Quote:
Originally Posted by aruzinsky
I normally don't fertilize until after the tomato seeds sprout. But, I did a controlled experiment using tomato 'Jolly' seeds that were fertilized immediately after planting. The potting media was 2/3 peat moss and 1/3 parboiled rice hulls (no lime). The pots were standard 4".
The groups were
1. Hoffman hydrated manure, 1 heaping tbs. per pot, mixed with the potting media. Watered immediately after planting seeds.
2. Hydro-Gardens 10-8-22, 1 tsp./gal. water immediately after planting seeds.
3. Calcium nitrate, 1 tsp./gal. water immediately after planting seeds.
4. ScenicHillFarm (Etsy) dehydrated manure , 1 heaping tbs. per pot, mixed with the potting media. Watered immediately after planting seeds.
Seeds of 1, 2, and 3 were planted on 3/5/17 and 4 on 3/8/17. This photo was taken on 3/30/17 (full resolution because results are difficult to see in a small image):
1. Three front left.
2. Three back left.
3. Three front right.
4. Three back right.
Based on this, I used Hoffman manure on all my tomato seeds planted on 3/27/17. After germinating, these will go into my light chamber. |
Great experiment. I can see why you would want to use the Hoffman manure.
It would be interesting though, if you would continue your experiment all the way until harvest. I have experienced great looking tomato plants when I have used manure because of the high N content, but fruit production was mediocre.
Another problem that occured by using manure was Calcium deficiency and tomatoes ending up with "Blossom end rot".