jhultman wrote in
news:1059412409.120754@sj-nntpcache-3:


Prompted by poor size on the tomatoes...

I bought a soil test kit and found that PH is 6.5 7.0 = Generally
Acceptable.

P and K were high but N is depleted. Which explains the poor fruit
sizes?

My romas are the size of a large marble, tomatillos too.
Other tomato varieties size are less than expected...

This is the first time this ground had been set up as a bed.
Previously is sat covered with plastic and tan bark for ten + years.
In preparing this 160 square ft. bed I started with
about 3 cubic yards of compost added and rototilled in. Put some lime
in the soil and tilled that in with the compost...

Without having to resort to chemical fertilizers, what would be a good
way to increase N so the remaining growth cycle of the vegetables will
benefit? Reading up on it I find info that says to add 28 - 30 oz of
N fertilizer per 100 sq. feet. But what I'm not sure about is if the
granular stuff in the box at the garden center is most beneficial.

I'm sort of fuzzy on this, but legumes (peanuts?) and some other plants
have root nodules that harbor nitrogen fixing bateria. I've seen other
seed packets (snow peas?) that say you can also innoculate with nitrogen
fixing bacteria (available at "better" stores, never seen it myself). So
if you're in long term, think about companion planting one of those or
use something similar as a cover crop. Beans also come to mind, but like
I said, I'm hazy.

(I also agree with Dwight Sipler - from what I've read, adding too much N
will make the foliage lusher at the expense of fruiting. But if the test
is accurate and you are N deficient then it shouldn't hurt to raise the
balance.)

Do you know if there are any residual pesticides/chemicals in the plot?
"Covered with plastic and tan bark" makes it sound like it was either a
well kept flower bed or a wood pile.

- Salty