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Growing tomatoes, we want to get a high yield, tasty fruits and spend a minimum of effort. Often we just take from the ground, giving nothing in return, and then we hope either for luck, or for the eternal "maybe". But tomatoes do not grow by themselves without difficulty, knowledge of agricultural technology, fertilizing and processing. You can't bargain with nature, as soon as the earth gives up the accumulated supply of nutrients, yields fall, and tomatoes become tasteless.
The tomato is a demanding culture. There should not be a lot of dressings, they need to be given wisely - if you thoughtlessly pour fertilizers under the root, you may not get a good harvest or ruin it completely. Tomatoes need different nutrients at different stages of development. Today we will tell you how to feed tomatoes after disembarkation into the ground.
Have vegetables grown before without feeding
You can often hear that before, everything grew without feeding, of course. Our ancestors did not subscribe to our newspapers, did not have the Internet, did not read smart books, but somehow managed to feed the whole of Europe.
Only people for some reason forget that earlier peasant families cultivated the land from generation to generation, traditions and competent work on it were instilled in them from childhood. The culture of agriculture was high, no work was carried out at random. In addition, the land was cultivated without heavy equipment, it was always fertilized with organic matter.
Yes, our ancestors did without chemical fertilizers, but in peasant farms there was always an abundance of manure, then they heated exclusively with wood, and food was not cooked on a gas stove. Everything went to the fields and gardens to feed the soil - manure, ash, fallen leaves. Clay, sand, bottom silt, peat, and chalk were transported from the nearest forests, ravines, rivers or swamps. Everything was used by our wise predecessors.
Why do you need top dressing
All tomatoes grown in the gardens and fields of large farms are varieties and hybrids created by people specifically to obtain marketable products. In the wild, they do not grow and without human help they simply will not survive. In one year, cultivated tomatoes should sprout from a seed, grow, bloom, tie and give fruit.
In addition, we want to remove not one or two tomatoes from the bush, but a full-fledged crop, which in central Russia in the open field can reach 5-10 kg per bush. And this is on average, usually a little less fruit is obtained from low-growing tomatoes, and more from tall ones grown on a trellis or in greenhouses.
For flowering and ripening of fruits, tomatoes need nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, trace elements. It is clear that the tomato cannot take so many nutrients from the soil. Timely, correct fertilization improves soil fertility, increases productivity and quality of tomatoes.
- Nitrogen participates in the formation and development of the tomato at all stages of life. It is needed for photosynthesis, but it plays the greatest role in the growth of the green mass of tomatoes immediately after planting. Lack of nitrogen affects the tomato yield, and excess leads to the accumulation of nitrates in the pulp.
- Phosphorus especially important for flowering and fruiting of tomatoes, with its lack, flowers and ovaries crumble. Thanks to this element, the tomato ripens faster, the fruits grow large, have an intense color. Tomatoes that are not deficient in phosphorus are less likely to get sick.
- Potassium has the greatest influence on the development of the root system of the tomato.If it is weak, then it simply will not be able to deliver moisture and nutrients to other parts of the tomatoes. Lack of potassium fertilizers makes tomatoes painful and their fruits small.
- Trace elements do not play a decisive role in the life of tomatoes, which are, in fact, perennial plants, but are grown as annuals. Their shortage in a season simply will not have time to become critical. But trace elements significantly affect the resistance of tomatoes to diseases and the quality of the fruit. With a shortage of them, the tomato gets sick, the fruits crack, taste and marketability fall. Everyone's boring ineradicable late blight is a shortage of copper, and its treatment with copper-containing preparations largely eliminates the deficiency of this element.
How to fertilize tomatoes
Tomatoes are big lovers of phosphorus. They are able to bear fruit for a long time. The first tomatoes in the southern regions appear in mid-June, and the latter, in the absence of phytophthora and good care, simply do not have time to ripen before frost. One tomato contains flowers, ovaries and ripe fruits at the same time. It is not surprising that feeding a tomato requires a lot of phosphorus.
Tomato seedlings are fed 2-3 times before planting in the ground. First time after about 10 days after the pick, fertilizers for seedlings in a weak concentration, the second - a week later with the same special dressings or a solution of a teaspoon azofoski in 10 liters of water. During this period, tomatoes need nitrogen. With the normal development of seedlings, the tomato is no longer fed before transplanting.
Mineral dressing
When planting a tomato, a handful of ash is poured into the hole and a tablespoon of superphosphate must be added. After about two weeks, when the seedlings take root and grow, they make the first top dressing of the tomatoes in the ground. Dissolve in 10 liters of water:
- phosphorus - 10 g;
- nitrogen - 10 g;
- potassium - 20 g
and watered with 0.5 liters under a tomato bush.
For the next top dressing of the tomato, which must be carried out after 2 weeks, take:
- nitrogen - 25 g;
- phosphorus - 40 g;
- potassium - 15 g;
- magnesium - 10 g,
- dissolve in 10 liters of water and pour 0.5 liters under the bush.
In the summer, when tomatoes begin to ripen, it is important to feed them with nutrient solutions containing safe ingredients every 2 weeks. Ash infusion has shown itself very well, it is an invaluable source of potassium, phosphorus and calcium - exactly those elements that are necessary for tomatoes during their ripening period. There is little nitrogen there, but it is no longer needed in large quantities. Prepare the infusion as follows:
- 1.5 liters of ash pour 5 liters of boiling water.
- When the solution has cooled, add up to 10 liters.
- Add a bubble iodine, 10 g of boric acid.
- Insist for a day.
- Dissolve 1 liter of infusion in a bucket of water and pour 1 liter under a tomato bush.
This cocktail will not only feed the tomatoes, but due to the presence of iodine in it, it will also prevent phytophthora.
Foliar dressing
Often foliar feeding tomatoes called fast, they act directly on the sheet and the result is visible literally the next day. They can be carried out every 10-15 days and, if necessary, combined with tomato treatments for pests and diseases.
On a leaf, you can spray tomatoes with the same fertilizers that you pour under the root. It is very good to add a tomato to a bottle with a working solution for foliar feeding:
- ampoule of epin or zircon Are biologically pure immunostimulants that are practically safe for humans and bees. Their effect on tomatoes can be compared to the effect of vitamins on humans;
- humate, humisol or other humic preparation.
Environmentally friendly feeding
Now more and more gardeners are trying to apply organic farming methods on their site. Growing tomatoes allows you to get by with environmentally friendly, chemical-free fertilizers, especially in the fruiting phase. Tomatoes do not like fresh manure, but they are very supportive of its fermented infusion. He prepares simply:
- Pour 1 bucket of manure with a bucket of water, insist for a week;
- We dilute 1 liter of infusion in a bucket of water;
- Water 1 liter of diluted infusion under each bush of tomatoes.
Not all summer residents have access to manure. It doesn't matter, herbal infusion is no less valuable fertilizer for tomatoes. Fill the largest container in the area to the top with weeds and plant residues, close, leave for 8-10 days. Dilute 1: 5 with water and use the tomato to feed.
You can make a universal tomato balm. It will require:
- 200 liter capacity;
- 2 liters of ash;
- 4-5 buckets of green nettles.
All this is filled with water and infused for 2 weeks. One liter of balsam is fed to a tomato bush. If you do not have such a large capacity, reduce the ingredients proportionally.
General rules for feeding tomatoes
The best result is obtained by complex feeding of tomatoes. To achieve the best result and not harm the plant, you need to remember a few simple rules:
- It is better to underfeed tomatoes than overfeed.
- Planted in the ground tomato seedlings you need to feed when the temperature exceeds 15 degrees; at a lower temperature, nutrients are simply not absorbed.
- Fertilize tomatoes at the root in the late afternoon.
- foliar feeding of tomatoes carried out early in the morning in calm dry weather. It is desirable to finish them before 10 o'clock in the morning.
- Do not use pesticides during the flowering or fruiting period of a tomato, unless absolutely necessary. Try to process tomatoes with folk remedies.
- It is best to combine tomato root dressing with watering, and foliar dressing with treatments for pests and diseases.
We offer you to watch a video that tells how to feed tomatoes after planting:
Signs of a battery shortage
Sometimes we do everything right, but tomatoes do not grow and bear fruit well. It seems that there are no pests, the disease cannot be determined, and the tomato bush clearly suffers. This may be caused by a shortage of a battery. We will teach you to determine which one by external signs.
| Battery | External signs | Necessary measures |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen | Tomato leaves are matte, with a gray tint, or light and small | Feed the tomatoes with infusion weeds or any nitrogen-containing fertilizer |
| Phosphorus | The lower part of the tomato leaf plate has acquired a purple hue, the leaves themselves are raised up | The fastest effect will be given by feeding a tomato. superphosphate extract: pour a glass of fertilizer with a liter of boiling water, let it brew for 12 hours. Top up to 10 liters, water 0.5 liters under a tomato bush |
| Potassium | The edges of tomato leaves dry up, and they themselves curl up | Feed your tomatoes with potassium nitrate or another non-chlorine potassium fertilizer |
| Magnesium | Marbled dark or light green color of tomato leaves | Sprinkle half a glass of dolomite on wet soil under each tomato bush |
| Copper | Phytophthora | Treatment of late blight of tomatoes |
| Other trace elements | Yellow-green mosaic color of tomato leaves | Treat tomato bushes with a chelate complex.If after 5-7 days there is no effect, remove and burn the plant, this is not a lack of trace elements, but a tobacco mosaic virus. |
Conclusion
We told you how to feed tomatoes after planting in the ground, gave advice on the use of mineral and organic fertilizers. We hope you found this helpful. Good luck and good harvest!
