tomato plants

jayarr_2

hi
my tomato plants are probably ages behind everyone else, and may not even fruit this year but i'm using this season as a 'dry run' for next year...anyway, when do i start feeding the plants with a general plant food-i know that i don't use the tomato feed until they have finished flowering but do i use anything before that..???

thanks

kiwichick

Hiya,

I've not got any direct addvice - sorry. Just wanted to let you know that I've had a quick look over in the DIY Forum and they have had questions about tomato growing in the past with good responses/help. Why not ask over ther and see if you have better luck???

Al.

jayarr_2

ok..will do-am still getting used to all the different parts of this site..its like a tardis!!

kiwichick

yep me too, i asked a credit card question on this one today - oops!

pol

You don't need to feed until it sets its first truss. So when you see the clusters of flowers appearing, feed once a week with tomato food and it should be fine.

pol

tootles_2

Another thing you can do is to thin out the leaves as there will take up food which can be used by the fruit, make sure they are not leaves with a flower spike on and just snap off, this will also help the fruit to ripen.

You should be watering them everyday in this very hot weather, if you find any fruit that is beginning to go brown at the bottom it's blossom end rot, take the infected fruit off and throw them away, its due to uneven watering.

MIRRY_2

my tomatoe plants are thriving very well with out any feed ,
we just water them daily and have had loads of tomatoes already.
Last year I used a feed and this year I havent, yet this years growth and produce is much more ?

Alison_B

Does it make a difference growing them outdoors? I have got 10 plants that I have grown from seed, they are only small but have just started getting flowers on them. A neighbour has his in a greenhouse and his are at least 3 times bigger than mine and have fruit on them already. I only have a small plastic greenhouse with 4 shelves that I use for growing the seeds but no space for the plants to grow indoors.

annie-c

Yes, generally you will get a better crop in a greenhouse, but this year, with all the hot weather my outdoor crop is doing really well and I know lots of others doing well too.

http://www.greenfingers.com/articledisplay.asp?id=226 This is a good link.

jayarr_2

thanks for that, i may trim some leaves off then..no flowers yet that ive seen tho..:(

will let you know how it goes..ive moved the majority back into the porch as i'm losing between 1 and 3 plants each night to slugs!

annie-c

A tip to keep slugs at bay is to wrap a length of copper wire (from any DIY store) round the circumference of the pot - it gives them a mild electric shock so they won't cross over it.