No opinion on the mix...but was the manure aged? If not it may kill your plants instead of helping..
it sounds good to me but I a newbe too...

If your goal is the largest possible tomato then choose varieties with the genetics to get huge.

As for your mix it sounds mighty heavy on the nutrients and I hope that manure isn't fresh.

The Manure is old. I have been gardening or helping my dad in the garden something like 50 years. Dad was the best gardener I know of back in his day. I was just wondering if y,all thought the mix might work for some large tomatoes.

Keith

Just my opinion here. I would take all the manure, compost, fertilizer, lime and potting soil and scatter it onto a 20' X 50' garden. Putting a pint of 13-13-13 into the hole will burn any plant you put into it. 1 Tbls. of 5-10-5 is plenty for 1 tomato plant when planting and again at fruit set.
If you are trying to grow the largest tomato in a neighborhood contest, you will have better luck planting a variety such as Delicious or other large Beefsteak type. Take all sucker off except two. Keep pinching all new suckers. It will be best to stake and tie this plant. I've done it and grew a 4.5 lb. Delicious tomato.

If you're after large fruit, get rid of almost all the leaves once the fruit has set. Don't be a sissy; pull them off right and left until there are only several left on the same truss as the fruit. Tomatoes like full sun, heat and lots of water too!

I was just wondering if y,all thought the mix might work for some large tomatoes.

The mix is irrelevant. You need the genetics to get huge first and foremost. After that you simply need to not screw it up ;)

The mix is irrelevant as it just needs to supply nutrients without going overboard. In particular you don't want a mix that is really high in nitrogen or you will get huge plants and not much fruit. Other than that you will find all sorts of opinions based upon anecdote as to what nutrients in what amounts are best.

The science says tomatos don't need anywhere near as much phosphorus as most tomato ferts provide unless the soil is deficient in it. Nitrogen is very important, but should be delivered in the same amount or slightly less than potassium. Calcium is also required is a goodly amount for proper growth and development.

Impossible to say what the manures contain. As long as they are not high N, it should be fine, but you still need the genetics to get huge. No magic fert or mix is going to make a cherry tomato into a 5 pounder.

My major concern is about the possible high N content of what you want to grow them in b'c too rich soils can inhibit blossom formation and fruit set and such rapid growth is also a stress that can induce BER.

But lets assume all goes well and then you can either prune to two leader stems as someone above suggested or you can take off all buds and blossoms as they appear, letting just a few remain, so that the plant concentrates all energy into maturing the few fruits you leave on a plant.

If it were me I'd go the disbudding/ blossom route so that you have enough foliage to allow for good photosynthesis which makes energy for the plant and also serves as backup foliage if foliage diseases appear and also protects fruits from sunscald.

It's very true that if growing for competition the genes that a variety has are the primary determinates of size potential, but you have what you have now.

The variety Delicious still holds the world record at 7 lb 12 oz, but no one I know ever comes close to that with that variety. Same for Big Zac.

Carolyn