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23rd June 2022
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Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables to grow, and if you want to pick the biggest, tastiest crop it’s essential to feed your plants.
The nutrients in compost or a growing bag will last for only four to six weeks. And even controlled-release fertilisers have a lower level of potassium – essential for fruit development – than tomato feeds, and will be running low by the time tomatoes are ripening.
Using a good liquid feed will give you sweet, ripe tomatoes for longer than controlled-release fertiliser alone, so we set out to see which of the currently available products will do the best job. Tomato feeds are also great for feeding pots of flowering patio plants, such as petunias and begonias.
Learn more about how to grow tomatoes.
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Sign up nowProduct | What we found | Test score | Price |
This produced the largest yield of ripe tomatoes in our trial with a whopping 14.3kg from three plants. True to its name, it’s ready to use and doesn’t need diluting. Simply pour it on to the compost at a rate of two 50ml capfuls twice a week (once the second truss of fruit has formed),followed by 500ml of water each time. It’s ideal if you have only a few plants and don’t want to waste feed you’ve diluted. | 75% | £7.99 for 3L | |
Our plants fed with this feed gave us 11.6kg of uniformly sized, ripe tomatoes; we also picked 1.8kg of healthy green tomatoes. You need to use this feed every four or five days after the first truss of fruit has set, diluting half a capful (20ml) in 4.5L of water and using 500ml per plant. It’s a good bet if you have lots of tomato plants to take care of. | 72% | £5.99 for 1.25L |
Product | Dosage | Overall score | Yield red fruit (kg) | Yield green fruit (kg) | Yield | Foliage vigour | Fruit quality | Ease of use |
100ml per plant | 75% | 14.3 | 0.6 | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | |
20ml in 4.5Lwater | 72% | 11.6 | 1.8 | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | |
n/a | 70% | 11.2 | 1.3 | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | |
20ml in 4.5L water | 57% | 9.3 | 1.4 | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | |
1st truss weekly; twice a week at 2nd truss; then every watering | 56% | 8.4 | 2.4 | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | **** | ★★★★☆ | |
Once a week | 52% | 9.3 | 1.5 | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | |
Once a week | 49% | 9.2 | 1.5 | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
USING THE TABLE The more stars the better. Yields are healthy fruit from three plants. OVERALL SCORE Ignores price and is based on: yield of tomatoes 50%; foliage vigour 20%; fruit quality 15%; ease of use 15%.
Adding a controlled-release fertiliser to your compost at planting time will provide your plants with the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) they need for healthy growth, but they may well be running low by the time your tomatoes start to ripen. If you haven’t added a controlled-release fertiliser, you should start giving your tomatoes a liquid feed once the first truss of fruit has formed.
Discover our best controlled-release feeds.
Most products need to be applied at least once a week, with the frequency sometimes increasing once the second truss of fruits develops; check the dilution and frequency on the product label.
Tomato feeds aren’t just for tomatoes; most have more potassium in relation to the nitrogen and phosphorus, which helps to promote flowering and fruiting. You can therefore use a tomato feed on any container-grown plants that produce lots of flowers or fruits, such as fuchsias, clematis, aubergines, cucumbers, peppers, courgettes and chillies.