Tomato Fertilizer

One important question that is posed by tomato growers is:  Which fertilizer produces the best tomatoes?

There are several answers that will help a good tomato grower become a great tomato grower in regards to fertilizer.

Advantages for dry tomato fertilizers:

Advantages for liquid tomato fertilizers:

1. Easy to apply
2. Fast release
3. Feed from the leaf
4. Nitrogen burn dependant on formula
5. Relatively inexpensive

Comparisons:

1. Ease of application:  both are equal in ease of application.
2. Slow release vs. Fast Release:  When talking turf and lawns, slow release is very important.  However, when considering flower and fruit production, it is very important to make your nutrients readily available in order to produce a nice product.  Fast release wins in tomato production.
3. Feed from the roots vs. feed from the leaves:  Root production is not as vital as tomato production in growing tomatoes.  In order to place the fertilizer in the best location for use, foliar (leaf) application places the product directly where production of flowers and tomatoes occurs.  Foliar feeding wins in tomato production.
4. Nitrogen burn:  Most foliar (liquid) fertilizers are low enough in nitrogen to prevent nitrogen burns on the leaves.  However, always read the label and be sure the first letter, N, should be below 10 in order to keep the burn away.
5. Overall, the dry fertilizers contain a lot of filler, so you are buying a lot less active ingredient in the product.  The liquid fertilizers are concentrated and you add the water to make the solution.  This keeps the active ingredient in liquid fertilizers much higher in concentration.  Liquid fertilizers win in the price per amount of active ingredient.

TNT Tomato Booster is a liquid fertilizer from Sanco Industries, Inc.  It has a formula of 5-16-12, which means that it is 5% nitrogen, 16% phosphorus and 12% potassium.  The low nitrogen concentration provides enough for growth, but not enough to burn the leaf.  The higher phosphorus and potassium levels aid in producing more blooms and bigger and healthier tomatoes.