Boric acid is often used for tomato fertilizers, but this article offers a broader perspective on using this fertilizer for your tomatoes. It's important to start with the fact that boron is essential for the growth of this vegetable.
Boric acid is used As a fertilizer, it helps increase calcium uptake by plant organs and roots, increases chlorophyll content in green parts, and stimulates seed germination. Furthermore, when used correctly, boric acid can make berries and fruits sweeter and juicier.
The benefits of boric acid for tomatoes
Growing a bountiful tomato harvest requires a great deal of effort. This garden plant requires essential nutrition to ensure juicy, firm, and fleshy fruits. Clearly, there are many ways to use boric acid as a fertilizer for tomatoes, and only the gardener can choose the most appropriate approach based on their specific needs.
How boric acid benefits the growth and development of tomatoes:
1. Nourishes plant ovaries.
2. Saturates fruits with sugar.
3. Protects bushes from parasites and diseases.
If we break down all the options for fertilizing tomatoes (and cucumbers) with boric acid, we'll see that it involves more than just spraying. Root feeding can also be done by watering the plant with fertilizer (incidentally, this is the primary method for delivering nutrients to the crop).
Fertilizing can also be done non-root, where the plant receives additional nutrients through its leaves. However, it's important to understand that this vitamin supply is delivered eight times faster than simply watering the soil. Therefore, in some cases, positive results can be expected within a few hours of spraying.
As for spraying, boric acid is used for tomatoes to accelerate fruit set and promote ripening. This method is ideal for combating late blight, a common tomato disease, especially in temperate climates.
Important! Remember to handle boric acid with extreme caution, as it can harm plants if used uncontrollably. Particular care should be taken with boric acid when used indoors, rather than outdoors, as they receive significantly less solar energy.
How to recognize boron deficiency
Reviews of spraying tomatoes with boric acid are often positive. This substance is essential during the growing season of garden crops—for pollination, fertilization, and proper carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Boron plays a role in developing a certain immunity to a number of diseases. And remember that tomato plants, like other plants, can signal a boron deficiency.
Boron deficiency primarily affects the leaves. Young leaves lose their color, starting from the tips. This loss of color indicates damage to the leaf tissue, even though some of the leaf remains green. However, if no action is taken, the affected tissue quickly spreads throughout the plant.
The upper leaves begin to curl, and black or brown veins appear on the affected leaves. When such a leaf is bent, it cannot withstand the force and immediately breaks. Certain signs of boron deficiency are also visible on the tomato stem: the growing point begins to turn black, and new leaves emerge from the lower part of the stem. Moreover, their petioles are so brittle that they prevent new leaves from developing properly. All these lesions are a sure sign to fertilize the crop with a boron solution.
How and when to apply fertilizer
Boric acid for tomatoes, including spraying for fruit set and more, has already been discussed in this article. There are several strategies for using this fertilizer. First, let's look at how boric acid can be used for tomatoes even before planting.
You'll need to soak the tomato seeds in boric acid for 24 hours. The ratio of the acid to clean water should always be listed on the packaging. Repeat this process the day before planting, and then add more boric acid to the planting holes.
As for the foliar feeding method, it has already been discussed separately in this article. "Foll-root feeding" most often means spraying. To prepare the solution, dissolve one gram of boric acid in a liter of hot water. Use only a fine spray bottle for the application, and make sure the solution has cooled completely by the time you apply it to the tomatoes. For young leaves, 10 ml of the solution per plant is sufficient.
Important! Spraying tomatoes with boric acid solution should be done during the flowering period. Spraying should be done regularly, gradually increasing the amount by 50%. It's also used as a fertilizer. breed quail droppings.
Alternatively, boric acid is used on tomatoes to protect them from late blight. This should be done right in early June. To do this, first spray the plants with a weak, barely pink solution of potassium permanganate. Then, a week later, use a boric acid solution for spraying, diluting just 10 grams in 10 liters of water. A week later, spray the plants with a weak iodine solution. If you complete these three sprays on time, you can be sure that late blight will not affect your tomato plants this summer.
Important! When using any fertilizer, and this is especially true for boric acid, it's essential to strictly adhere to the specified proportions. Even a slight error can result in severe burns and even death of the plant. coffee grounds as fertilizer.
With judicious and proper use of boric acid as a tomato fertilizer at different stages of growth, you can achieve a yield of up to 50 kilograms per square meter of seedlings. The first fruits will be available for tasting as early as the end of the first month of summer.
When using boric acid on tomatoes, spraying, like other treatments, must be done judiciously. Boric acid is an essential element for normal tomato growth and development. Insufficient boron will result in small tomatoes, disease-affected fruits, and dark spots on the leaf tips. Tomatoes should be treated with boric acid, sprayed, during the active budding period, using a 0.05% solution. Spraying can also be done during flowering and ripening.
However, using boric acid too frequently and incorrectly can ultimately result in fruits ripening too quickly, at the expense of their long-term storage. This applies not only to tomatoes but to any other crop. eggshells can be an excellent fertilizer for tomatoes.
Advice! Boric acid and iodine are excellent preventative fertilizers for garden crops. Almost all garden plants require little iodine, but tomatoes are an exception. Iodine is essential for the development of flower clusters, ovaries, and fruit ripening.

Fertilizing tomatoes with salt
How to fertilize vegetable seedlings with regular iodine
When and how to sow tomato seedlings in March 2024 – simple and accessible for beginners
Catalog of black tomato varieties