Top dressing of tomatoes: recipes, what fertilizers and when to use

For growing high yields, the timely application of fertilizers for tomatoes is important. They will provide seedlings with nutrition and accelerate their growth and fruit formation. In order for top dressing tomato to be effective, it must be done correctly, in compliance with the timing and amount of minerals.

The composition and frequency of use of fertilizers depend on several factors – the type of soil, the place where tomatoes are grown, the condition of seedlings.

Soil preparation

For tomatoes, the soil should be prepared in the fall. When digging, manure, humus, phosphate and potash fertilizers are added to the ground. If the soil is loamy, peat or sawdust must be added. Sour – are known.

The table shows the proportions that should be observed when fertilizing for tomatoes:

Trace elements needed for tomatoes

Seedlings should receive all minerals in sufficient quantities. By its appearance, you can determine the deficiency of one or another element:

• with a lack of nitrogen, growth slows down, the bushes wither, and the leaves of tomatoes become paler;
• fast-growing lush bushes indicate an excess of nitrogen and the need to reduce it;
• with a deficiency of phosphorus, the leaves become purple, and with an excess of it, they fall off;
• if there is too much phosphorus in the soil, and there is not enough nitrogen and potassium, the leaves of tomatoes begin to curl.

Plants obtain the main amounts of essential minerals with the help of the root system, so they are applied to the soil. The composition and amount of fertilizers vary depending on the stage of growth of tomatoes, soil fertility and weather. For example, if it turned out to be a cool summer and few sunny days, you need to increase the potassium content in top dressing for tomatoes.

fertilizers

All known fertilizers for tomatoes are divided into two large groups. Minerals are inorganic substances.

They have benefits such as:

• availability;
• getting a quick effect;
• cheapness;
• ease of transportation.

Of the nitrogen fertilizers for tomatoes, urea is usually used. It is applied during nitrogen starvation of plants up to 20 g per well. From potash, it is better to choose potassium sulfate, since tomatoes react negatively to the presence of chlorine. With a deficiency of potassium, its sulfate salt will be an excellent top dressing for tomatoes. Mineral substance – superphosphate is the best fertilizer for any type of soil.

Organic fertilizers are represented by manure, peat, compost, green fertilizers in the form of herbs. With the help of manure, microelements and nutrients are introduced into the soil, and the plant mass contains compounds of potassium, calcium, magnesium. Organic fertilizers promote healthy tomato growth.

Types of dressings

Top dressing of tomatoes is made in two ways. Root – consists in watering the bushes under the root with fertilizers dissolved in water.

When foliar top dressing of tomatoes, leaves and stems are sprayed with a nutrient solution. The concentration of the solution for treating bushes should be much less. This method quickly saturates the seedlings with microelements and saves fertilizers. Spraying is carried out in small doses, but often. It is undesirable to use chlorinated water. Many summer residents prefer to collect rainwater.

Feeding seedlings before planting in the ground

The first feeding of tomatoes is recommended after the appearance of two leaves. Seedlings are watered with a dilute solution of urea.

After 7-8 days, the second feeding of tomatoes is carried out – this time with bird droppings. Litter in half with water is kept for two days, and before use it is diluted 10 times. After such top dressing, seedlings will give good growth.

Before planting tomatoes, for 5-6 days you can feed them again with a solution of ash.

Feeding scheme

Tomatoes need food and after planting in the ground, there should be three or four of them per season. You need to start after the seedlings have adapted to the new conditions – in about a week or two.

First feeding

To strengthen the roots, the formation of ovaries, phosphorus and potash fertilizers are needed. It is better not to abuse ammonium nitrate, otherwise nitrogen will ensure the rapid growth of seedlings and lush greenery, but at the same time the number of ovaries will decrease.

Many gardeners, instead of mineral fertilizers, prefer to use folk remedies for feeding tomatoes:

• one of the best are ash top dressings – ash contains almost all trace elements that are useful for tomatoes;
• until the fruits set, organic feeding of tomatoes with the help of bird droppings and manure is also useful;
• herbal infusions will be an excellent liquid fertilizer – an infusion of young nettle gives a particularly good effect, as potassium, nitrogen and iron accumulate in its leaves.

What fertilizers are needed for tomatoes, each gardener decides for himself.

To disinfect the soil, seedlings should be watered with a solution of pale pink potassium permanganate.

Folk remedies for feeding

An excellent tomato growth stimulator is an infusion of eggshells. It is prepared simply, like all folk remedies. The crushed shells from three eggs are poured with three liters of water and infused until the smell of hydrogen sulfide appears. The solution is diluted and used to water seedlings.

It is useful to feed tomatoes with yeast. Thanks to them:

• the soil under the tomatoes is enriched with beneficial microflora;
• the root system becomes more powerful;
• seedlings become more hardy and resist diseases well.

The recipe for making a yeast solution is simple. You can use baker’s yeast in briquettes, but sachets of dry yeast will also work. In a bucket of warm water, dissolve 2,5 teaspoons of a dry product, add a spoon or two of sugar and leave for a day. Each bush is watered under the root.

Yeast top dressing for tomatoes goes well with ash or herbal infusion, but it should not be done more than twice a summer – the first time, about 14-15 days after planting the seedlings, and the second time before flowering.

Easy to prepare and fertilizer for tomato from herbs. All the weeded grass from the beds, a small amount of nettles are put into a barrel or other spacious container and filled with water. To speed up fermentation, add a little sugar or old jam to the mixture – about two tablespoons per bucket of water. Then the barrel is covered with a lid or an old bag until the end of fermentation.

The period of formation of ovaries

The timing of the second top dressing of tomatoes is associated with the onset of fruit formation. At this time, you can use a solution of Iodine – four drops in a bucket of water. Iodine will increase the resistance of tomatoes to fungal diseases, as well as accelerate the formation of fruits.

You can prepare a complex top dressing for tomatoes according to the following recipe:

• Pour 8 cups of wood ash with boiling water in a volume of five liters and stir;
• after cooling the solution, add ten grams of dry boric acid to it;
• pour ten drops of iodine and leave for 24 hours.

 Before use, dilute ten times and water the tomato bushes.

Complex top dressing

According to the tomato feeding scheme, the next treatment is carried out after a break of two weeks. For her, a mixture is prepared that contains all the necessary substances:

• in a large container, two-thirds of the crushed mass of nettle and dandelion is placed with the addition of manure;
• the container is filled with water and closed with a film;
• the mixture should ferment for ten days.

Before feeding tomatoes, one liter of concentrate is taken in a bucket of water. Watering is done under the root – three liters per bush. To speed up ripening and improve the keeping quality of tomatoes, you can feed the tomatoes with comfrey infusion at the end of July.

foliar spraying

If the seedlings are distinguished by a weak thin stem, a small number of small leaves and bloom poorly, foliar top dressing of tomatoes will help well:

• the yellowness of the leaves with a lack of nitrogen can be removed with a dilute solution of ammonia;
• when ovaries are formed, seedlings are treated with a solution of superphosphate;
• iodine solution with the addition of milk;
• boric acid;
• a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• from rot on the tops of the bushes and from the tick, a solution of calcium nitrate will help;
• tomato seedlings are simply transformed by regularly spraying the leaves with a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide in water, as their cells are filled with atomic oxygen;
• effective against late blight solution of copper sulphate;
• with a lack of potassium, a three-day infusion of banana peel can be used as a fertilizer for tomatoes;
• against diseases, an infusion or decoction of onion peel is an excellent remedy.

As a top dressing for tomatoes, many gardeners prepare a product from several components – boric acid, copper sulfate, magnesia, potassium permanganate and laundry soap chips dissolved in water. Such a complex foliar top dressing will enrich the tomatoes with essential minerals, strengthen the leaves and ovaries, while disinfecting them from pathogenic microflora. To protect the leaves from burns, you need to dilute it.

Proper feeding

When carrying out top dressing for tomatoes, certain rules must be observed so as not to harm the bushes and get a greater effect from processing:

• the solution should not be too cold or hot, a sharp temperature drop should be avoided;
• each new remedy is first tested on one plant;
• we must remember that tomatoes do not like excess organic matter;
• top dressing of tomatoes should be carried out in the evening;
• it is impossible to make root dressing of tomatoes on dry soil, you must first water the bushes with just water, otherwise they may get burned;
• tomato leaves can also get burned if liquid fertilizers get on them.

Top dressing for tomatoes in greenhouses

In greenhouses, the initial top dressing of tomatoes should be carried out 15-20 days after they are transplanted. Liquid fertilizer is prepared by dissolving 25 g of urea and 15 g of potassium sulfate in a volume of 10 liters of water. Watering consumption is one liter per bush.

The second time the bushes of tomatoes are fed, with their mass flowering. Top dressing for tomatoes is necessary for the appearance of strong ovaries at the next stage. A tablespoon of potash fertilizer and half a liter of bird droppings and manure are consumed per bucket of solution. Each bush should receive up to one and a half liters of liquid. With a lack of organic matter, you can add a tablespoon of nitrophoska. To prevent the occurrence of blossom end rot on tomatoes, they should be sprayed with calcium nitrate – a tablespoon per bucket.

When the ovaries are formed, top dressing of tomatoes is carried out with a solution of ash (2 l), boric acid (10 g) in a bucket of hot water. For better dissolution, the liquid is infused for a day. Up to one liter of solution is consumed for each bush.

Once again, tomato fertilizer is used during mass fruiting to improve the taste of fruits and accelerate their ripening. For irrigation, a tablespoon of liquid sodium humate with two tablespoons of superphosphate is taken on a bucket.

The timing of top dressing of tomatoes can be adjusted depending on the climate, soil composition, and seedling condition. Each gardener decides for himself, based on his experience, which feeding scheme to choose. It is important to provide tomatoes with all the necessary substances in order to get a rich and tasty harvest.