How to feed tomatoes in open ground for rapid fruit growth

Replanting is stressful for any plant.
Tomatoes also don't like to be disturbed. But sooner or later the seedlings must be planted in the garden. To make it easier for plants to survive planting and take root in a new place, they need to be fed properly. Our article today is devoted to this issue. In it we deal with various fertilizer options, fertilizing schemes and the nuances of the procedure. Dear readers! For you, we have created communities on social networks in which useful articles and interesting ideas are published several times a day! Subscribe and receive useful content in a convenient format!

What microelements do tomatoes need to grow after planting?

After transplanting tomatoes into open ground, they need microelements for development. The three main components of seedling growth are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. However, other elements are no less important: calcium, boron, magnesium, manganese, iron, sulfur.

A deficiency of any of these elements affects the appearance and health of the plant. It begins to hurt and is less resistant to pathogenic microflora and parasites. Flowering will be inconspicuous and the harvest will be meager. This is why high-quality, nutritious nutrition is important for tomatoes.

Why do tomatoes need fertilizing?

All plants, including tomatoes, develop poorly, get sick or even die when the necessary microelements do not enter their cells. Therefore, they actively select from the soil what nature put into it and man added. A lack of nutrients and various minerals immediately affects the appearance of tomatoes, the taste and quality of the fruit.

• Nitrogen in the soil allows young seedlings to fully grow all their green parts.
• Phosphorus provides strength, allows the metabolic process inside cells to proceed evenly, without it nitrogen is poorly absorbed.
• Potassium activates the transition of carbohydrates from leaves to fruits, sulfur stabilizes protein synthesis.

Tomatoes also need other microelements, the absence or deficiency of which affects the quality of the crop.

With a lack of phosphorus, tomatoes can lose their ovaries, and without potassium, they can dry out altogether, a lack of calcium will result in fruit blossom end rot, an iron deficiency will first manifest itself as interveinal yellowing of young leaves, and without further foliar feeding with iron preparations, brown spots will appear on the leaves.

Without copper, flower stalks will not be able to fully develop, boron affects the ability of plants to set fruit, magnesium is involved in photosynthesis, and zinc is involved in metabolism.

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Foliar feeding for tomatoes

In addition to the “classic” method of feeding tomatoes at the root, plants can be sprayed with nutritional compounds. This method of fertilizing is good when you need to quickly feed seedlings with a lack of some element or treat them against pests and diseases.

Foliar feeding is also necessary during prolonged rains. Due to the high soil moisture, it is impossible to apply fertilizers at the roots, but spraying will help the plant get the necessary nutrients.

The seedlings should be sprayed with a weakly concentrated working solution mixed with settled warm water. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening on a calm day. You can't spray tomatoes in the heat.

Rules for spring processing in open ground

The most important feature when feeding plants is consistency. Root feeding should only be done if the plant really needs nutrients.

Fertilizing involves enriching the soil with nutrients.

If the plant does not consume them, then microbes and harmful bacteria can feed on them, which can lead to negative consequences for the tomatoes themselves.

Therefore, it is very important not to overdo it with nutrition. It is better to underfeed plants than to overfeed them.

Root fertilizing is carried out on pre-moistened soil so that when fertilizer gets to the root of the plant it does not burn it. This feeding is carried out only after the plant has completely rooted, 2-3 weeks after planting.

Root feeding in open ground will not bring any effect if the air and soil temperatures are below 15ºC.

An important feature of foliar feeding is the possibility of its application immediately after planting the plant in the ground. It allows you to significantly save on fertilizers, since their consumption is minimal, but at the same time the effect of application increases.

Plants that are fertilized with foliar feeding usually set inflorescences 2-3 weeks earlier than those that were fertilized at the root.

Before treating plants with a solution, it is worth checking the composition on one of them; there are situations when the leaves and stems do not tolerate a particular type of fertilizer and the plant dies after such treatment.

How to spray tomatoes after planting for stress

To help tomatoes survive the stress of being transplanted to a permanent growing location, they can be sprayed with special preparations. Let's take a closer look at the most popular ones.

Epin

The working solution for spraying is prepared from 1 ml of Epin per 2 liters of water. This is the contents of 1 sachet ampoule. If you need to process more tomatoes, then calculate the dosage of the drug on the basis that for every liter of water you need half an ampoule of Epin.

Zircon

For 10 liters of water you need 1 ml of Zircon. To mix solutions of smaller volumes, use a regular pipette.

Kornevin

This drug can be used to increase the survival rate of seedlings and stimulate root formation. To prepare a working solution, you need 10 grams of product per 5 liters of water. 500 ml is consumed per bush.

succinic acid

Regular succinic acid tablets can also be used to treat stress in tomatoes. The norm for preparing the solution is the same as for root – 20 g per 10 liters.

Fertilizing for crop ripening

Barrel with herbal infusion

After the fruits set, adjustments must be made to the fertilizing. During this period, it is not recommended to give the plant shock doses of superphosphates or potassium fertilizers. All this had to be done at the flowering stage.

The role of fertilizing during ripening comes down not so much to filling the fruits with nutrients, but to stimulating the plant to produce these substances itself.

At this stage, you can use humates, or a natural source of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in the form of ordinary wood ash.

It is recommended to use ash fertilizer at this time, made according to the following recipe:

1One liter of ash is diluted in 3 liters of boiling water and mixed well

2After the solution has cooled, add another 2 liters of water and mix thoroughly again

3 Add 5 g of boric acid powder and 5 ml (half a bottle) of iodine from the first aid kit to the resulting suspension

4The solution is stirred and infused for 24 hours

5The resulting mixture is dissolved in water to a concentration of 1 to 10 and used for watering plants. Watering rate – 1 liter for 1 bush

How to water tomatoes after planting in the ground

Tomatoes respond well to the application of liquid fertilizers at the root. There are a lot of fertilizer options. You can use mineral products, organics, folk recipes, or ready-made complex formulations.

ON A NOTE. Liquid nutritional formulations should be added to the diet no earlier than 2 weeks after transplantation. It is by this time that the tomatoes will finally take root in the new place and will be able to receive adequate nutrition from the soil.

Let's consider what you can water the tomatoes with after planting them in the ground.

How to apply mineral fertilizers

Let's start with mineral fertilizers. The concentration of active substances in them is quite high, so the volume of applied fertilizer is small compared, for example, with the same organic matter.

Potassium sulfate

One of the best mineral fertilizers containing potassium. The product can be either dissolved in water or applied dry. The consumption rate of the drug is 20 grams per bucket of water or square meter of tomato beds.

Urea

The best option for feeding after transplantation. Especially if the seedlings have not grown. Urea is a source of nitrogen, which plants need for the growth of shoots, stems and leaves. It is good to water the seedlings with a urea solution two weeks after transplantation to stimulate their growth and development. The norm is 2 tablespoons per bucket of water. Water 1 liter per plant.

All the details of using urea are in our article “Urea (urea): fertilizer, use in the garden.”

Ammonium nitrate

This is an alternative to urea. The working solution is prepared from 20 grams of saltpeter dissolved in 10 liters of water. Fertilizer should be applied carefully at the root, without getting on the stems and leaves of the tomatoes.

Superphosphate

Source of phosphorus. It can be applied either separately or as part of a complex fertilizer with mullein and wood ash. It is rarely used as the first feeding, but superphosphate is indispensable when tomatoes begin to flower and set fruit.

Liquid fertilizer is prepared from 20 grams of granular product per 1 bucket of water. Consumption rate – 1 liter per bush.

More about the use of the product in our article “Superphosphate: fertilizer, use in the garden.”

How to use organic fertilizers

Organics have been used for fertilizers for hundreds of years, but have still not lost their relevance. If you prefer environmentally friendly farming, then this type of fertilizing will be your choice.

Manure

Cow dung must rot. Only then can it be used to feed tomatoes. To prepare the working solution, rotted manure is mixed with water in a ratio of 1 to 10 and left to infuse for 1-2 days. The resulting concentrate is diluted 1 to 4 and used for irrigation. Mullein is a source of many microelements. To avoid burning the roots of the plants, be sure to moisten the soil underneath them first.

Chicken droppings

For 1 kg of fertilizer you need 20 liters of water. The components are thoroughly mixed and poured into a container with a closing lid. The fertilizer is infused there for a week. The working solution is prepared from 1 liter of concentrate per bucket of water.

For details on using fertilizer, see the article “Chicken manure as a fertilizer: how to dilute and use it to feed plants.”

Wood ash

Ash can be added to the hole when planting tomatoes. A spoonful of product is enough. An infusion is also prepared from wood ash. The recipe is this: pour a glass of ash with a liter of boiling water and leave for a day. The next day, bring the volume of liquid to 10 liters, mix thoroughly and water the plants.

ON A NOTE. You can dust the leaves of the seedlings with ash about once a month. This is both a potassium supplement and protection against pests. But the ash must first be crushed into flour.

Herbal infusion

This fertilizer is prepared from finely chopped weeds and nettles. The grass is filled with water and left to infuse for a week. Then a working solution is prepared from it in a ratio of 1 to 20 with clean water.

This fertilizer is a source of nitrogen, so it is advisable to use it during the first fertilizing, when the tomatoes are growing stems and leaves.

The fertilizer can also be used immediately after planting tomatoes in open ground.

How to feed tomatoes using folk remedies after planting

You can prepare a fairly effective means for feeding tomatoes using improvised means.

Let's look at the most effective folk recipes for feeding tomato seedlings after transplanting into open ground.

Milk serum

Used to prevent late blight. The working solution is prepared by mixing equal proportions of whey and water (for example, 2 liters of whey and 2 liters of water). Treatment is carried out by spraying.

Boric acid

Spraying with boric acid stimulates flowering and bud formation. To prepare the working solution, you need to dilute 1 teaspoon in a bucket of water.

Ammonia

A solution of ammonia can be used for both root and foliar treatment of tomatoes. You only need 2 tablespoons of product per bucket of water. This fertilizer will saturate the plants with nitrogen, which will allow them to accelerate their growth.

Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds contain many nutrients essential for healthy tomato growth. A teaspoon of grounds is embedded in the soil under the tomato and watered. It is organic, so it decomposes well, saturating the soil with the necessary elements.

Yeast

Yeast feeding is excellent for stimulating root formation. You can use both dry and live yeast. First, make a mother liquor from 1 packet of dry yeast, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1.5 liters of warm water. The solution is left to ferment for 3 days. Then the volume of liquid is adjusted to 10 liters and the plants are watered.

What preparations can be used for plants planted in the ground?

In the following table we have collected for you ready-made preparations that you can use to feed tomatoes for better growth.

Traditional recipes for feeding

You can also fertilize the soil for tomatoes with traditional fertilizers. Let's look at the most popular of them.

Schemes for applying fertilizers for seedlings after planting

In order for the seedlings to take root better, it is advisable to feed them in accordance with a certain scheme. This way the seedlings will receive all the necessary microelements on time. Let's look at feedings by month.

How to feed in May

May is the month of planting seedlings in open ground. The first feeding is carried out after 2 weeks. Typically, nitrogen fertilizer is chosen, but a complex organic-mineral mixture can be used. For example, 500 grams of chicken manure, 30 grams of superphosphate, 15 grams of potassium sulfate and 10 liters of water.

If you don’t want to bother with preparing the mixture, you can use any of the complex products presented in the table above.

Feeding in June

June is usually the time for tomatoes to bloom. At this time, it is better to use potassium and phosphorus fertilizers and not overdo it with nitrogen fertilizing.

At this stage, you can spray the tomatoes with boric acid to stimulate flowering.

You can also use the following recipe: dissolve 2 liter mugs of ash in a bucket of hot water and add a bag of boric acid. The solution is infused for a day and then used for watering, using 1 liter of the drug per plant.

An alternative is mineral potassium-phosphorus fertilizer. For the same volume of water you need 15 grams of potassium sulfate and twice as much superphosphate. The solution is stirred until the granules are completely dissolved and watered at the rate of 500 ml per plant.

At the same time, you can spray with a solution of whey and iodine.

Table of phased application of fertilizers

This handy sign will help you find the answer to the question of when, what and how many times you can feed tomatoes in open ground or a greenhouse.

Lunar landing calendar for June 2022

Read: Fertilizing strawberries during flowering and fruiting

You may be interested in: How to feed tomatoes after planting in open ground in 2022: timing, best means

Also important: Favorable days according to the lunar calendar for planting cucumbers in May and June 2021

What fertilizers are used to prevent diseases?

Unfortunately, tomatoes often suffer from late blight. To prevent the development of the disease, treat with Fitosporin. This is a natural remedy that does not harm plants at all. For information on how to use it correctly, read our article “Fitosporin M instructions for use, how and why to use it.”

Also, a week after transplantation, tomatoes can be treated with a solution of whey and iodine. This product will help the tomatoes survive transplantation and will also act as a means of preventing fungal diseases. Processing is carried out per sheet. Recipe: 9 liters of water, 1 liter of whey, 10 drops of iodine.

How to properly feed tomatoes

During the season, tomatoes are fertilized at least 5 times: during transplantation, twice during the growing season, and at least 2 times during the fruiting period.

Root feeding

Root feeding of tomatoes is usually carried out before active fruiting begins. Before fertilizing, be sure to moisten the soil under the roots. Tomatoes located in open areas are fertilized in the morning at dawn, in the afternoon, when the scorching sun is behind the clouds, or in the early evening. Plants in greenhouses are fed in the morning so that they have time to absorb minerals during the day.

Foliar feeding

Spraying of plants with liquid compounds is carried out in calm weather early in the morning and in the evening after sunset. For foliar feeding of tomatoes, sprayers with a small spray nozzle and a long handle are used. This is necessary so that mineral solutions can get not only on the surface of the leaf plates, but also on the undersides of the leaves.

Precautionary measures

When working with fertilizers, you need to take precautions. First, you need to avoid harming yourself. And, secondly, do not harm the plants.

• Be sure to wear gloves when diluting the working solution. This is especially true when working with mineral fertilizers.
• Do not exceed the concentration of the active drug. An excess of nutrients is even more harmful than a lack of them.
• Apply root fertilizers only to moist soil.
• Be sure to dilute organic matter with water. Pure organic fertilizers will burn the roots of tomatoes.

How to apply fertilizer

Top dressing

There are several global concepts for feeding tomatoes. They all use approximately the same “feed base” in the form of fertilizers used, but they differ in the timing of their application and the amount of fertilizing during cultivation.

The most popular versions are the following:

1Feeding is carried out three times per season. At the same time, there should be no intermediate fertilizing, even if it has a “medical” focus (that is, used to treat a plant against fungi or pests).

2Similar to the one given earlier, but there are four such feedings per season

3Regular feeding every 12-15 days (twice a month, once every two weeks, etc.)

Ultimately, the choice depends on the desire of the gardener or his ability to appear on the site. From the point of view of agricultural technology, all of the above schemes have the right to exist and are quite successfully applied.

It should be noted that the first two options operate with higher concentrations of fertilizers than the third and for their successful implementation certain rules must be followed.

Typically, fertilizing is combined with watering the plants.

These rules consist of observing the maximum permissible rates of fertilizer application, as well as the compatibility of various types of fertilizing.

One of the basic rules when using mineral fertilizers is not to apply only one component. Any mineral fertilizer should be applied together with a substance that neutralizes or weakens its negative effects.

For example, during the spring, to stimulate the growth of green mass, you should not add only urea, since ammonia is released during its decomposition. The harmful effects of ammonia can be neutralized by adding urea along with potassium fertilizers.

There are complex fertilizers that do not have this disadvantage (superphosphate, nitrophos, potassium salt, etc.), however, it is often necessary to use monocomponent fertilizers and this circumstance must be remembered.

Technically, feeding tomatoes can be done at the root, or in a foliar way - by spraying the leaves.

Answers to frequently asked questions

When is the first feeding done after transplantation?

Planned – after 2 weeks. If the tomatoes did not tolerate planting well, then foliar feeding can be done already on the 3rd day.

What is the best way to feed tomatoes?

Complex fertilizing is the most effective. If you are just starting out in vegetable growing, buy ready-made fertilizer and follow the instructions for its preparation and use.

The role of fertilizers in growing tomatoes

Experienced gardeners believe: even if tomato plants are formed correctly, have a developed root system and are planted on fertile soil, you will not get a rich harvest without additional nutritional supplements .

Important! It has been experimentally proven that with proper fertilizing, the yield of tomatoes increases by 20-30%.

Next, we will consider the basic rules for feeding tomatoes.

How to determine what tomatoes are missing by appearance

To find out what you need to fertilize tomatoes with and what fertilizer you should avoid at the moment, you need to carefully consider the appearance of the plants. The location of the signs of a disease can indicate its causes.

Some of the chemicals in tomatoes can move to younger shoots, then changes will affect older leaves. This happens with nitrogen, zinc, magnesium, potassium or phosphorus.

There are substances that come to young shoots only from the outside; it will not be possible to “beg” them from other parts of the plant. In this case, signs of deficiency will be visible on new tomato shoots. This applies to iron, copper, manganese, calcium, sulfur.

The following appearance of tomatoes will indicate a lack of nitrogen:

• the lower leaves turn yellow;
• the growth of tomatoes slows down;
• new leaves are paler and smaller;
• the color of the plants changes to yellow-green;
• roots are weak, thin;
• Small fruits are set.

Excess nitrogen will manifest itself in lush growth of the above-ground part with a decrease in fruit formation; tomatoes ripen later and are more susceptible to disease. Yellow spots form on the leaf blades, which leads to their curling and death.

With a lack of potassium, vegetable growers observe:

• the appearance of a yellow border on the lower leaves of tomatoes followed by their death;
• curling of young leaves;
• stopping the growth of plants, their drying out;
• uneven coloring of fruits.

Due to excess phosphorus, tomato leaves turn yellow and begin to fall off. A deficiency of this element can be assumed if:

• tomato leaves acquire a bluish-greenish tint, the underside of the plates becomes reddish;
• leaves curl inward;
• the stems become purple;
• tomatoes grow poorly, “wither”, have small growth;
• rusty coating on the roots;
• slowing down the ripening of tomatoes, the fruits have a bronze tint.

Zinc deficiency in tomatoes causes the following changes:

• yellow specks appear on the lower leaves, quickly turning into foci of necrosis;
• new leaves grow small, curled with yellow spots.

Magnesium deficiency gives tomato leaves a characteristic appearance:

• the lower leaves of the tomato begin to turn yellow, starting from the center;
• the leaves curl upside down and begin to die.
• the lesion takes over the plant from the bottom up.

Calcium deficiency manifests itself as damage to young shoots:

• new leaves look “scorched”, starting from the tips, yellow spots form;
• the appearance of blossom end rot (spots on the tops of tomatoes);
• slowdown in tomato growth;
• dark green color and increase in size of old leaves;
• death of plant tops.

If tomatoes lack sulfur, the gardener will observe:

• change in color of the upper leaves (yellow with bluish-red veins);
• thinning of stems and their lignification.

The need to feed tomatoes with boric acid is indicated by the following changes:

• the color of the apical leaves changes to lighter, starting from the petiole;
• curvature downwards of the very top of the tomato;
• brown color of the veins of diseased leaves;
• poor formation of the ovary;
• the appearance of brown spots on the fruit.

Tomatoes signal a lack of iron as follows:

• leaf blades begin to turn yellow from the base;
• the color of the apical leaves changes from yellow-green to yellow-white;
• the color of the veins remains normal;
• slowing down tomato growth.

Manganese deficiency symptoms are similar in appearance to iron deficiency. The difference lies in the more pronounced and uneven coloring of the veins of the apical leaves.

Additional Tips and Warnings

• The less enriched the soil is with substances, the more important feeding is.
• When preparing fertilizers, you should adhere to strict dosages.
• In cold and dry conditions, nutrients are less absorbed, so fertilizing will not be as effective.

You probably won’t find a more popular vegetable crop among summer residents than tomatoes. It is important to know what a tomato “loves” and what environment is most comfortable for it. There are many different opinions among the options for feeding tomatoes, but certain conditions must be observed. The type of fertilizer composition should be selected depending on the development of the plant .

Basic filling of soil for planting tomatoes

Correctly filled soil for planting tomatoes will allow you to direct all the plant’s forces from the first days to forming a full-fledged harvest and will ensure resistance to the development of diseases. The work is carried out in two stages:

• In autumn.

For digging up the soil (digging depth 20-25 cm). Apply 5-8 kg of organic fertilizers (humus, peat, compost, wood ash) per 1 square meter. m. soil. When applying horse manure, the application rate is reduced to 3-4 kg.

• In the spring.

Apply complex mineral fertilizer (nitrophoska) or a mixture of superphosphate, urea, and potassium sulfate. The soil is dug up to a depth of 10-20 cm.

For spring refueling, organic fertilizers are used if they were not applied in the fall.

Organic fertilizers are not only a source of nutrition. They contribute to the development of beneficial microflora, which, as a result of their vital activity, significantly improves soil structure and air exchange.

Full filling of the soil before planting allows you to reduce the number of fertilizing after planting the seedlings on the beds. If a full complex of fertilizers was applied before planting, then no fertilizer is applied during planting.

Why do you need to feed tomatoes?

Good seedlings require fertile soil . But when choosing soil, gardeners are often guided by its other qualities: breathability, moisture permeability, good composition mechanics. They are more often concerned about the absence of pathogenic flora in the soil than about the long-term supply of useful elements.

The seedlings will grow without fertilizers for tomatoes; for the first time, the substances inside the seeds will be enough for them. But rapidly developing plants require more and more nutrition as they grow.

When seedlings are kept in limited quantities, starvation inevitably occurs. Starvation is eliminated only by feeding.

Have vegetables grown without fertilizing before?

You can often hear that everything used to grow without fertilizing, of course. Our ancestors didn’t subscribe to newspapers, didn’t have the Internet, didn’t read smart books, but somehow managed to feed the whole of Europe.

But for some reason people forget that peasant families used to cultivate the land from generation to generation, traditions and competent work on it were instilled in them from childhood. The farming culture was high, no work was carried out at random. In addition, the land was cultivated without heavy equipment and 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 fertilize the soil - manure, ash, fallen leaves. Clay, sand, bottom silt, peat, and chalk were brought from nearby forests, ravines, rivers or swamps. Our wise predecessors found application for everything.

Signs of battery shortage

Sometimes we do everything right, but the tomatoes grow and bear fruit poorly. There seem to be no pests, the disease cannot be determined, but the tomato bush is clearly suffering. This may be caused by a lack of some kind of battery. We will teach you how to determine which one based on external signs.