tomato fertilizer: Best Natural Tomato Fertilizer

Best Natural Tomato Fertilizer

Hydroponic Tomato

As far as growing tomatos — and plants in general — is concerned, people often turn to the best natural tomato fertilizers, as if these are the solution to their every problem.

Well, don't be so fast to assume there's a miracle solution because not even the best natural tomato fertilizer will help if your soil has a pH level that's too high or too low or if weeds start choking your plants.

Here we offer some help tips to aid you in growing the best tomatos you can possibly grow.

Choosing the Plants

Tip 1: Once thing to remember about tomatos is that the indeterminate types can produce quite a stream of flowers and fruits in just one summer. Their fruit usually has excellent flavor, and the plants remain productive until the first frost.

Tip 2: If you chose the taller and lankier species of tomatoes, you'll need to use stakes, trellises or wire cages because the stems usually can't provide enough support as the tops grow heavy with fruit. Stakes and trellises help to keep the fruit off the ground and off the many insects and bugs that thrive in the soil.

Tip 3: Several popular tomato varieties can be purchased as bedding plants. As soon as they arrive in stores, get out and buy them. Choose the ones that show no signs of flowering or yellowing leaves.

Tip 4: Generally, you should put tomatoes in the ground within one to two days. However, if you can’t, then you can transplant the seedlings into four- or six-inch pots, filled with good potting soil and let them gain roots there for two weeks at most. During this time, you should continue to care for the plant and the soil until you will be able to harmlessly transplant them into the ground.

Germinating and Planting

Tomato seeds will germinate best at 75 to 85 degrees. When transplanting tomatoes to the garden, make sure you only set them out when nights are consistently warmer than 50 degrees.

Tip 5: Before planting, make sure you enrich the soil with plenty of organic material. This is a time when the best natural tomato fertilizer around is not something that you can buy off gardening shops. For that, you only need compost made from kitchen scraps or humus.

Tip 6: When planting seedlings, make sure that at least two inches of the main stem is covered by the soil. This will help protect the stem from wind damage and encourages the development of extensive roots.

Tip 7: For newly transplanted tomatos, protection from the cold wind is as essential as the best natural tomato fertilizer. Cover the plants with cloches or a plastic tunnel.

Caring for Your Plants

Watering requirements for tomatoes will depend on the soil and the temperature. If your tomatoes are in containers, you should water them daily as water quickly runs out in a contained space. However, if your tomatoes are in the garden, once or twice a week of watering should do the trick.

Tip 8: Add mulch to maintain the soil moisture.

As for fertilization, the best natural tomato fertilizer is one with an N-P-K composition of 5-6-5 or 3-5-6. This will provide the plants with a modest amount of quick-release nitrogen, along with phosphorous and potassium.