Hi gmom - are talking about indeterminate varieties? When is your first frost date? What type of fertilizer are you using and how often?

Determinates I quit feeding after they produce the majority of their crop but some keep feeding them in hopes of a later small second crop. Indeterminates I feed longer as they will produce right up till killed by a hard frost. My season is a lot longer than yours so I feed them up till about the middle of October. That gets me many green tomatoes on into November that I can store and ripen.

It also depends on what fertilizer you are using and how often you feed so there isn't any perfect formula that works for all.

Dave

Thanks Dave.

I'm growing Lg. Cherry, 4th of July, and beefsteak. I use miracle grow and water every 2 weeks. I remove any leaves that touch the ground and keep them staked. I do have Bloom Buster for other plants, would that be better for more fruit and less leaves?

Are you using Miracle Gro for tomatoes, or regular Miracle Gro?

The regular stuff is probably too high in Nitrogen, and yes tends to lead to leaf and stalk growth at the expense of flowers and tomatoes.

I have no experience with bloom buster, but it seems to be very high in phosphate 10-52-10.

how often you fertilize should depend on these factors not already mentioned: soil fertility,watering, temperature, weather. There is limit where fertilizing starts to decrease flavor , causes excessive leaf growth and,dwarf fruit production and flower formation.

I have my tomatos in LGE black pots, you get plants in from the nursery. I have to keep light netting around/over the cages I have in the pots so the DA-- Deer don't eat them LOL!!!So far so good, but I don't know how often to fertilize them, been doing every 2 weeks with regular Miracle Grow..Didn't spend too much $ as every year the deer have a party with them, and my impatie
ns/petunias.... Thanks for any info....