This year I used bat guano for the first time in my tomato garden. Most everything looks great, nice and green and leafy. I have some tomato plants that have lots of green leaves and have grown very tall (8ft), but have not bloomed very much with only a few fruits (OTV Brandywine). Does anyone know is this common for this type of plant? This is the first year I've planted these. My other tomatoes seem to be blooming alot more than these. Should I have balanced the bat guano with something else? I know the guano is high in nitrogen. Is there something with alot of potassium I should have included? Should I trim the tops of these plants? Will that encourage more blooms and fruit?
I appreciate any help
Jan
Bat guano as a natural fertilizer
Bat guano is very high in Nitrogen and your Tomato plants are reacting to this by producing lush foliage and not fruit because they do not like a high N fertilizer. back off the guano on anything that is getting lush and not giving fruit. you may also get an out break of aphids from the excess N.
I didn't know about the aphids. I've only applied it once. Is there anything I could balance it out with now? Can I repair the damage?
Jan
Mulch with something like straw or wood chips as these are high in carbon and will tie up the nitrogen. Don't go over board or you will tie up too much N. A good straw mulch has numerous other benefits for tomatoes as well. I would reccomend straw over wood
Time will also help. The soils should readjust themselves in a few weeks and the tomatoes will tell you when this has happened by producing flowers and fruit.
All is not lost by any means
Thanks for the advice. Will mulch with cypress
Jan
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