watering and feeding

[vegnovice10]

Can someone advise me how much water to give my plants please? I have 4 tomato plants, 3 in one grow bag and one in another with 2 small cucumber plants. Do I need to really soak them? They are in the greenhouse. Also have other growbags with lettuce and spring onions in but notice the compost is a bit green. Does this mean I've over watered them and what do I need to do?

2 of the tomato plants have one tomato each on. Is it ok to feed the lot with tomorite and also the one in with cucumbers how do I proceed to feed that?

I have started feeding the courgette plant but don't know how much I should be giving it and the tomatoes. I gave the courgette 2 pints of diluted tomorite last wed when I'd worked out how much I needed to put in for 2 pints! I want to feed them all the same time so want to know how much feed I need to make up and do I need to use it immediately it's made up? Sorry for all the questions but I've never done this before. Susan

[tom_thumb]

I've not grown cucumbers before - but I have grown tomatoes, peppers & chillis in the greenhouse & conservatory.

I tend to feed once a week - I think the instructions on mine say to feed every other watering, which for me, unless its really hot weather, is about once a week. There should also be a rough guide telling you how much to use for a pot/growbag/plant as well.

As for how much to water them - as much as they need is about as helpful as I can be....prod a finger just into the surface of the compost - if its still slightly damp its ok - if its bone dry, you should have watered a little sooner.

The amount of food & water required is also going to vary with container size, compost type & plant type - so there's not really a one size fits all solution...you'll get to know your plants & conditions & instinctively know when they need more water.

I think the instructions on my feed say to start feeding when the second truss of flowers has set....in reality I think I started feeding a little earlier than this & no harm has come.

Not sure if you saw gardeners world a few weeks back, but they were planting tomatoes & explained a few things. One being about the roots. They have 2 types of root, one for water & one for feed. The deepest roots at the bottom are searching for water & the upper roots near the surface are looking for food - on some plants, you may see new feed roots starting to form on the stems...you can add more compost to cover these which will help even more.

Some of my pots in the greenhouse have a green surface (including spring onions)...I wouldn't worry about it.

Sorry for the long winded reply - hopefully it helps.

[vegnovice10]

Thanks for reply -much appreciated. Trouble is I am a bit too concerned about doing it right - need to be more relaxed about it.