I noticed today when I was checking the garden that I have a few blossoms
on some tomato plants . The cherry toms have more than the rest , but a few
on my Mortgage Lifters , and looks like the Beefsteaks are about to . One
Roma has some , but the San Marzano's are still just puttering along .
I did a little experiment a couple of weeks ago , the SM's were getting
yellowed lower leaves and some leaves had brown spots. On the advice of the
county extension service I used just a little triple 13 on 8 of them , about
a teaspoon per plant spread in a circle about a foot in diameter and worked
into the soil . Those plants are doing really well while the rest are ,,,
well , not . So yesterday I did the rest of them . All the tomatoes , and
did the squashes/vine stuff to boot . I had already done the strawberry
patch several weeks ago , and I think that's why they're doing so well .
I know a lot of folks here don't like any kind of chemical fertilizers ,
but the soil is in serious need of something , and it takes time to
incorporate organic material . Topsoil here is thin and apparently poorer
than I thought - its mostly silt , clay , and rocks . I also have read that
some here think 13/13/13 kills earthworms , well the woman that runs the
nursery I buy at disagrees and she has a degree in horticulture . I'm still
not using any kind of insecticide and no glyphosate or pre-emergents , but
that's as much because of the bees 4 hives now as it is because I don't
want it in my food supply .
--
Snag