I assume you plant your tomatoes into containers, not the ground. Don't use garden soil, first of all. Use a good, organic planting mix you can get from most nurseries. For fertilizer, there are a few organic ones that I have used with good results: GrowMore Vegetable and Tomato Food, Monrovia Vegetable and Tomato Food, and my favorite, E.B. Stone Tomato and Vegetable Food. E.B. Stone is available at Whole Foods Markets here in AZ. Others are available at nurseries here. Use something organic formulated for tomatoes, with numbers like 4-5-3. I also like Neptune's Harvest fish + sea kelp liquid fertilizer. It is great for small plants (seedlings) and for foliar feeding of your plants. I start my plants from seed and for the first 5 weeks or so I use half-strength Neptune mix. Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes site (www.heirloomtomatoplants.com) has some excellent feeding and growing tips. Hope this helps.

Look into Tomato Tone from Espoma.

Does anyone have any knowledge of what fertilizer I can purchase to put in my soil when I transplant my seedlings into a pot?

Actually any well balanced fertilizer will work fine but my personal preference is one that is lower in nitrogen and higher in both phosphorous and potassium (ie: a 5-10-10 or 10-20-20) and there are many name brands available on the market. If you prefer only organic products, check out the link below as I have found their products to be quite good. If it is manure you want then most all local garden centers will sell composted manures in bags in the spring. If you begin with a good, quality soil-less potting mix (many have fertilizers already added) then you can just work some composted manure into it before planting.

Adding quality compost to your potting mix can also help. But the clue to successful growing in pots is 1) larger containers 10 gallon minimum, and 2) regular feeding on a weekly basis. The latter because all the nutrients you add will wash out of the soil quickly when you water. So, since containers require more frequent watering than in ground plants, they also require more frequent feedings.

Good luck.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Espoma fertilizers

I never had much luck avoiding BER when growing tomatoes in containers, keeping up with even moisture esp after the plants get large was tough to do. Cherry tomatoes do ok but the large varieties you seek, not so much.

Why don't you germinate your seeds in fertilzer-enhanced potting soil? It is a forum fave at WS; it's so dilute it doesn't burn roots.

Don, check out the following website. Excellent products and alot of good information. Ami

Here is a link that might be useful: T&J Enterprises

You don't say what tomatoes you are talking about. Maybe they taste like cardboard because they are a bad variety, and instead of worrying about nutrients you just need to plant something yummy?

Carla in Sac

Try a handful of Dolomite Lime in 10 gal container, or 2 handfuls in a 20+ gal container mixed in with your potting medium "Al's mix" and your fertilizer as indicated above on top side strips to leach into the mix.