Topic: To feed or not to feed ... that is the question

[Jitterbug]

Hi there

Sorry if I sound stupid but I really am not sure when to start feeding all my vegetable plants i.e. tomatoes, beans, aubergines, chilli peppers, etc.

I read Medwyn's advise and he says If you want to grow juicy tomatoes...
"Sow the seed around the third week of February in a propagator to benefit from juicy tomatoes from July through to October. Once the plants are visibly growing, give them a liquid feed which is high in nitrogen, followed by a balanced feed two weeks later. When the tomatoes start to show some colour, feed them again with a feed which has a high potash content. Any side shoots should be removed to encourage the plant to produce fruit, but don't throw them away. The shoots can be easily rooted by sticking them in some compost and placing them underneath the 'parent' plants for some initial shade – tomato plants for free!

I thought that you only fed tomatoes once flowers started appearing!!! and what does visibly growing mean?

Does everyone on this board agree with this and what about the other varieties I mentioned. ???

Regards

Jitterbug

[Curryandchips]

The approach which I have adopted, is to feed once the fruit 'sets' ie appears as small swellings at the back of the flower head. Feeding prior to this will encourage the whole plant to grow, but perhaps at the expense of making fruit, ie tomatoes, peppers etc. Once the fruit has appeared, the feed should be heavy in potassium, as this feeds the fruit, rather than the plant itself. Standard tomato feeds are formulated this way.

I don't feed beans, just make sure the ground is sufficiently rich to start with, using manure, compost and a top dressing of blood fish and bone.

[MikeB]

Once the plants are visibly growing, give them a liquid feed which is high in nitrogen, followed by a balanced feed two weeks later. When the tomatoes start to show some colour, feed them again with a feed which has a high potash content.

Reading the article as quoted you are only giving them two feeds before flowering, there is definitely no problem with that.  Last year as an experiment I included a liquid feed with EVERY watering session.  My plants were the strongest, most robust that I have ever had. I stopped the feeding when the second truss appeared and restarted the feed as per normal practice when the first truss had decent flowers.  I can't say that I had a better crop, but they didn't suffer from any disease and continued to produce into early October (very late summer last year)

[carloso]

In my tubs i have a sack full of muck and this yr there will be a small amount of comfery liquid also,
balanced as best so as not to be a normal strong dose but probably a lot milder dose than reccomended but of course more regular !! and seemed to do reasonably well also

carl

[Jitterbug]

Thanks for the replies....

Jitterbug