Dr. Earth Organic 5 Tomato, Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer Poly Bag

I live in west-central Ohio, and have been growing tomatos on the same small 3ft x 20ft plot of land along a south-facing stockade fence for 19 years. I amend the soil every couple years (not this year) with store-bought manure and peat, but generally don't obsess over it. Historically I've foliage fed my plants weekly with Miracle Grow for Tomatos. This practice usually results in 6 foot tall plants and a good beginning crop after about 90-100 days. This year I decided to give Dr. Earth a shot after reading many positive reviews online. I added the recommended amount of dry Dr. Earth in with the soil during planting; it took about 1/2 the bag for nine plants. After about two weeks I was seeing what appeared to be accelerated growth, with many blossoms in large clusters, thicker vines, and even some small tomatoes starting. I simply continued to water and prune my plants regularly (suckers only) as I've done for the last 19 years (but no Miracle Grow feedings this year). About 1 month after planting I made "compost tea" as described on the bag, straining out the solids which I mixed into the soil at the base of each plant (as recommended). I then evenly distributed about 2 gallons of the (REALLY SMELLY) "tea" via watering can over the all plants' foliage. (WARNING: As described in some review posts, this compost "tea" absolutely STINKS, especially after sitting in the sun...I mean BAD. They are NOT kidding...) I write this review only 50 days after the original planting date... All I can say is WOW! I planted all nine of these box-store-purchased indeterminant tomato plants as 3" tall seedlings on Mother's Day. I now have plants that just hit SIX FEET TALL, and are COVERED in huge clusters of blossoms and MANY tomatoes. Some of my cherry tomatoes are even FULLY RIPE (50 days!). Gardening friends of mine who live next door are in awe of the difference in my plants vs theirs. At this rate I am seriously struggling with how to control the growth of these things, as I'm reluctant to pinch-off vines that have blossoms all over them. I'm betting these vigorous plants will easily reach at least 10'+ tall (WITH blossoms/tomatoes along the entire length, I suspect) before the season ends in late September. Now if I can just figure out how to support them.... FANTASTIC PRODUCT! ---------------------------- 11 August 2014 UPDATE: 91 Days After Planting... My tomato plants have continued growing like mad, and have (seriously) reached 9 feet tall. All I've done is keep them staked vertically (no simple task), watered, and pruned any suckers that appear. The fruit output has been tremendous, with literally HUNDREDS of cherry tomatoes already harvested or in progress per plant. My Better Boys are producing 5" diameter fruit. I'm sold on Dr. Earth. BUY THIS PRODUCT! ------------------------------------- 2015 Results - August 14, 2015: Went with Dr. Earth again in 2015, exactly as described in 2014. I won't waste your time with another review....BETTER results than last year.....check out my photos taken 85 days after planting 3" seedlings. That's a 6-foot stockade fence, and those are 9-foot tall custom-made supports (necessary after last years' results). Yes, the plants are THAT tall after 85 days...Zoom in and check out all the tomatoes ripening. AMAZING! BUY THIS PRODUCT!

Excellent results for vegetable and herb starters and seeds etc. I use Dr Earth all the time and it’s a bit less expensive with Amazon, than what Lowe’s charges currently.

It's in use now Dr earth has been great admendments nice thick stalks and healthy plant. No burn. Definitely a better grow this year than last with a few changes to soil type and using this.

I’m so excited! Alabama has been wet every day.. it’s slowing the process of growing.. when I received dr. Earth I applied it even though Alabama has had 3 months of rain…. Two months and I have small flowers which proceeds the tomatoes and the rest of the vegetables! Good luck!!!

I have been growing most of our veggies and herbs in our basement for about 6 years, and have had great success with this endeavor. I often grow more produce than we can use and give the excess to a local food pantry. I started using this fertilizer a couple of months ago on new plants by mixing 1/4 cup per 5 gallons of soil. The result I am seeing are amazing. My zucchini and yellow squash plants are larger and healthier than they have in previous grows, and are producing more flowers. The same is true for my bush tomato plants. My previous grow of bush tomatoes was good and they produced well, but they never got as large as my current tomato plants, nor did they produce as many tomatoes without blossom rot. There is a reason for this increased success. The potting soils used for indoor growing are usually sterilized to kill unwanted pests and possible fungal diseases, but this also kills the good microbes and organisms that are beneficial to growing plants. This fertilizer adds the seven strains of beneficial soil microbes plus ecto and endo mycorrhizae which are fungi that have a symbiotic relationship with the plants.. . Ectomycorrhizae do not penetrate deep into the plant (the cortical cells), while endo mycorrhizae tend to penetrate deeper (into the cortical cells). Endomycorrhizae literally attach themselves to the roots, penetrate cell walls, and become one with the roots. Endomycorrhizae form symbiotic relationships with 80 to 90 percent of all plants, including turf. On the other hand, ectomycorrhizae just kind of lay up next to the roots, coming into very close proximity but don’t attach themselves. Mycorrhizae are responsible for increasing the uptake of nutrients, minerals, and moisture by the plant The plant and mycorrhizae form a mutualistic relationship whereby the plant produces sugars through photosynthesis and exudes them out of the roots for mycorrhizae and other beneficial microorganisms to consume. For plants, the big benefit is the “enhanced supply of available nutrients, including carbon, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. They also get a faster uptake of minerals, such as calcium, copper, iron and zinc, and in greater amounts than would normally have been available to their roots.” As a result, mycorrhizae allows for an increased tolerance to adverse soil conditions (think low amounts of NPK and poor pH). What this all means is that this fertilizer helps to supply beneficial organisms found naturally in outdoor soil but does not exist in the potting soil used for plants grown indoors. In my experience, this fertilizer has definitely increased the growth and production of the many plants that I grow. Although I believe this fertilizer would be beneficial for growing indoors or outdoors, it will not compensate for under or over watering.. You need to know the needs of the plants you are growing. I hope this review was helpful for you.

This stuff is easy to use. I put extra in my soil and I planted some small jalapeno plants in some pots. They were twice the size they were when I planted them in 3 weeks and growing strong and healthy. Hopefully I will get a few batches of poppers out of them and maybe a couple jars of pickled jalapenos

Working well for my gardening

I thought it would dissolve better. It slogged my sprinkling can

As a fertilizer it is the best I have known - it works wonders for my Tomatoes and others . I like this product and would be buying it again as needed - a good buy for quality and price.

My plants love it.

Fertilizer arrived sooner than expected. It's early in our gardening season here and I've only used it once but I can definitely see a difference with some of the plants I used it on. Since I'm container gardening on my balcony I found it difficult to calculate how much fertilizer in how much soil for preparing small batches to top up my pots. Quite honestly I'd be happier if I could mix up a solution to use with my watering instead of needing to add it to soil. There is a recipe for making a solution but it sounds like it's for trees and shrubs and I'm afraid it would be too strong for my containers. I emailed the company asking for clarification about what I needed to use for the size of containers I'm using and received no reply. That is disappointing since they ask people to contact them on the label and on their website. If they had replied and been more helpful I'd probably give them a 5 star rating. I'm sure I'll have plenty of fertilizer for years to come!