Feeding tomatoes

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Yorkshire Kris
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Feeding tomatoes

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Is anyone following 'Montbeliardii':Dons Tomato experiment?

I can't believe he hasn't fed any of them yet. They looked weedy and yellow on Fridays edition. What's that all about?
Tom2006
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Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Tom2006 »

Yorkshire Kris wrote:Is anyone following 'Montbeliardii':Dons Tomato experiment?

I can't believe he hasn't fed any of them yet. They looked weedy and yellow on Fridays edition. What's that all about?
Yes following with interest as always grow some each year. Not watched last nights yet.
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cheshirepalms
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Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by cheshirepalms »

I was as surprised as 'Montbeliardii' with the ones he showed earlier this year in the half filled terracotta pots with huge fruits, god knows what that guy was feeding his! Montys look terrible in comparison using the same method.
Tom2006
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Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Tom2006 »

cheshirepalms wrote:I was as surprised as 'Montbeliardii' with the ones he showed earlier this year in the half filled terracotta pots with huge fruits, god knows what that guy was feeding his! Montys look terrible in comparison using the same method.
I think its 'Montbeliardii''s way of disproving the guys alleged method. :lol:
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Kristen

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Kristen »

You get better flavour if you grow them "Meaner". Less watery, stronger flavour. MD's test is about flavour AFAIK. Makes for TV too I suppose </ScepticalMe>
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Kristen wrote:You get better flavour if you grow them "Meaner". Less watery, stronger flavour. MD's test is about flavour AFAIK. Makes for TV too I suppose </ScepticalMe>

I understand that a bit less watering and feeding should give better tasting fruit but some of 'Montbeliardii''s tomato plants looked terrible, like starved weeds . The ones in the grow bags were ok for the other were rubbish.

The ones in the terracotta pots looked the worse but should (in theory produce the best tasting fruit)
Dim

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Dim »

it will be interesting to see the outcome .... he says that he is growing 'for taste', but there is no point in having a bush that only has 4 decent tomatoes .... If you grow for taste, choose a variety that suits your palette (super sweet, or old fashioned/heirloom acidic taste)

my tomato plants have been fed regulary from the time I planted them (this is the 1st time that I am growing tomatoes) .... I have several types and some are already over 6 feet tall with loads of fruit, and they are planted in the ground ... they take up a lot of space though ... best performers so far (for yield), are black cherry, sungold and big boy ..

I've been feeding with Actively aerated compost tea, seaweed, fish hydrolosate, worm humis (vermicompost) etc ...aswell as foliar feeding them regulary.... they get full sun for most of the day and are looking very healthy

I have 1 hanging basket with tumbling tomatoes .... this is producing loads of tomatoes and I will definately buy several more hanging baskets next year .... they take up very little space and produce loads and the taste is superb

I have also read that some guys remove most of the leaves when the flowers start forming (they just leave 3 leaves per stem) .... apparantly, it increases the yield? .... I might try that next year on 1 or 2 plants
Kristen

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Kristen »

Yorkshire Kris wrote:The ones in the grow bags were ok for the other were rubbish.
The ones in the bags looked far too lush to me.
The ones in the terracotta pots looked the worse but should (in theory produce the best tasting fruit)
Agree that the ones in the pots looked starved, I reckon he ran out of time to feed them earlier. Should have started feeding when the first fruits set.
Kristen

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Kristen »

Dim wrote:If you grow for taste, choose a variety that suits your palette (super sweet, or old fashioned/heirloom acidic taste)
IME if they are too "Lush" the fruits will be watery (regardless of variety). But I have grown loads of varieties to taste-test the ones we like as a family (and suit the way I grow them etc.) Same with spuds. A few new varieties each year, together with the bulk which are varieties that we have liked in previous years. It makes for a hillarious family lunch on the terrace.:

Wife: "What are these then?"
Me: "XXX"
"Well they taste terrible, don't grow them again"
"Last year you said you liked them the most ... that's why I've grown them"
Both kids: "I like them"
:lol:
I have also read that some guys remove most of the leaves when the flowers start forming (they just leave 3 leaves per stem) .... apparently, it increases the yield? .... I might try that next year on 1 or 2 plants
Common practice to remove leaves from the bottom to allow air to the trusses as they develop. I think if reduced the amount of energy the plant can make and have never bothered. Perhaps I should try too! Don't overdo the pruning though ... although many people strip the plants almost bare at the end of the season to hasten the ripening of the fruit in the final days before frosts come ...

Take the tops out of your plants (indeterminate varieties only) a month before first frost for greenhouse, probably a bit earlier outdoors (although many outdoor varieties are determinate/bush so they'll just do their own thing :) )
Dim

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Dim »

Kristen wrote:
Common practice to remove leaves from the bottom to allow air to the trusses as they develop. I think if reduced the amount of energy the plant can make and have never bothered. Perhaps I should try too! Don't overdo the pruning though ... although many people strip the plants almost bare at the end of the season to hasten the ripening of the fruit in the final days before frosts come ...

Take the tops out of your plants (indeterminate varieties only) a month before first frost for greenhouse, probably a bit earlier outdoors (although many outdoor varieties are determinate/bush so they'll just do their own thing :) )
some guys say remove all leaves and just keep 3 .... here is a quote from a tomato forum from someone who tried it:

I read this last year on an american site and was VERY sceptical, but.............I tried it on half of my ten tomato plants and Guess what !! Yes they produced 50% more fruit than the other half.
Once the first truss of fruit has set, remove ALL leaves from below it. Then as the leaf stems become mature remove all but the top three leaves as they do (It looks as though you might have over done it and killed the plant, you haven't)
Three leave must be adequate surface area for photosynthesis so what you are doing in effect is reducing the ammount of plant that the roots need to nourish, therefor making more nourishment available for the fruit.
I promise you...........IT WORKS !!!
Kristen

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Kristen »

Dim wrote:some guys say remove all leaves and just keep 3
I've seen a video of that and all the comments on it were sceptical ... bit I haven't tried it. Do pls let me know if it works :)
Tom2006
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Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Tom2006 »

Ive chanced it a removed loads of leaves from mine. Fingers crossed.
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Dim

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Dim »

Tom2006 wrote:Ive chanced it a removed loads of leaves from mine. Fingers crossed.

keep us updated ... I'm too late as I think you have to sart removing the leaves from the time the plants make the 1st flowers and form fruits, but I will definately try it nest year

getting back on track about feeding tomatoes, here is a video of a guy who knows his fertilizers (read the comments where he describes what he does) .... he uses lots of fish fertilizer (I have been telling people about this for 2 years now) ...

his veg looks great

Mr List

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Mr List »

the guy he is copying from last years program said to feed them everyday. icon_scratch
Vagetarian

Re: Feeding tomatoes

Post by Vagetarian »

Poor things.

I agree with Dim, just grow decent tasting varieties in the first place and you can't really go wrong.

To Dim, I grew Sungold last year and they were great plants and fruits indeed. I then noticed the RHS tomato trial from a few years ago, they did Sungold side by side with one called Golden Sweet F1. I know this is hard to believe but Golden Sweet yielded about 30% more and scored a bit higher in brix readings too. I can confirm, that the plants are insanely good, been harvesting them since some time in early June.
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