Mixture Dip
Quote:
For my preplant dip solution I get a small bucket 1 1/2 to 2 gallon in size. Add I gallon of water and dissolve 1/4 tablet Biota Max in the water. Then add 2 teaspoons of Actinovate and 2 Teaspoons of Mycogrow soluable to the solution and mix well.
Now submerge the pot of the seedling just below the surface of the water to fill the pot with the solution, remove and allow the pot to drain back into the bucket. Then remove the seedling from the pot if plastic type was used or plant the pot w/seedling if Dot Pot Or Cow Pots were used.
Just be careful when dipping the pot in the solution as you want to retain as much aggregate in the pot as possible rather than have it float out of the pot and into the dip bucket.
During the dipping operation periodically agitate the water to keep the ingredients mixed in the solution. When your done apply the left over dip to the plants you have just planted. The above instructions are assuming you are using 4" pots or less in size. Ami
Blackstrap Molassses
Quote:
You can also add some Blackstrap Molasses to your feed solution. Add about a 1 tbls per gallon to the feed solution and mix well. Ami
STEP TWO
Sea-Crop - Soil Remineralizer
1 oz per gallon and can add 1 oz per gallon of Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed)
This first time application use as a drench around the plants
STEP THREE
Crab Shells
Spread lightly around the plants
Also helps with slugs if you have them because the crab shells are in chards.
And, "The presence of chitin in the soil makes it a natural biopesticide that is non-toxic to birds, animals, fish, and plants.
Just so happens that Japanese Beetle grubs and grubs in general, have jaws made of Chitin, which is dissolved by chitinase bacteria. So, not only is crab shell a good slow release fertilizer, it can kill off grubs, indirectly ..."

One Week Later
STEP ONE
Actinovate/MycoGrow Soulable/Biota Max/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured/ Sea-Crop - Soil Remineralizer/Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed)------- Mixture
make mixture by using the gallon ratios in Step One and Two in TRANSPLANTING section but mix all in one container then use a foiler Spray.
STEP TWO
Crab Shells
Spread lightly around the plants

Week Two
STEP ONE
Actinovate/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured/ Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed)------- Mixture
make mixture by using the gallon ratios in Step One and Two in TRANSPLANTING section but mix all in one container then use a foiler Spray.
STEP TWO
Crab Shells
Spread lightly around the plants

WEEK THREE
Repeat WEEK TWO steps

WEEK FOUR
Repeat WEEK TWO steps

WEEK FIVE
Repeat One Week Later steps minus the Sea-Crop Remineralizer

WEEK SIX
Repeat WEEK TWO steps

WEEK SEVEN
Repeat WEEK TWO steps

WEEK EIGHT
Repeat WEEK TWO steps

There is a pattern here fourth week use the steps in One Week Later minus the Sea-Crop Remineralizer and use the steps in WEEK TWO for three weeks then repeat until end of season.

April 5, 2012	#1
John3 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Alabama 7.5 or 8 depends on who you ask Posts: 727	Sure Hope To Get Good Tasting Tomatoes :) Tomatoville Members have posted long posts and posts with just tid bits of information for growing in your garden and having gleamed through what information I found here has lead me to Step by Step's. I take no credit for the information as most of it is put together from other Tomatovillians. I will have to say with special thanks to Ami and Raybo (even though Raybo is doing self contained microcosms for growing and this collection of information is mainly for in-ground planting) If you think other products should be included let me know. If you have questions I will try and answer them - but I am not a pro. So I'll start this off with a quote from Raybo Quote: Also, another "tip" when watering in the Mycos, I always buy a couple gallon jugs of Crystal Geyser or other cheap brand of bottled water specifically to avoid killing off the (good) bacteria, etc. in the Mycos you've just paid good money for, if you had used tap water. Raybo

April 5, 2012	#2
John3 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Alabama 7.5 or 8 depends on who you ask Posts: 727	Seed Starting to Transplanting Saltwater Farms - SeaCom PGR these quotes are from Tomatovillian Mischka Quote: I use SeaCom PGR because I want my seedlings (and plants) to benefit from the cytokinin, which is more concentrated in that formulation. I've done side-by-side comparisons on flats of same variety seedlings, one treated with SeaCom and one without and there's been a noticeable difference in seedling size and stem thickness. AND note on using on tomatoes Quote: Here's another reason why I highly recommend unfortified (no NPK added) seaweed-derived fertilizers for use in starting from seed. The truth is, tomato seedlings don't need any fertilizer at all while they only have their cotyledons. (embryonic first two leaves) Despite this fact, I can't count how many times over the years when I've read about folks starting tomato plants from seed for the first time being tempted to fertilize them at this stage of growth. What happens all too often is that they use Miracle-Gro or other similar concentrated NPK fertilizer and end up burning their seedlings to a crispy death, even when they diluted it down to 25% of the normal mix ratio. My advice: Resist the temptation and don't do it. Ever. Wait for your seedlings to develop their first true leaves. They will sprout up from the center of the two cotyledons and differ in appearance from them. At this stage of growth they are still tender i.e. vulnerable to overdoses of fertilizer, so apply it very sparingly. Seaweed-derived fertilizers are much safer to apply at this point, since they have a low NPK rating to begin with, when mixed at the manufacturer-recommended ratio. A caveat: exceeding the mix ratio of any fertilizer with water will not speed up growth or do anything otherwise beneficial for them. It's much more likely that you will, in fact, stunt their growth or kill them outright. I cannot stress this enough. There are few things more discouraging than finally starting your own seedlings successfully, only to watch them wither and dry up from an overdose of fertilizer. Actinovate Quote from Tomatovillan Suze Quote: I use Actinovate from the very beginning on my seedlings - I even add some when I soak down the seed starting mix. I don't use every single time I water (as that would be a waste of product) but I do add some to the water every second or third watering. Testimonial alert - year before last, I had a bad experience with 4-5 flats of my seedlings having some damping off problems. Got a bad/old bag of seed starting mix. I'd already been reading about Actinovate, but had never used it before. Actinovate reversed the damage and about 98% of those seedlings in the flats lived and thrived, even though several already had mild girdling at stem level. I did set aside about 10 control seedlings that didn't get treated (and all eventually died.) Since then, I just use it from the get-go when starting seed, good stuff. Found out that year it also works wonders on turf. So anyway, all my seedlings are already inoculated with Actinovate. Transplanting STEP ONE Actinovate/MycoGrow Soulable/Biota Max/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured ------- Mixture Dip Quote: For my preplant dip solution I get a small bucket 1 1/2 to 2 gallon in size. Add I gallon of water and dissolve 1/4 tablet Biota Max in the water. Then add 2 teaspoons of Actinovate and 2 Teaspoons of Mycogrow soluable to the solution and mix well. Now submerge the pot of the seedling just below the surface of the water to fill the pot with the solution, remove and allow the pot to drain back into the bucket. Then remove the seedling from the pot if plastic type was used or plant the pot w/seedling if Dot Pot Or Cow Pots were used. Just be careful when dipping the pot in the solution as you want to retain as much aggregate in the pot as possible rather than have it float out of the pot and into the dip bucket. During the dipping operation periodically agitate the water to keep the ingredients mixed in the solution. When your done apply the left over dip to the plants you have just planted. The above instructions are assuming you are using 4" pots or less in size. Ami Blackstrap Molassses Quote: You can also add some Blackstrap Molasses to your feed solution. Add about a 1 tbls per gallon to the feed solution and mix well. Ami STEP TWO Sea-Crop - Soil Remineralizer 1 oz per gallon and can add 1 oz per gallon of Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed) This first time application use as a drench around the plants STEP THREE Crab Shells Spread lightly around the plants Also helps with slugs if you have them because the crab shells are in chards. And, "The presence of chitin in the soil makes it a natural biopesticide that is non-toxic to birds, animals, fish, and plants. Just so happens that Japanese Beetle grubs and grubs in general, have jaws made of Chitin, which is dissolved by chitinase bacteria. So, not only is crab shell a good slow release fertilizer, it can kill off grubs, indirectly ..." One Week Later STEP ONE Actinovate/MycoGrow Soulable/Biota Max/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured/ Sea-Crop - Soil Remineralizer/Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed)------- Mixture make mixture by using the gallon ratios in Step One and Two in TRANSPLANTING section but mix all in one container then use a foiler Spray. STEP TWO Crab Shells Spread lightly around the plants Week Two STEP ONE Actinovate/Black Strap Molasses Unsulphured/ Seaweed-Fish Liquid (cold pressed)------- Mixture make mixture by using the gallon ratios in Step One and Two in TRANSPLANTING section but mix all in one container then use a foiler Spray. STEP TWO Crab Shells Spread lightly around the plants WEEK THREE Repeat WEEK TWO steps WEEK FOUR Repeat WEEK TWO steps WEEK FIVE Repeat One Week Later steps minus the Sea-Crop Remineralizer WEEK SIX Repeat WEEK TWO steps WEEK SEVEN Repeat WEEK TWO steps WEEK EIGHT Repeat WEEK TWO steps There is a pattern here fourth week use the steps in One Week Later minus the Sea-Crop Remineralizer and use the steps in WEEK TWO for three weeks then repeat until end of season. Last edited by John3; April 5, 2012 at 06:09 AM.