Natural and Cheap Tomato Fertilization: How to Prepare an Effective Mixture and Grow a Bountiful Harvest

“Tomatoes are a must-have summer highlight in Lithuanian gardens and greenhouses. In order to grow healthy and get a bountiful and tasty harvest, it is important to feed tomatoes properly throughout the season. More and more gardeners are choosing natural fertilizers, because they not only provide plants with the necessary nutrients, but also improve soil structure and microbiological activity. Janina from Kaunas says that she has never bought chemical fertilizers for her tomatoes in her life, and the harvest is such that it is enough for her, her children, and her grandchildren, and what is left goes into jars.

 

Fertilizing begins at the time of planting

 

According to Janina, tomatoes need several basic nutrients: “You just need to know what, when, and how much. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of leaves and stems, phosphorus is important for the formation of strong roots and flowering, and potassium helps plants form fruits, improves their taste, increases yield. Calcium protects against fruit rot, magnesium, iron, boron also come in handy,” says Janina and shares in detail the subtleties of her tomato growing.

 

The first fertilization of tomatoes, according to the long-time gardener, should begin at the time of planting. “I add two or three handfuls of well-rotted compost, one handful of biohumus, a tablespoon of wood ash and a teaspoon of crushed eggshells to each planting hole. Compost and biohumus provide the plant with nutrients for a longer period of time, the ash provides potassium and calcium, and the shells gradually give off additional calcium,” says the gardener.

 

About two weeks after planting, tomatoes may need more nitrogen for active growth. Then Janina uses nettle yeast.

 

“I take a kilogram of fresh nettles and 10 liters of water. I mix everything in a bucket and leave it to ferment for a week or two, stirring it every day. This leaven cannot be used pure, it must be diluted in a ratio of one to ten. I water half or one liter of this solution with each plant every ten days. Nettle leaven accelerates growth and strengthens resistance,” says the interviewee.

Ash, husks and no fresh manure

 

When tomatoes start to set flowers, their needs change again. At that time, the amount of nitrogen should be reduced and more attention should be paid to potassium. A natural and effective remedy is wood ash extract.

 

“I mix one glass of ash with 10 liters of water and leave it to settle for a day. After a day, I strain it. This fertilizer is watered half or one liter under each plant every ten days. It helps a lot to form a more abundant harvest and improves the taste of tomatoes. During the budding and fruiting period, it is also good to use compost tea, pouring a bucket of well-rotted compost with five to ten liters of water. The mixture is left for one or two days, then strained. Before use, I dilute the compost tea in a ratio of one to three. Such tea provides tomatoes with nutrients and they remain strong throughout the season,” Janina shares another piece of advice.

 

One of the most common concerns of tomato growers is the problem of fruit top rot, which manifests itself as dark spots on the bottom of the tomato. Most often, this is related to a lack of calcium or uneven watering. For this, according to Janina, you can make an eggshell infusion: crush ten to fifteen eggshells, pour a liter of vinegar and leave for a week or ten days. Then, dilute one hundred milliliters of this concentrate with ten liters of water. The solution is used once every two or three weeks.

 

“The main advice is not to overdo it and do everything in your own time. Too much nettle leaven after flowering can stimulate leaf growth at the expense of fruit. When a tomato stem works hard for leaves, not fruit, gardeners are left unhappy. I also definitely would not recommend using fresh manure, I learned this lesson the hard way n years ago. Fresh manure is too strong, can damage roots and facilitate the spread of diseases,” Janina assures.”