Like all heavy feeders, tomatoes also need regular fertilization so that they grow healthily, bloom profusely and bear lots of fruit. Various natural fertilizers support the vegetables at every stage and provide them with the necessary nutrients for a rich harvest. We explain how often you should fertilize the tomatoes and what to take into account when using organic fertilizers.
Tomatoes are fertilized differently in every phase - budding, growth, flower and fruit formation. There is no best fertilizer for tomatoes - instead, they are strengthened at every stage with different organic fertilizers.
Horn shavings for tomatoes: This is how much natural fertilizer the vegetables need
Tomatoes are supplied with nutrients when they are planted. They need humus-rich soil so that they sprout quickly. At the start of the gardening season, compost is worked into the soil. If you missed it, you can catch up in June and scatter horn shavings in the root area. A nutrient deficiency can quickly arise, especially with potted plants if the soil volume is small anyway. Regular fertilization should be given from the end of May. In June you fertilize the tomatoes with horn shavings as follows:
- Potted plants – once a week
- Outdoor plants – every two weeks
- In the greenhouse – every 10 days
Fertilize tomatoes with milk and increase resistance to aphids
Tomato plants are often attacked by aphids, especially in June. To avoid this, the plant must be strengthened. Milk not only contains all the important nutrients, but can also successfully fight aphids and prevent mildew. For this purpose, the healthy tomato plants must be sprayed every 3 weeks with a solution of skimmed milk / or buttermilk / and water in a ratio of 1 to 8. All parts of the plant are sprayed, but especially the leaves are sprayed above and below. If the plants are infected with aphids, spray the tomatoes with milk on three consecutive days.
How often the plants supply yeast and sugar
Yeast and sugar contain valuable nutrients that can promote fruit formation. So when you see that the tomatoes are blooming, you can start fertilizing them. During this period, fertilization with horn shavings is stopped. Instead, from mid-June onwards, plants that are flowering or already bearing fruit are supplied with yeast-sugar fertilizer every 10 days. To do this, simply pour 500 ml of lukewarm water into a bucket and dissolve 5 g of yeast and 10 g of brown sugar or molasses in it. So that the tomato plants water from below every 10 days.
Make nettle manure and promote fruit formation
A similar effect can also be achieved with nettle manure. Like the sugar-yeast liquid fertilizer, the manure is also administered to promote fruit formation. Normally the manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1 to 5. From my experience, however, the tomato also tolerates undiluted nettle manure quite well. It has a particularly good effect on potted plants, which need more nutrients than outdoor plants.
Mixing the manure with compost also brings good results. This creates a biological long-term fertilizer that gradually supplies the tomato plants with everything they need.
The manure is administered every three weeks. Normally you can mix them with the irrigation water once in mid-June and once at the beginning of August.
How often to provide tomatoes with potassium fertilizer?
Natural fertilizers, which are rich in potassium, promote flower formation and shorten the ripening time. They are used when the tomato plants have already produced their first fruits. You can also make your own potassium fertilizer. For this purpose, use 1.5 kg of dandelion leaves, which you put in a bucket and pour lukewarm water over. The bucket with the manure is then placed uncovered in a sunny spot in the garden and remains there for 2 weeks. You can then water the tomatoes with it.
What should you not fertilize tomatoes with during the flowering period?
Nitrogen fertilizers promote tomato growth but can slow flower formation. Therefore, you should not give manure from the beginning of June. This natural fertilizer is rich in nitrogen.
If your tomato plants still don't have any flowers in mid-June, but are growing splendidly and keep producing new leaves, then you may have over-fertilized them or fertilized them incorrectly.
How often to fertilize tomatoes: the most important things summarized
Begin fertilizing around the beginning of May. Then the young plants have already developed sufficient roots and are putting their energy into leaf formation.
- Promote leaf formation in May with horn shavings.At the start of the gardening season in the vegetable garden, the young tomatoes are fertilized with compost and horn shavings.
- Increase resistance to aphids with milk.From the end of May, the tomatoes are sprayed with milk-water every two or three weeks.
- Fertilizer with yeast and sugar or nettle manure increases yields.Start fertilizing at the beginning of June to shorten the fruit ripening time and increase yields.
- Shortly before the end of the harvest season, stop fertilizing.
