In the volunteer MG community donation garden 10-10-10 was always purchased to fertilize all the vegetable types grown throughout the garden. This year the local supplier was out of stock. and this 25-0-(6 or 8) granular formula was purchased in mega bags at a local garden center. Most likely a turf formulation.

I blindly scooped out a cup of the fertilizer before someone in the know pointed this out to me, but it was too late .I had already dumped a generous amount in the hole and spread around the top. It poured buckets later that day. The beds are heavily amended with OmaGrow municipal compost annually and mulched with straw.

I'm going to run this by the Extension Educator. Assuming I didn't kill the plant and I'm set for a nice lush bush, any suggestions to supplement once the plant grows a bit , so it will actually produce tomatoes?

- Lisa

That's a LOT of nitrogen! I imagine your plants are going to get some height to them quick! You need to add some phosphorus to fill that middle number. And cut way back on application amount if you continue to use that stuff they gave you. Personally, I'd buy my own and take it to the garden with me unless someone here can refigure application amounts and additives to make it safer to use.

https://gardengeo.com/15-natural-phosph ... ur-plants/

Maybe use some 0-20-20 later?

Pull the tomatoes and plant some corn! :}

Yes you did use lawn fertilizer on your garden. To counteract all of that nitrogen use some phosphorus. I would throw a lot of triple superphosphate into that soil. The good news is that nitrogen leaches from the soil quickly so I would water them well frequently to flush the nitrogen out. Your plants will grow beautifully and most likely bloom but not a blossom will set until they get out of that high growth pattern you have put them in.

I know hindsight is always 20-20, but that is one reason to treat the entire garden space and not put anything in the planting hole. Your garden treated with Oma-grow should have been enough. A soil test (in Nebraska, Mid-West Labs is inexpensive and very professional) would tell you what is needed.

But now, the thing to do is...not much. The nitrogen will make the plants grow a little more quickly and greener so if the seedlings are not burned they will be OK. The root systems will outgrow the area of N and pull in other needed nutrients from the surrounding soil. Production may be hindered a little but not enough to notice. I wouldn't add any more fertilizer of any kind to help fix things.

While Paulf is possibly quite right (nitrogen isn't necessarily a constant in the soil, and your soil possibly needed a lot anyway), if you do add something, I'd probably recommend this:

Monopotassium phosphate (0-52-34) and potassium sulfate (0-0-53) would be the perfect things to add, probably. With all that nitrogen, you might need some extra calcium, too, depending on how much how already have.

These (not the calcium) are often water soluble, though, and might not persist a long time, if so. I personally like to do foliar sprays via a pump sprayer, as it saves a lot of fertilizer.