Do I have to use soluble fertilizer?

[Kraky]

Hey folks,

I've always used soluble fertilizer in my grow bags along with mixing in regular fertilizer at plant time for tomatoes. I rarely get BER or other issues but I sometimes wonder if this is overkill and if I can get away with just mixing in some tomatotone or the like once a month? I imagine this is easier to do with EB/SIP since it's a closed loop with no leaching but for a grow bag I don't risk it.

[Paulf]

At the beginning of the season we apply 10-10-10 to our containers and mix it in well. After the plants are growing soluble fertilizer is used.

[pepperhead212]

With EBs, granular fertilizer is usually what is used at the beginning - the original method was in trenches, on one side, if for tomatoes and eggplants, or others with just one row (if you want to call it a row), or a trench in the middle, for things you plant 2 rows of. Organic varieties can be mixed in, as there is less possibility of burning the roots. With the old 10-10-10 granular, I make a "sock" out of something they sell for brewing, and I cut them almost as long as the EB, or other SIP, and tie one end, put the fert in, then tie the other end shut with string. I lay this in the trench, then bury it, and it slowly leaches out and fertilizes the plants. For the SIPs in buckets, I make 3 tennis ball sized socks, and put them in a couple of inches deep - maybe this would work with grow bags? For any additional fertilizing, I add various things - calcium nitrate, epsom salt, and various micronutrients from the hydroponics, and maybe some sort of "bloom boost" (something I got years ago in a hydroponics deal, but I never use it there), though that is rarely needed. And once a month I crumble up a little bit of a mosquito dunk into each of them - one supposedly treats up to a 5,000 gal pond, so not much is needed!

[Kraky]

Thanks folks, @pepperhead212 I'll give that a shot with one of my bags to see if I can be more hands off next year