Why put fish under the tomatoes when planting

A fish in a garden with tomatoes is not at all an invention or a joke of gardeners. Among the numerous tricks undertaken by the owners of personal plots in order to obtain a grandiose harvest, there is one. Let us try to figure out whether it is worth stocking up fish at the time of planting tomato seedlings on a garden bed and, if so really worth doing, how to do it with the highest probability of winning.

Why put fish in the hole when planting tomatoes?

It is believed that even the American Indians under their landings enclosed fish. Ostensibly it even reflects rock art. We do not undertake to state precisely, but we also allow this option. Nowadays, when fish products are expensive, on the territory of our country this is done in places where it is available in sufficient quantities: in Primorye and in the Far East fish waste is even used for potato cultivation, this method of tomato cultivation is also common in the Astrakhan region . It uses the cheapest species.

 Top dressing fish tomato
Top dressing fish a tomato when transplanting

Why put fish when planting a tomato? It is clear that the fish with its organic composition will clearly add some useful components to its decomposition into the soil. Which ones? This is what should be decided in more detail.

Plants for growth and development need to obtain a sufficient number of different macro and micronutrients.

Among the macro (= many) are especially needed:

  • Nitrogen - necessary for the process of photosynthesis. The main sources are manure, humus, urea, etc. If the plant receives it in excess, it “fattens”, i.e.The plant has a large green mass, and the crop is minimal.
  • Potassium - helps ripening fruits. The main source is potash fertilizers and wood ash.
  • Phosphorus - promotes flowering and fruiting plants. The main source is superphosphate and bone meal.

It is known that tomatoes are particularly demanding on the phosphorus content in the soil. At the initial stage, phosphorus stimulates the development of the root system of plants, later accelerates the formation of flower brushes, and at the stage of ripening of the crop improves the taste of tomatoes.

Just to provide tomatoes with a sufficient amount of phosphorus in an accessible form, fish are added under the roots of the seedlings. The same result can be achieved using superphosphate. But if there is such a tradition, we will decide how to do it the most correctly.

Top dressing of tomatoes with fish when planting seedlings

At the time of planting, tomato seedlings often use small fish as a fish additive: capelin, sprat, and Baltic herring. Connoisseurs of organic farming argue that it is best to use previously harvested and frozen heads as a feed for tomatoes.

 The layout of the fish in the wells for feeding tomatoes
The layout of the fish in the wells for feeding tomatoes

At the time of planting seedlings need to prepare the wells of sufficient depth (not less than 60 cm deep), put in each head, sprinkle it with soil, and then plant the seedlings. If the wells are less deep, there is a danger of smell that can attract pets. Attracted by the fishy smell, cats and dogs are able to dig up plantings and damage planted plants.

It is also recommended to add egg shells to the well as an additional source of calcium. By the fall, nothing will be found at the site of these additives - the tomato root system will process everything into useful macronutrients.

Fish dressing tomato throughout the season

If at the time of the landing of the seedlings of the fish was not at hand, then this can be done later, having dug deep enough near the bush. In addition, this method of feeding is recommended to be carried out during the whole growing season.. This is especially easy to do if someone in the family likes to fish. Fish leftovers can be passed through a meat grinder, diluted with water and such liquid fertilizer, without waiting for it to smell unpleasantly, pour the earth between the tomato bushes (not at the root!)

There is also an opinion that the fish (it is possible to use even just scales) is buried in the soil to scare away the bears, which destroy young plants, feeding on their roots, but do not tolerate the smell of rotten fish. Insect bypasses such places side, and it helps to save plants.

Other ways of feeding vegetable plants with fertilizer based on fish waste

Instead of the fish itself, you can use fish meal and other forms of feeding based on waste.

 Fish flour
Fish flour

In the book of Maxim Zhmakin “All about fertilizer” there are several options for fertilizing for tomatoes based on fish waste:

  • Bone Flour - produced in an industrial way. Stimulates the rapid formation of roots during transplantation. It is important to mix it well with the soil in the hole when planting seedlings, because phosphorus does not dissolve and does not move in the soil. Application rate - 1-2 st. spoons (or 40 g) / bush.
  • Fish flour - made the same way as the flour from the bones of fish. Additionally, soft waste is used. It contains more nitrogen (up to 10%). Phosphorus usually makes up 3%. Submitted immediately before planting a bush in each hole, 1-2 tbsp. spoons (or 40 g) / bush.
  • Fish emulsion - mainly obtained in the processing of fish of the herring family - menheden, which even the American Indians used as fertilizer. This type of fish is of no value to the food industry and is used for livestock feed and fertilizer production. It is recommended to bring in small doses once a month during the whole vegetative period. To do this, a small amount of the emulsion is dissolved in water and water the plants directly under the root. The disadvantage is the characteristic fishy smell that can attract cats.

Here is a study on the usefulness of the use of fish and derivatives in an agricultural technique of growing tomatoes turned out. There was almost no scientific justification for its mandatory use. But in practice, this method is widespread. Amateur vegetable growers often write on forums about the results they enjoy. Therefore, everyone here decides for himself, many questions can be answered only by experience. At least within the borders of its own greenhouse.