Re: [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Tomato plants.

From: <ezentrix_at_aol.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:08:10 -0500 (EST)

What a great thread. Thanks all
 
Where is everyone located? Are you taking Brix readings of plant? fruit? =
 
Soil tests? If so by lab, for residual levels, or paste tests? La Motte=
 
Kit? Paramagnetic values? Are you balancing minerals? Using different=
 
feeds for veg/fruit stages? I brew AACT and SAM4/EM. Also testing a
biochar plot.
 
This year's tomatoes got a general mineral starter mix from Arden Andersen =
 
Book then a drip application of SAM4 plus molasses mixed 50/50 and dosed
1100/1 through drip. Container plants got the SAM4 + molasses and Foxfa=
rm
Nutes appropriate to developmental stage. Brix ranged from 8.5 to 13. No=
 
insect pests, almost no disease (2 or 3 end rot, no blight) Elevation
7000 ft, record drought, record heat, 2 month delay of monsoons, etc.
 
In late winter I will get soils off to Logan Labs in Ohio and then
consider a paste test or probably buy a La Motte Kit from Pike Agro labs. =
 That
way I can compare residual nutrients to functional nutrients. This perhap=
s
strays off the AACT track, but soil is structure, moisture, chemistry,
biology and energy. The bugs do their jobs in context. Hence all the oth=
er
themes.
 
Look forward to more discussions. For what it is worth, Sungold was one
of my all time memorable tomato taste experiences. The others were Isis a=
nd
a black cherry.
 
 
Kind Regards,

Richard Jennings, Designer
Earthwrights Designs / Dirtwrights Technologies
30 Camino Sudeste
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508
USA
Phone: (1 505 ) 986 1719
_www.earthwrights.com_ (http://www.earthwrights.com)

 

 
 
 
In a message dated 11/22/2011 8:21:20 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
erica_r_at_charter.net writes:

 
 
 
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 Sungo=
ld
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 i=
s less
than spectacular, but better than supermarket tomatos. They are are likel=
y
to replace Longkeeper and Gold Treasure Storage Tomatos in my garden. The=
y
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 flav=
or.
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 improve=
s
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_
(mailto: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>_ (mailto:tadhussey_at_yahoo.com)
To: compost_tea _<compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com>_
(mailto: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 calc=
ium
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, the=
n
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 le=
vels 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 - 14:22:25 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 13:58:13 EST