Re: [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Tomato plants.
My tomatoes, which are organically grown in mineralized soil always die
of late blight. We have nights in the 50s F throughout the year.
Early Girl works quite well, compared to others. This year I trialed
New Girl with quite a bit of success - better flavor, though they are
quite small. Small is not necessarily a disadvantage; these might
replace Sungold Cherry Tomatoes in my garden. That's saying alot.
Sungolds are very good cherry tomatoes.
I also trialed Defiant, the new late blight resistant tomato from
Johnnies, for a late crop, which I harvested in mid October. The flavor
is less than spectacular, but better than supermarket tomatos. They are
are likely to replace Longkeeper and Gold Treasure Storage Tomatos in my
garden. They do seem to be fairly late blight resistant. But, I may
try some late planted Early Girls next year too, as the Early Girls have
far better flavor. Maybe plant some New Girls late too.
One growing technique which seems to help is to grow the tomatoes in
spun polyester tunnels. Keeps the dew off, and is a bit warmer as not
so much radiation to the sky happens.
On very cool summers like 2010, I draped the polyester over the caged
plants when they outgrew the tunnels.
I foliar feed with kelp fairly often - I think this might help.
Avoid overhead watering, though misting during times of low (25%)
humidity is helpful.
I do cage the tomatoes, mulch with straw, and use drip irrigation, which
I discontinue as they begin to turn red. Cutting the water shortens
their life and risks blossom end rot if it is re-started, but it greatly
improves the tomatoes flavor.
I never have pruned tomato plants, so I don't know much about the
benefits. As I usually grow over 35 plants it would be quite alot of
work. It's quite alot of work caging them too, but the flavor improves
vastly if they don't touch the straw or especially not the dirt.
Commercial organic growers spray with copper sulfate regularly as a late
blight preventative, but I'm not going to do that.
Erica
On 11/21/2011 2:35 PM, thatsmyluggage_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> I have been using fish hydrolysate and kelp meal to feed tomatoes and
> soil microbes with great results. Calcium, Potassium, and trace
> minerals are provided in these fertilizers. For me, success or failure
> are later season blights. Do you have a early/late blight problem? how
> do you deal with it? Do grow commercially? You might not be able to
> apply AACT to control those issues during fruiting.
> I haven't controlled those diseases with AACT, but I think that the
> right person with the right tea with the right cultural practices
> might do so.
> Keep cultural practice as a whole in your mind... Till/no till? what
> kind of soil and mulch? How do you stake them? Pinch suckers on the
> tomatoes? Graft them? Control the potentially devastating diseases?
> Brian
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tad Hussey <tadhussey_at_yahoo.com>
> To: compost_tea <compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 4:57 pm
> Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Tomato plants.
>
> I think nutrients are better addressed in this situation by looking at
> your growing media (I'm assuming soil). There are many ways to raise
> calcium levels in soil based on initial inputs when mixing your soil.
> This is going to have a much greater and beneficial impact on your
> plants than the tea in my opinion.
>
> The concept is the same, and ACT can help, but I would focus on making
> a complete soil with good aeration and biological activity, diversity,
> and biomass. If the soil is lacking in any particular
> nutrients/minerals, then there will need to be added at some point in
> time during the plant's life.
>
> Just my 2 cents,
> Tad
>
> PS: Feel free to contact me off-list if you want help in making a
> soil mix since it's slightly off-topic.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* thawk4 <thawk4_at_neo.rr.com <mailto:thawk4_at_neo.rr.com>>
> *To:* compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 21, 2011 9:43 AM
> *Subject:* [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Tomato plants.
>
> I will be planting tomatoes in Eco-Grow pots which use capillary
> action to water the plants on an as needed basis. The pots have a
> built-in water reservoir. Eco-Grow claims you can't over/under water
> with these pots.
>
> My plan is to use organic media to grow these plants in and I want to
> use compost tea as the sole fertilizer source which I will top dress
> on the plant. (Not through the pot's water reservoir.)
>
> One of my questions is will compost tea supply enough calcium and
> magnesium or do I need to add ingredients in the tea to ensure
> adequate levels of calcium and magnesium?
>
> Or better yet does somebody have a tea recipe adjusted for tomatoes?
>
> Tomatoes need calcium to prevent blossom end rot and to prevent fruit
> cracking.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
>
Received on Tue Nov 22 2011 - 10:54:06 EST
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