With the compost and manure, it seems like it should be enough. When I add do fertilizer to my tomatoes, I usually add fish emulsion or miracle gro bloom booster. Good luck.

What do people think about Miracle-Gro Tomato Plant Food? Do you use it?

It's been a while since I actively grew tomatoes but that is changing this year now that I have and area finally setup to grow a few.. So what do I think about MGTPF? I love the stuff and I use it as directed and always got great results using it. As a matter of fact I use on everything I grow in the garden.

I'm sure you'll get a few 'don't use MG, it's poison' posts,
but I love the stuff, have used it for years, get great
results and wouldn't grow without it.

I make my garden soil with composted leaves and well rotted horse manure and i mulch with ground leaves and sawdust. i only till once or twice a year and getting to the point i do not till.

MG or any water soulouble fertilizer is ok. I have found the 20 20 20 to be to much nitrogen most of the time. so i use a 9 15 30 and it works well.. most important i use a micronutrient that i folialar feed once a week
along with a calcium treatment less nitrob\gen andt the spray program work well for me
i use the liquid water soulouble fertilizer i inject it into my drip irrigation in a weak form every other time i water.

MG works fine if you want to feed the plant. I used to use the stuff myself. But as I get older and my gardening practices evolve, I have learned to prefer to feed the soil and have the soil feed the plant. I use compost and aerated compost tea in a soil of correct Ph, thus eliminating the worry about salts and balancing micronutrients that you must always consider when using MG.

MG won't hurt anything. I use enough mulch and manure I don't usually have to add anything anymore. I feel MG is overrated. This is just my experience and opinion. I used MG and some other products like Spray N Grow and found it to do better for me. The best way is too try it on some and do nothing or use something else on others and see how it compares. JMHO. Jay

I used the Miracle-Gro Tomato food regularly last year and was surprised to find no impressive results. It may have been just a "bad year," I dunno. It's hard to tell about this as there are so many variables in gardening that misattribution of fault is probably the rule rather than the exception. Weather was crazy with a record cool July followed by a record hot August, or vice versa, I forget. I had six or seven plants of different varieties and barely had enough tomatoes for my own fresh use as they became ripe.

I use MG for Tomatoes (diluted to quarter-strength) on my seedlings after potting them up from the seed trays. The growth rate takes off overnight. I use the Omega line of organic fertilers and kelp extract on the plants after they are planted out.

From where I can vaguely calculate your provided nutrients, Legacy, all but two products will likely cause a drain from available nitrogen. The soil and cow manure(##) mixed with compost(##) create more of a question unless the bag it came in is more discriptive. Its sort of like eating celery; more energy is used to digest it than it provides.

Dirtdigging has a good system assuming the water soluble fertilizer is higher in nitrogen. Ideally you would mix needed calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium into your soil prior to planting. Much of the nitrogen should be devided throughout the season in smaller portions.

Most of the water soluble fertilizers are formulated to minimize salt damage to the plants. One routine related to me years ago is to soak transplanting flats in DOUBLE recommended strength Miracle Gro prior to field planting. The source was reliable and I've been doing it ever since then with good results.

I'll try that last suggestion and see what happens.

MG is nothing more than a quick and cheap fix. you'll have to use it again and again year after year.after enough time the soil the plants are growing in will be worthless and you will absolutely need MG to get anything to grow. the company is banking on people wanting this fix.take the time and $$ and invest in building up your soil . after reading your post it seems your headed in the right direction with that. after a few years you will never have to fertilize.

I rarely use tom or any plant food, though the toms do get a wahs when I'm giving the lawn a seasonal liquid feed.

My toms main source of food comes from turning the soil with raw compostables a few weeks before planting. A good mix of greens and browns and some ready compost is what I turn in. Later on in the season, I topdress my beds with a light layer of fresh grass clippings which attract worms that tunnel and leave behind their wastes--and that's just great natural fertilizer.

I agree about the MG being a quick fix, it's like having a glass of Tang instead of eating an orange.

Even better: eat the orange, AND drink the glass of Tang!

Work in that compost and manure, and then give the plants a sugar buzz now and then with MG. It's like giving a weight lifter a shot of methamphetamines before a tournament.

I've gone back to weekly foliar feeds with a MG-type product. I do amend the soil. I do make lots of compost, and add composted manure, worm castings, etc.

But I suspect that tomatoes are "heavy feeders" and like that little extra boost. I give it to all my veggies, they grow so incredibly fast it seems like it can't really hurt and might help.

I think it helps, but I haven't exactly done a controlled study.

if you use plenty of good compost, you'll be surprised at how little you have to fertilize.

real, homemade compost will typically trump the stuff you buy in a bag. but either way, if you amended your soil properly in the first place you really need little in terms of dressings later in the season.

See the problem with MG food is it lacks calcium which is one of the most important elements in tomato growth.

MG is not trying to cut costs by not including calcium. The problem is when calcium is combined with phosphorus in a concentrated form you end up with calcium phosphate which is one of the ingredients in cement.

If MG wanted to market a good tomato formula, it would have to be sold in a 2 part box. Hint, Hint.

I'm not a chemist but I play one on TV.

Feed the soil, not the plants.

But foliar spraying with an organic solution isn't a bad idea every few weeks. Especially when the tomato plants are working hard to develop fruits. Compost tea on the roots once a week helps, too.

I swear by aerated compost tea. I do not use Miracle Grow on my garden because I believe the taste is much better going organic. I have had great luck using compost tea and fish/kelp emulsion once a week-foliage and soil. My vegetables are absolute giants this season so the compost tea must be doing something right.

Here is a link that might be useful: