A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Watering Schedule for Tomatoes...

Hey folks--

I know that this is coming somewhat late, but I have 2 tomato plants that are really starting to blossom and develop fruit.

How often should I water them...I want to do everything I can so that they'll have as much fruit as possible and so it'll be as big as possible. One's a regular plant and the other is a roma plant. I've been MiracleGro'ing them about every 7 or 10 days or so.

Depends on the soil type, weather, and conditions of the area. But, water the plants everyday.

Stop MG now!

I use MG once (maybe twice). When it's a seed I use MG when it's beginning to rock. When it's a transplant I use MG when it resumes growth. That's it. (The second time would be when I till the soil in the spring.)

I'm a big believer in stress. I like the extremes of hot and cold, wet and dry. It's a natural cycle. My plants did well without water for 5 days and increasing temps. I watered yesterday only because I prefer to have the soil soft before possible storms. If I get hit, the soil is soft. If I get missed, I can water again in a few days.

Everything I've ever read says Tomato benefits from being nearly dry.

I've never seen BER.

There is a nasty disease that tomatoes tend to get called blossom end rot. The 2 major culprits for the plants getting this disease other then lack of calcium are over watering or under watering your plants. I agree with The Bears Woman as it depends on your area and the type of soil , and weather conditions. The best way to tell if they need water is to go out and stick your fingers about an inch or so into the ground, pinch them together and bring up a small amount of soil. If the soil retains its shape, there is generally enough moisture, if it crumbles apart as soon as you release it, it would more then likely need water. Another easy way to tell if your tomatoes are getting too much water is if the fruit starts splitting, but by then it is too late for the more mature fruit on the vine.

Why so negative about MG? Are their competitors paying you to be so down in the dumps on them? Or are you a "pull yourself up by your bootstrap" type gardener?

I don't use commercial fertilizers either. I have heard bad things about them, but unfortunately cannot say what they are right now. :rolleyes: In general I fertilize very rarely and use good compost a lot. When I fertilize I use a Garden's Alive fertilizer.
I would water every day when hot but every other day is fine when it is not so hot. I do not water every day but then I do sometimes need to water and I haven't! And I still think it is best to water deeply less often than shallowly very often. I use a soaker hose and let it run for 4-6 hours or more.

I have a soaker hose system set up in my garden that does very well. I have a timer on it that will run for 2 hours, that goes in to a MG feeder that I use about 2 times a year. From there it goes out to a manifold system. I used 6' sections of old garden hose to go from the manifolds to the soaker hoses.

LMT is right, resist the temptation to over-fertilize. You're actually doing more harm than good, upsetting the balance of minerals to your plants. The only times you want to give your plants a boost are if you start from seed and are initially potting up seedlings with their first set of true leaves into larger containers before transplanting and then at transplanting time into the garden to give those plants a boost in root growth. I use a basic "blue stuff" fertilizer that is 10:52:10 which is a ratio of Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium, always in that order. If you give your plants too much nitrogen, you'll have huge, bushy, leafy plants at the expense of fruit. Remember, the 2 most common mistakes people do with tomato plants are over-watering and over-fertilizing, especially when plants look "sick". The best thing you can do for your plants is before they go into the ground..amend, amend, amend your soil to make it the most nutritious they could ever want, and that's by adding plenty of good quality compost, tilling it deeply in the spring.

Hope that helps,
Julianna

I'm just a little testy 'cause time after time I read posts that say; "I fertilize every week and I'm having a problem".

At some point one should wonder if the fertilizer is the problem.

LOL, mmhmm ;o)

So many tomato posts I didn't have the heart to start another so thought I'd worm my way into someone elses.

Ok I have this tomato plant that sprouted up before any of the others. It was doing great growing real strong. It has about 4 fruit on it at the moment but seems to be a real small plant..almost stunted looking compared to my other tomato plants. The last week I have been noticing leaves turning a yellow and the stems or stalks look to be turning this yellow color also. It's been hot so I've been watering early in the morning real good and that's it. I have been using miracle grow every 7-10 days. Oh and well who knows this may be it .. I put coffee grounds around the plant. This was a stray sprout that germinated from a tomato that was left on the ground last year I guess when it fell off the plant...it could be an Ace or Early Girl plant..possibly a Cherry. Here's a pic..it's not that great though.



I have a tomato plant that I planted the seed from a hot house tomato I bought at the store(accidently left it in the kitchen window and half of the seeds sprouted inside.) It's green and lush and just about to produce fruit.

I grow roma and cherry. The roma's are darker green, more compact and they look healthier. The cherry's are tall and gangly looking. Just like always.

I not sure I'd have put coffee grounds around the plant and I would have stopped the fertilizer after the first or second application.

If it's a "Volunteer" tomato plant,
they will be behind the one's you buy
in the stores/nurseries...
*just started later*

It'll still produce though..

*which is kinda nice sometimes,
when you buy or plant from seed tomato plants
and they all harvest about the same time...
*and who can eat that many*
but the "Volunteers'" are behind and you get a
little bit later crop....

Check the flower stem...
If you have about 8~10 flowers/tomatoes on each side of the stem, you've got the cherry tomatoes.


And try some Epsom Salts...