When you post the pics please include the exact planting date or at least a specific number of weeks since planting.

Dave

I am having the same problem. I think it is due to cold ground temps. Just guessing I am about 2 weeks behind where I should be even though I planted out earlier. Very cold Feb. and March here with April and May being somewhat back and forth.

Well the words "large" , "too small" unless they are quantified, are relative terms.
But in general planting early in cool air and soil temps ( 40s, 50s..) does noes not guarantee a real head start in growth. I know that first hand , I have done it myself. In such cool conditions plants take long time to get acclimated and then they grow at lower paste. Then different varieties grow at different rate. I have plants that are close to 5 ft and some about 2 ft. tall. And there are many in between..
As long as your plants are stocky w/ nice green foliage, growing side shoots, flower buds ..then I wouldn't worry about it.

BTW: Did you buy them as seedlings from nurseries ?

Sey

Okay, I managed to get a couple of photos but they're not very good. Sorry the shadow seems to have made them harder to see.

2 plants were planted on May 5th and 2 more were planted on the 11th of May. I took the measuring stick out and they are between 24 and 30 inches tall.

I'm a little surprised, because we had so much hotter than usual weather in May. We were hotter by 5 degrees for probably 25 days of May. Yes we are still a couple of weeks behind. I haven't gotten one rose open yet and I usually have them by June 1st.

Yes, I bought them from a nursery, organic starts. They were not huge when I put them in. I used some Neptune Harvest Fish/Seaweed Fertilizer today, to give them a little boost.

Should I be allowing them to keep setting flowers? I see some tomatoes on a couple of cherry tomato plants and naturally, I'd like to have early tomatoes, but hope that won't cause the plant to remain small.

On the flowers thing: personally, I would not remove them, especially the cherries. I have been watching for veg/flowering cycles in my plants, and what I have concluded is that early flowers or fruit do not seem to hinder vegatative growth, at least in indeterminate plants. If anything, the plant seems to slow down the fruit to grow more leaves.

My Sungold and Cherokee Purple are way ahead of all the others in fruiting (one is starting to turn on the Sungold!) AND, they are also my biggest plants.

The exception might be if the plant were a tiny cutting that happened to have flowers (I just made some cuttings last week that happened to have buds on them, and I admit I probably should have taken them off.) But a cutting with no roots is quite a different matter than a transplant.

Edited to add: You just put up your pictures as I was writing. Your plants look ok to me, maybe a tiny bit pale (hard to tell from photos sometimes), but some Neptune's probably couldn't hurt. (I love Neptunes, but if you want to try another as you mentioned, consider Texas Tomato Food. I'm in love with it.)

It sounds like you are answering your own question with the comment about the roses. If everything else is late this year, maybe that's why the tomatoes aren't growing as expected. Hot temps but cold soil like your neighbor suggested?

Here's hoping they take off soon!

2 plants were planted on May 5th and 2 more were planted on the 11th of
May. I took the measuring stick out and they are between 24 and 30
inches tall.
**************************
It has been just a month since you transplanted !! Not a very long time.
It takes a while for the plants to get adjusted, grab the soil and start growing faster.
Give them time. Nursery plants in 4-6" pot often are root bound and very short and compact. I have seen Sungolds that looked like dwarfs.

I might also up the fertilizing. Your plants appear to be on the pale side to me. But overall your plants look normal to me.

Sey

How often have you fed them the Neptune's? I'd agree they look a little anemic and would feed them if they were mine. As to size, I don't know which is which but I would expect the Sun Gold to be bigger after a month in the ground but it may yet kick into high gear. After that long in the ground, let them do their own thing as to the blooms and fruit.

Dave

Prariemoon, I too am seeing delayed growth compare to last year same time pictures. And I basically did not change much in my growing patterns.

Size look about right to me. I'm sure they will take off. I wouldn't take the flowers off at this point.

Wormgirl - Happy to hear you’ve made such concrete observations in your garden about the flowering not hindering the vegetative growth. Very useful information.

I just noticed the thread on tomato fertilization and saw the photos of the tomatoes with Texas Tomato Food, which looked very good. I looked it up on Amazon and see it is not labeled organic, although the ingredient list looks like the kind that would be in an organic fertilizer. Any more info on that aspect?

Seysonn - the plants I put in were in that size pot, but were not root bound at all. The roots were just down to the bottom of the pot and ready to go, but small. They aren’t as dark a green as I’d like, true. Wish I could start my own in the winter, but it rarely works out.

Dave - I’ve only used Neptune’s on them once, so yesterday was twice. The label recommends every 2 weeks. Can I use it more frequently or make it stronger? I've been thinking of ordering alfalfa meal / greensand which I sometimes use and didn't this year.

One consideration, is that two of the four plants are planted in a bed we extended last year with the lasagna method. And I planted with 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket of soil mixed with Coast of Maine Lobster compost. But, all four plants look about the same, so I don’t think it’s causing an issue.

Lindalana - Thanks, good to know I’m not the only one. [g]

Goodground - Happy to leave those tomatoes on. :-)

This year, I am finally concluding that the surrounding trees are causing me more difficulty with growing than I thought. I have a small 1/4 acre and it’s surrounded by mature Maples, Silver Maples, Spruce and a huge Sycamore. They just suck the moisture and fertility out of the soil. I try to keep up with it, but I think I’m going to have to use more fertilizer than I have been.

What convinced me this year, is that we just built new raised beds last April and I was so looking forward to starting the season off in them this year. One long bed, closest to the trees, which was loose loam last year and mulched with chopped leaves over the winter, was half full of tree roots when I went to plant this spring. I was shocked. In one season? Very discouraging and I can’t think of any solution but to have to dig it out every spring.

For some reason this thread did not return to the top of the forum page, after I updated it.

Maples are the worst. You might have to go containers if you can not change location

prairiemoon - the Texas Tomato Food is designed to be used in hydroponics systems (although it's also perfectly ok to be used in containers or the ground too). To get the minerals to work right in the system and not settle to the bottom, the manufacturer uses mineral salts that are considered non-organic. He is frustrated about that, since his products are basically organic, but can't be labeled that way on a technicality.

I learned this by reading a long thread over on TomatoVille, where the manufacturer participated and answers questions. I understand if you call or email the company with any questions, they are very quick to respond and happy to answer your questions. From reading that thread, it was clear to me this guy really knows his stuff.

What I've noticed is that I can fertilize with Neptune's or TTF as much as I feel like and I've never noticed any negative outcomes (but I sure have burned plants with blood meal, I will never forget that!!)

I must have 50 baby fruit set on my Cherokee Purple right now!

<Dave - I’ve only used Neptune’s on them once, so yesterday was twice. The label recommends every 2 weeks. Can I use it more frequently or make it stronger? >

Sure you can - more often but I don't recommend stronger - that is one of the big advantages to it.

<composting in place with grass clippings and chopped leaves>

Are those the only ingredients in your compost? If so you could be missing several of the micro-nutrients and adding liquid kelp can fix that. Can you get your hands on some composted manure? If so then top dress with it. And what ratio of leaves to grass? If ratio is much off the 3:1 ratio so is the pH and nutrient absorption rate. And if you want some alfalfa then for a garden that small you can just buy a bag of rabbit food.

Got to remember that not all compost is created equal. :)

Dave

Wormgirl - Thanks for that explanation. I’ll have to talk to the company about their ingredients.

I did see another thread with photos of your garden. You did a great job getting good size plants ahead of time to put in your garden. Since you are two zones warmer, that helps too. :-)

No fruits on my Cherokee Purple right now.

Dave, that’s great, I’ll start fertilizing every week with the same strength Neptune’s. I’ve notice this year, that the odor is barely noticeable when I open the bottle and after it’s on the plants. I wonder if they have reduced the strength of the product? My plants look better this morning, so I hope this will be the start of some improvement.

My composting in place - the main ingredients are grass clippings and chopped leaves. I’m less consistent with other ingredients. I do add kitchen scraps and bury them along the edges and in open spaces, just not all the time. I also use alfalfa meal and Greensand that I buy organic from FEDCO in their 5lb bag size, but I don’t always add it. And I add Lobster compost sometimes. I haven’t paid much attention to the ratio of leaves to grass, but I’d have to say that it’s more leaves than grass until I run out of chopped leaves. I’m almost out for the season. I’ve left one bed vacant this year that I’ve done a lot of layering of chopped leaves and green materials and adding kitchen scraps under a heavy mulch of more chopped leaves and grass clippings.

Last year, I did cover crop with a trio from FEDCO, in two beds and turned that in at the end of the summer. I guess I do as much as I can when I have the materials. It’s always on my mind, I just don’t have a system.

I need a soil test.

Prairie, it sounds like you do a lot of good amending to your soil. But I bet a soil test would be enlightening.

I agree with Dave, you can use Neptunes or TTF more frequently, but not stronger. See how they respond! Keep us updated.

Thanks for your compliments - I am fumbling through but I am pleased. I will be harvesting my first Sungold this week... about 7 weeks earlier than last year. Woo!

I fertilize very often with low strength fertilizer.
I have blended Alaska Fish fert (00-10-10) with MG (24- 8 -16) to reduce N.
Per my calculation, the proportion that I have mixed/made results in 10-10-15 ratio, approx.
So P is boosted a bit whike N is reduced (from 24 to 10) and K is the same as MG.

I hope to notice the effect in a week or so.

Sey

Thank you WormGirl - I am going to get a soil test. It’s time. And happy to try fertilizing more frequently and wonder if I will see any difference.

You must be doing something right to have such an early harvest. It’s great to be able to start your own tomato plants and I like what you did with the plastic and the cages.

Seysonn - Is that the brand name, ‘Alaska Fish’?

I will be interested to hear how your plants do with your mix. I grow organically and wouldn’t use MG - but I will be interested in how the ratio you’re using works out. Thanks

PM, ...
here it is. Alaska Morebloom.
"made with fish"
I bough a quart size of it. And the price is reasonable : ~ 8 bucks for a
quart. Cheaper by the gallon. And It does NOT smell fishy at all (To my
nose)

Prairiemoon, thanks for your kind words! I actually didn't start my plants from seed this year, but I do hope to do so next year.. This year, I bought plants early, potted them up and grew them inside my "fake greenhouse"... later, I did the schlepping them in and out on nice days thing. This was my original plan -- THEN I discovered the planters you could wrap, but it was all sort of an afterthought.

Anyway, even though the weather has been similar both years (and to be fair, we've had unusually warm/sunny weather for our region), it's astonishing the difference from last year. Last year, I just threw the plants out there in April - and didn't harvest cherries till almost August. So I agree, I must be doing something right - and I owe it all to this forum! And, to Tomatoville. Well, also to the guy with the cool planters :-)

Next year, I would like to grow starts that are ready to go out between Mar 15 and April 1. Then I will put them out at the "correct" size (rather than huge like I did this year) and put them in WOWs and wraps. (I did figure out how to use the WOW inside my caged planters, despite what I wrote earlier on another thread.) Growing inside the WOW and wrap should simulate a greenhouse like my back porch did. I am hoping by doing this that I will have earlier earlies, and decent production from late season varieties, which I used to completely avoid.

Re: Alaska Fish and Morbloom... I have used both in the past, but no longer prefer this brand. The original is 5-1-1 and is good for leafy plants, but not so much for flowering ones. The Morbloom is interesting. It is made with fish, but I believe the 0-10-10 is acheived by them adding synthetic salts, so it's not actually certified organic (although it has an organic component). Of course, that is also true of the TTF, as I mentioned above. Nothing really wrong with that, but it's good to keep in mind. (This is actually true of Earth Juice, Foxfarm, and a lot of others).

I remember the smell of original formula Alaska being horrible (far worse than Neptune's), but I can't remember how the Morbloom compared.

Sey, I think what you are doing to combine the two fertilizers is very reasonable. I will be interested to see if you notice an increase in the number of flowers soon, or if you see more than in past seasons. In case fish doesn't turn out to be your thing, I have also used a Miracle Gro bloom formula in the past that seemed to work well.

Thanks for the info on Alaska Morebloom, Seysonn. :-) It’s less expensive than Neptune.

Neptune is produced in my state, which might be a reason to stick with it. But that price is tempting. I paid $17+ for a qt of Neptune.

I could use Alaska Fish with Alfalfa meal that would provide the N, maybe.

Wormgirl - It is a lot of fun to try to produce early tomatoes and very rewarding if it works, too! :-)

I used to use Wall of Waters and they really worked. I had a half dozen old ones that were junky with mold growing in some sleeves and I threw them away. In April I was planning to use them on my plants and I couldn’t find any locally and didn’t want to wait for delivery. Where did you get yours?

Thanks for the info on Alaska fish too. :-)

Prairiemoon, I got my Wall of Waters (actually they were Gardeneer brand) at a local garden center. I had to go to a nursery, they didn't have them at the big box stores. Like you, I couldn't wait for delivery.

Are you in Massachusetts? They make Neptune's there? I thought it was produced in Alaska. Yes, for being made out of a waste product, it is not cheap. It is hydrolized, though, which Alaska brand is not. Probably accounts for the difference in smell and NPK.

Sey, correct me if I'm wrong but i don't think your NPK calculations are accurate. I think the only way you can drop the (K) percentage is by removing (K) from the fertilizer which I'm sure you are not doing. How did you come up with 15? Was it by mixing 10+16?

Wormgirl - Sorry, I just saw the last two posts here.

Thanks for that info about the Wall of Waters. I stopped looking for them once my plants were too large to benefit from them, but I’m going to look for them for next year.

Yes, Neptune is made in Gloucester, according to their website.

I did want to update, that my tomato plants have responded very well to the increase in application of Neptune. The color is good, they’re putting on size and plenty of fruit. I actually have some ripe Sungold cherries, which may be a little early for me.

So, thank you all for the help….it helped. [g]

goodground(z6 NJ) Sey,
correct me if I'm wrong but i don't think your NPK calculations are
accurate. I think the only way you can drop the (K) percentage is by
removing (K) from the fertilizer
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Goodground, ... I was not aiming at droping "K". I wanted primarily to decrease "N" and and and boost "P" In my mix .."K" is also dropped.
If we take MG 24-8-16 as basis.
Here is simple math: Take equal dose of MG ( 24-8-16) and Alaska MB (0-10-10) and mix them. and double the volume of the mix. Lets say we make one gallon of each, per recommendations , then mix them together.

formula one --{[ 24 - 8 -16 ] + [ 0- 10 - 10 ] } / 2 = (12 - 8 - 9 ).

let us take TWICE as much from Alaska MB: Now we will triple the volume ( 2 gallons of Alaska MB and i gallons of MG, mix them together in a bucket )

formula two ...{[ 24 - 8 -16 ] + 2* [ 0- 10 - 10 ] } / 3 = (8 - 9.3 - 12 ).

If we take MG 24-8-16 as our reference, I have diluted the effect of N by two thirds( from 24 to 8) and increased P from 8 to 9,8 and decrease K from 16 to 12. These are proportional relative concentration of NPK in a given solution.

What I do is make a one gallon concentrate ( 8 time as strong as recommended ) of formula two and then mix a cup of it with 2 gallons of water, at a time. That concentrate mix lasts me a while.
It is a simple math, looks like complicated.

Sey