Natural Tomato Fertilizers

Talking about my tomato plants a co-worker asked me what fertilizer I used. I said nothing just the compost I planted them in. She told me that's why they didn't do very good last year, you need fertilizer cause tomatoes need a lot of nutrients.  So have you seen the prices of organic fertilizer? WOW. So I thought I find a recipe online.

But really didn't think it would be this easy!  Gardening tips ideas dot com.... tells me that hair helps my plants grow. Well with  us long hair women and all the animals  living here that is easily done.... It's the keratin, a protein in hair that helps the plant. Plus tomatoes need some nitrogen, carbon  and calcium. Egg shells and coffee grounds are good too.  Easy! Well I don't eat a lot of eggs here but can keep them for the tomatoes......

  I also added coffee grounds and tea leaves to the topsoil that we used for earth day wild flower plants for the kids, to make it easier to handle. My containers have inch of rocks for draining. Then I have about 4 inches of top soil then the compost black gold for the bedding of my seeds.  The few things I planted early; like my herbs, I didn't use new compost and they are not growing.... guess I learned I need to add some fresh compost the hard way

I have added some leaves as a ground cover  I found under the patio table to help keep the moisture in.  But I thought I want to make sure these are a healthy crop.

So I just kept looking for ideas on helping my tomatoes.

I also learned that adding a tablespoon Epsom salts to a gallon of water helps add nitrogen.  Wow I have some Epsom salts for muscle aches....  I have some buckets for rain water they are about 3/4 full.  I did use some water from the hose to let it air out like you do with fish tanks. Oh if I still had a fish tank I could use the water that would be tossed to water the plants also.  But I will add a couple tablespoons of Epsom salts and see how that goes. 

If you have bugs that are eating the stem cover the stem with a toilet paper roll and it will protect the stem. It will also add to the soil because it decomposes!  Win win!