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Tomato Food 5kg
This isn’t just any Tomato food. This is a completely balanced food providing all but a couple of trace elements (that can not be provided in this form) required for great tasting Tomatoes.
Tomatoes need from memory 56 minerals and trace elements to taste as they should. Many store bought ones are grown with as few as 16. Thats why the store bought tomatoes taste like S>*T.
If you want GREAT tasting tomatoes use this.
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SUCCESSFUL TOMATO TIPS AND POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
Growing your own tomatoes is a favorite pastime for many gardeners and very rewarding when you can successfully harvest an abundance of tomatoes not only for your own use, but to give away surplus to friends and family. Some years you can throw a few plants in the garden and with very little attention gain an abundance of fruit. On other years you can spend a lot of time caring for plants to lose most of them, and only barely harvest sufficient tomatoes for your own needs. So why the difference? Weather has a lot to do with it and if the weather is warm and humid you are likely to find the disease Late Blight attacking the plants. Or if the weather is cool and wet then Early Blight will be your enemy.
Either of these two diseases, if left to their own devices will decimate your plants resulting in all plants dying or only a few surviving to crop. Looking at the weather pattern this season I would suggest that one or the other of these diseases are most likely to occur in many parts of NZ. There are two means of protection that can be used without having to resort to harmful chemicals. External protection can stop the disease establishing on the plants by a two weekly spray of Liquid Copper with Raingard added. This should be started on the young plants as soon as, and continued through till the moisture content in the air is considerably reduced. Watering, kept to the root zone keeping the soil moist, but not wet. There is a excellent internal protection that builds up the immune system of the plants, helping to prevent the diseases getting established called Perkfection It is sprayed on to the plants once a month and can be added to the copper spray every second time. I have actually saved tomato plants, badly affected with blight, from dying by using this product. These plants lost all the fruit that were on, but later fruit was fine. There is no withholding period for Perkfection.
Another disease that takes tomato plants out fairly quickly is Botrytis or stem rot. The first sign of this disease is the plants look limp as if they need a drink of water. Starting at the top, most leaves have the drooping effect, which journeys down the plant. You can be fooled in the early stages of the disease as the plants seem to recover late in the day when the air cools at dusk. A careful inspection of the plant will reveal a darkened area around the trunk or branches of the plant. Another change will occur in that bumps or small knobs will appear on the trunk just above the area that is darkening. This is the tomato trying to send out aerial roots to save its life. The dark area is cutting off the flow of nutrients and moisture from the roots to the upper foliage. This area will rot right through and both top and root system will die. Sometimes there maybe laterals growing below this darkened area and these will be unaffected and will keep the roots supplied with energy. The rest of the plant will wilt and die. If this is the case you are best to cut off the dying top, below the darkened area where there is clean wood and let the remainder of the plant grow on.
What causes the disease? It happens when you remove laterals (side shoots) off the plant and don’t protect the damaged area. The disease enters the plant where the lateral was removed and establishes in the trunk (sometimes in branches). You should protect the area where you remove the lateral by squirting some ‘Pruning Spray’ immediately. Another possibility is the tomato plant rubbing on the stake bruising the skin and allowing the disease to enter. Use a soft nylon material to tie the plants to the stake and wrap some of the material around the stake itself, to create a soft cushion on the stake where the plant is going to tie to it, to stop chaffing. Also ensure that there are several ties all the way up the plant, to the stake, too not only give more ridged support but also to stop damage to the plant from heavy developing fruit. If you have a Supertom you are going to need several stakes, one for each of the laterals that become big fruit bearers. This may also apply to ordinary tomatoes if you allow a number of laterals to become bearers.
Other points; Do not bury Supertoms deep, to cover the two root stocks. Normal tomatoes should be buried up to the first set of leaves when planting out, as they will root up, in all the trunk area, giving a better root system. Keep plants evenly moist, especially container grown plants, to prevent ‘Blossom End Rot'(Black scab on base of fruit) Don’t drown the plant especially when young. Even feeding with a fast-slow release fertiliser is best, such as my own preparation called ‘Tomato Food with Neem’which contains extra potassium and magnesium, vital for juicy, good flavoured fruit. Best to water in with Black Gold Botanic Liquid)
If you are using other tomato foods it would pay to give each plant about a teaspoon of Fruit and Flower Blend every 4-6 weeks. For the extra potassium and magnesium. Remember that tomatoes do best in full sun but sheltered from wind. If you only have open exposed spots, try putting 4 stakes into the ground around the plant and sliding clear plastic bags over the stakes with the bag’s bottom cut out. More bags can be added as the tomato plant grows taller. You may need to brace the top of the stakes to keep them apart with a couple of slats of wood, nailed in a cross pattern and tacked to the tops of the stakes. Another point from last season was that tomato plants suffered because of the UV levels due to the ozone hole. Smaller leaves, curled and lack of vigor were the symptoms. A spray of Vaporgard could greatly assist if this happens.
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