Fertilizer experiments:
I do have preferences already but I like to see if anything stands out that would make me rethink what I do.

I prefer organic inputs but I always do synthetic/conventional boxes to compare.

I did my boxes before TomatoJunction existed, so I was happily sticking whatever I found to make my own personal observations (and to use it up). I did have a few musts do: Micro-Life (expensive), BioActive, Nature Safe 8-5-5 , which I have used many times. Also Mixes of different brands. And Hydroponic supplementation , organic supplementation, conventional boxes, and 1/2 organic 1/2 synthetic.

I prefer 1 tomato in the box, never two. But I understand when you want to trial more tomatoes. I rarely do 2 but I did this go around on a few. They are so jammed up and I want to do minimal pruning.

I like when others do their own experimentation as well so we can compare results. Your results will be very different from mine. Your water, climate , mix , preferences, etc. all different.

I think diseases (bacterial spot and early blight) may knock them out before I can get a decent end to the season.

This is Nature Safe 8-5-5. 2 cups mixed through out, 1 cup as a strip. (Correction). Dolomite. This is Chocolate Stripe (from Marsha’s Master Gardener sale. Approx. 18 tomatoes, many good size, plus small ones as well. More flowers (not a lot but more to come
hopefully.) One plant.

Stayed tuned.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE. (Final) Feb. 4, 2020. (I will look at the mix on this one.).
I got many tomatoes. The plant was beautiful but now wiped out with disease. Still tomatoes hanging on it but will take this one out soon.

This is a ‘mixed’ box. 3 cups of Nature Safe 8-5-5,
2 tbls Dynamite Time Release. Conventional supplementation using hydroponic fertilizer once a week for 3 weeks, switching to Texas Tomato Food.
Tomato-Curtis Cheek (Marsha’s MG sale) , Oxheart, very , very wispy growth,
Off color. Lots and lots of flowers, no tomatoes. Hope the TTF will shape it up. (‘Vegabee’ once -need to do it much more)

More to come.

I like your idea of using fert thruout the medium, in addition to the strip; I'll try that this year.
I only have 14 EBs so 10 will be for tomatoes. I plant 2 to a box so that I can have more varieties that way, therefore I do prune to single stem. But I find it more productive for me plus I can keep bugs & diseases under control better. Main pests are spider mites so you can imagine if I had a sprawling plant.
What type of hydroponic fert do you use?
Your plants look great!

Thank you! I am sure your production is greater with pruning and two to the box but I have never been a pruner. Laziness on my part. I also Can get awful sunscald on the fruit.
There was a study done that if you pruned you got larger tomatoes and if you didn’t prune you got
more tomatoes but if you weighed both yields, they would be the same or close. I think Carolyn always mentioned that. Plus aren’t sugars in fruit enhanced by leaves or did I just dream that one up? But I have been in production greenhouse and I know that severely pruned plants produce bucket loads.
The bugs and diseases you mentioned is why I prefer to plant one (unpruned) plant per box. I do prune the bottom leaves .

Believe it or not earthbox when they first came out said to mix the organic fertilizer throughout the box. Only the synthetic was a strip. I just mixed it in for years. I don’t know when they changed it. I do like the idea of a strip though as you can scape off the mucky part. I must have 10 boxes out there with all of the organic fert on top to see how it goes.

Mixing it all in may break down your mix faster at least that is what some people think. I seldom reused the mix anyway as I used in pots but people and earthbox center reuse with success.
My fertilizer was the hobby one from hydro gardens plus epsom salt. Marsha was not thrilled with the results with her hydroponic fert. so I am going to use TTF.

Joyce (plain Jane) hope you see this. In another thread I think you mentioned using TTF down the tube of an earthbox.
Should I do what the label says and feed daily and then back off for a few days. How much did you use down the tube?
Thank you!

Micro-life (3 cups) correction. This is really expensive . But not as expensive as Earthbox replant kits organic. We shall see if it outshines any of the others.

Last week, I put 1/4 cup of really old Peaceful Valley Brix Mix 2/ 1.8/ 2.5. as an organic supplement. Getting rid of my old stuff may not be the best idea. Either it might be worthless or the good beasties/microbes have mutated into something scary. I may change to something fresh.

There are approx. 20 tomatoes, but the real test is how many more you get over a long season.
One picture is the front, the other the back.

2nd Micro-life box. Correction(3 cups) Juliet. Not a lot of action , fruit-wise, but needs more time I think. Organics can be slow.
No supplementation.

ADDED- MICROLIFE 8-4-6 DID FANTASTIC WITH THESE JULIETS AND THE FLAVOR WAS BETTER THAN THE ALL SYNTHETIC BOX. IT IS EXPENSIVE BUT I BELIEVE CHEAPER THAN EB ORGANIC REPLANT KIT.

*****I mean Micro-life 8-4-6 (Amazon). I used MicroStart 60 by Purdue for years so I keep typing it wrong.****

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 1:39 am Joyce (plain Jane) hope you see this. In another thread I think you mentioned using TTF down the tube of an earthbox.
Should I do what the label says and feed daily and then back off for a few days. How much did you use down the tube?
Thank you!

I’m using 30 gal. grow bags instead of EBs. My tomatoes are all in homemade 5-1-1 mix with granular TTF, epsom salts, worm castings, crab shells, azomite. Once the seedlings settle in for a couple of weeks I start with TTF liquid veggie once a week. Once blooms start to set I use liquid TTF tomato formula once per week.

Sometimes I find myself on the horns of a dilemma: if it’s just rained heavily do I still fertilize? Or wait a few days and get off schedule? The joys of growing outside in open containers, lol.
- Joyce

Joyce thanks for replying. Is the granular their organic BioActive? How much do you use in 30 gallons? I have an EB
with BioActive and a few with BA and something else. But they recommend that you use their product within 2 years so next time I will get some fresh. Fertilizer part still effective but beneficial microbes would be non active I guess.

Re: your 30 gallons. I also like big containers though I have all sizes.

These Earthboxes were planted later (few weeks) than than the others.

The first one is non-organic 9-4-12. (Comparison purposes.) Then I used hydroponic fertilizer as supplement for 3weeks now switched to Texas Tomato Food.

LOVE all the documentation, MsCowpea. Have been reading your trials/results with interest.

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:04 am Joyce thanks for replying. Is the granular their organic BioActive? How much do you use in 30 gallons? I have an EB
with BioActive and a few with BA and something else. But they recommend that you use their product within 2 years so next time I will get some fresh. Fertilizer part still effective but beneficial microbes would be non active I guess.

Re: your 30 gallons. I also like big containers though I have all sizes.

Yes, the bioactive 5-4-4 dry formula. I add about 2 cups per 30 gal. bag about a week before the transplants go in.
I use it all up within the year, so no worries there.

The 30 gal bags are large enough to stuff 2 tomatoes into, plus my Texas Tomato cages fit them well.

I love all your documentation also. Your plants look great. I've never tried Dr Earth.

In my root pouches (Fabric bag), In prior years, I was supplementing granular on top - 1 tbls a week and watering in. All was great until after awhile (months), when watering it just pooled on top. I was using Happy Frog which was organic.

The hydro store told me that on Organics, if past the expiration date, the microbes can be reactivated with teas, etc. I used the last of my 2020 Tomato Tone this year.

I want to try using Stonington Blend Plant food from Coast of Maine next year and try getting away from chicken manure (mainly because of how it must be sourced). At least with BioActive (from the TTF company), it isn't the first ingredient. I guess I could make my own Stonington Blend with Down to Earth products.

-----
I have everything for my total organic experient $55 later, but it's been so warm already I don't see how the season will last until summer. Our night time lows for the past 4 days has been 70.

Barb_FL wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:18 pm I love all your documentation also. Your plants look great. I've never tried Dr Earth.

In my root pouches (Fabric bag), In prior years, I was supplementing granular on top - 1 tbls a week and watering in. All was great until after awhile (months), when watering it just pooled on top. I was using Happy Frog which was organic.

The hydro store told me that on Organics, if past the expiration date, the microbes can be reactivated with teas, etc. I used the last of my 2020 Tomato Tone this year.

I want to try using Stonington Blend Plant food from Coast of Maine next year and try getting away from chicken manure (mainly because of how it must be sourced). At least with BioActive (from the TTF company), it isn't the first ingredient. I guess I could make my own Stonington Blend with Down to Earth products.

-----
I have everything for my total organic experient $55 later, but it's been so warm already I don't see how the season will last until summer. Our night time lows for the past 4 days has been 70.

Wow, nighttime lows of 70 already. Not good.

I thought Stonington Blend was a potting/growing soil. Is it a fertilizer too?
I love Coast Of Maine products. When I lived in Massachusetts I could get them pretty easily but in Jax if I see them they’re pretty expensive.

Yes, the Coast of Maine has a bunch of potting soil that must be awesome but shipping potting soil is definitely cost prohibitive. But they have a couple of dry ferts that look great and get great reviews. This is the one that caught my eye. Amazon sells it for $19.99 but I think I found a better price.

https://coastofmaine.com/product/stoningtonfood


I do think that BioActive is great - I bought 2 of the 4 packs.

Barb, you are an enabler. I just decided to get the Coast of Maine fertilizer and got it on Amazon . Looks interesting.
I did try Fox Farm Marine Cuisine one time as I liked the higher NPK but can’t say it was a stand out.
4 pounds is 8 cups. So a person could squeeze by with 2.66 cups per box (particularly if you were doing all that supplementation). You could do 3 EB. But Nature Safe is much cheaper. I think I paid $30 something for 40 pounds.
But I am extremely lucky I can get it locally as shipping is a killer on that kind of weight.

I started using Nature Safe a few years ago as I was on the trail of what Earthbox used.
EarthBox’s organic fertilizer is 8-3-5 which is also another formulation made by Nature Safe. I have used both- just depends on what I can get. coarse Nature Safe looks just like EB fert. -very large pellets.

It is really the organic supplementation that has me stumped. I am not sure how that would work down the tube.
And nothing is fast acting like the synthetics. I did use some Earth Juice Bloom in some of the organic boxes. But that is
0-3-1. No nitrogen at all. Low potassium. I got a Dr. Earth product with nitrogen but need to figure out how much to use.
I will also have to add some potassium to it as I want more potassium than nitrogen.

2 cups 8-5-5 Nature Safe
1 cup BioActive (Urban Farms)
Barlow Jap. Variety

Supplemented with Hydroponic fertilizer once a week/ switched to Texas Tomato Food.

These two both have 1 cup each of NS 8-5-5, Dr Earth , and BioActive. ( just to use up what I had)
I supplemented with Fox Farm Big Bloom (organic) and will do so weekly. But I got some Dr Earth organic liquids that I will also use in some of the boxes.

Have no idea if these organic liquids will work down the tube or separate and gunk it up. They are not water soluble like hydroponic fertilizer that dissolve completely and are immediately available, I will empty some of them at the end to see what is going on in the reservoir.

Both Mountain Magic (correction) planted several weeks after the first group.

I only got into this as a lot of Earthbox users seem to be enamored with the ‘snack’, calcium nitrate. I wondered if there was an organic alternative I would be happy with if I wanted to get into supplementation. Fertilizers do only work so long and may need a boost to keep the box going.

It has ultimately got to be effective and easy and fool proof because that is why people use earthboxes to begin with.

They look really happy. It strikes me that your production is plenty high, and with all you grow, it's more than satisfactory. Your plants are beautiful.

Thank you Marsha!

I just got a book on how to grow marijuana organically. Figured if anyone knew how to supplement with organics those people do!

Now if only Florida would make it legal (ain’t gonna happen) I would be all set to make a fortune!