Tomato plants are greedy beggars!

August 22, 2020 3:56 AM

I'm growing tomato plants in pots, and they all have roots growing up out of the soil. Today's mission is to cover the roots with fresh soil. They are also due their regular feed. Having read the warnings about overfeeding, I wonder if it's ok to do both at the same time.

I know the fresh soil comes with its own crop of nutrients, so is it even necessary? This is my first time growing tomatoes, and I'm struggling to keep up with them. I feel like they're getting the better of me.

posted by Eumachia L F to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

My bigger/alternate question - how big are the pots? I suspect that might also be a problem. Tomatoes need BIG pots, especially if they're regular-size tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes). Think, like, a five-gallon bucket for a single tomato plant.

If you actually have them in pots that are too small, that could solve all your problems at once. You could re-pot the tomato into a bigger pot, and then add a little of the plant food into the soil at the same time. The extra soil will absorb any excess food and also give your tomato a nice "settling in" boost.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:46 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Those are adventitious roots, they help give the tomatoes support, and sure go ahead and top up the soil but I'd skip the feeding if you're talking about some kind of potting mix with added fertilizers. Next time plant the tomatoes deeper, the soil line of the little transplant pot can and should be well below the soil line in the new pot or earth, around 2-3" depending on size of the transplant.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:59 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

I don't stress too much about fertilizer if I'm adding new soil components. When I top up containers mid-season (or refreshing them for new season), I use a mix of bagged chicken poop, coco coir, and new bagged container soil (but I don't use the kind with actual fertilizer added). Between the three, the plant gets a nice boost of nutrients and beneficial bacteria. (I have not historically used worm castings but am adding that to the routine this fall.)

IF the container soil at the very bottom is more than a year old and quite compacted, I will "drill" down toward the bottom with a stake or spade and drop in some organic water-soluble fertilizer mixed with rock phosphate and poop. I try to shovel-turn all that soil with the above mix between seasons, but I have some containers with perennial stuff in them so I can't disrupt them that much.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:11 AM on August 22, 2020

Oh! And mulch. Mulch your tomatoes, you'll get better performance. I use Patio Plus Gromulch since I can get it at the hardware store in transportable bags since I don't have a truck. It's decomposed enough to suffice as growing medium but still chunky enough to serve as water-retention mulch.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:13 AM on August 22, 2020

You need bigger pots, those roots have nowhere else to go. You'll see at the end of the season when you take down the plant. Assuming that's not happening this year, don't worry about it too much. Keep the dirt a consistent moisture, make sure it's getting all the way down to the bottom, water till it comes out the other end, and fertilize what ever you have been led to believe is correct. And sunshine, there was never a tomato plant that didn't want more sun.
posted by ixipkcams at 10:48 AM on August 22, 2020