I gropw in a raingutter system that I built. It's self watering with a toilet type float when the water gets low.

I posted about this in another thread, but was suggested to come here and post too.
Last years crop was heirlooms and they got tall and leggy. didn't fruit until late in the season and not much.
At first I was thinking overcrowded, but now I'm thinking fertilizer.
I mixed scotts flower and vegetable 10-10-10 in the soil with Epsom Salt. I got this method from a group on Facebook.

Now I'm thinking instead of the scotts I'm going to use Masterblend which I used once for aeroponic tomatoes and it worked well.But the tomatoes weren't that great tasting. just air and water mind you.

What I will do is mix the blend and pout it int he reservoir and only add that once a week.

However I've been reading about this TTF stuff, Texas Tomato Food/fertilizer?
Mix just be easier.
I also have this stuff that I sell called Fruit Fuel. See the photos.

I'd like to hear what you all think about fertilizers and my issues.
Photos are of the raingutter system and then the end of the season, actually yesterdays photo of the cherries I'm growing during winter. I'm starting to believe too much nitrogen.

Any help is much appreciated!

I really want MORE tomatoes and less vine.

Phosphorus is the key to more tomatoes, when fertilization is the issue. That bag of 16:8:24 looks to be just what you need, at least mid-season. Then perhaps move to something with even less Nitrogen and more phosphorus. Is this what you used, or what you're considering? I would imagine this would work fine. Compost early on is also great practice.

Rockoe10 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 23, 2021 8:25 am Phosphorus is the key to more tomatoes, when fertilization is the issue. That bag of 16:8:24 looks to be just what you need, at least mid-season. Then perhaps move to something with even less Nitrogen and more phosphorus. Is this what you used, or what you're considering? I would imagine this would work fine. Compost early on is also great practice.

I used scotts 10-10-10 for a long time. but am trying to get a better dial on the fertilizer.

I thought it was potassium they needed but thanks for the heads up on phosphorus.

The other fertile I was going to try was masterblend 4-18-38, with the addition of the epsom salt and calcium Nitrate(15.5-0-0)

The other fertilizer I was thinking which everyone on here talks about is TTF which is 4.0-2.9.6.7

Potassium will help make a strong, sturdy and healthy plant. Which will lead to more fruit production. Likewise, Nitrogen will encourage green growth (the factories of the plant) and is used to make amino acids. However, Phosphorus is associated with blooming and encourages plants to mature quicker.

Honestly, 10-10-10 is perfect for the first half of the season, but if you want to boost your fruit production, you'll want to give it something like that 4-18-38.

I also grow on a RGGS. I have found Texas Tomato Food a very reliable fertilizer. All the plants in my garden loved it last year. It was like shooting them up with rocket fuel, lol. I put it in the soil though, not in the gutter. There is a couple in Arizona that uses the 4-inch pipes and feeds with Masterblend in the pipe and get great results, however they grow determinate tomatoes in their system. Their names are Jerry and Cheri Short. They have a few videos on youtube on how they setup and run their system. You might find it interesting. I seem to recall they have a video on how they feed with Masterblend.

I have only grown cherrytoms on my gutter and they grew well. I'll be doing larger sized this year and my concern is balancing the constant water uptake on the gutter and the effect on tomato's taste. I'll be doing both gutter and in ground feeding with TTF as my own little experiment this year.

Nice job on your setup! Please keep us posted on how it goes.

~Emmie

Curious what the evaporation rate is on your gutter. Do you lose much water in the day from heat and wind?

xwindowuser wrote: ↑Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:43 pm
I really want MORE tomatoes and less vine.

Hey there, how did this turn out last year? Did you get better production?

I'm looking at your setup, and wondering where the sun is? I have my raingutter in the front yard. I put it there specifically because there is a lot of sun there. I can't tell from the pics, but it might just that if the sun is behind the fence for too much of the day, the want to keep growing to find it. I had a similar spot for a few years - tall and skinny plants that wouldn't really set, because they didn't hardly see any direct sun until afternoon. I swear they spent the morning searching for the sun.

@Rockoe10 - unless you were asking about that specific gutter - I can say my raingutter (10ft 9 buckets) was using about 3-4 gallons per day last August with eggplant. The adjacent, identical one was using about 2 gallon a day with sweet peppers, if that. Those big eggplant leaves really want to drink. I'm using rain barrel water to fill 5 gal buckets with float valves, easy to top of once or twice a week until August/September when the plants are big. Then it is daily. Though I think they are fine missing a few days, but if empty, they suck an evening filling up by morning.