Fertilizer Question

[nccountrygirl]

OK folks, most of us have chickens and a chicken manure compost pile going. When we tilled our garden we added compost and turned it under and my garden is doing great. Will I have to fertilize it again or will the compost last all season? Thanks Laura

 

[papadekaitlyn]

Depends on how rich the compost was and if you want more than one harvest.

With my tomatos for example, I fertilize them when I set them out and let them grow for 6 to 8 weeks depending on rain, then I lightly refertilize every two weeks after that on a different side of each plant each time. This keeps my tomatos going all season and once the harvest starts it continues until just before first frost.

The best bet is to just observe and if the plants aren't producing or growing as you feel they should, re-fertilize.

A soil test kit can also be purchased at most of the home improvement stores and the results are fairly accurate if you want an idea of your NPK and PH levels.

Steve

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Steve's right on that one.

We usually fertilize with compost when we plant. Let things grow out a bit, then about 1 month or 2 later we put some more compost on the ground, mulch heavily, then leave them fo the season.

We do test the soil periodically also to check for any nutrient deficiencies throughout the season and add as needed.

Either way, to give you a short answer. I'd fertilize or through some more compost down 2 months after you planted and you should be fine.

 

[pjkobulnicky]

A couple of comments:

It depends on how intensively you plant. Less intensive and you might not need a compost boost.

It depends on the overall quality of your soil ... if excellent, you might not need a boost.

It depends on the particular plant ... except for nitrogen lovers, an extra boost may not be warranted. Be especially careful about too much nitrogen on plants that don't want it ... peppers, for example, will give you great foliage but little fruit with too much nitrogen.

So ... it depends.

 

[bills]

It depends on the particular plant ... except for nitrogen lovers, an extra boost may not be warranted. Be especially careful about too much nitrogen on plants that don't want it ... peppers, for example, will give you great foliage but little fruit with too much nitrogen.
.

That's true of tomato's as well. You can get some great bush, but little fruit.

Chicken manure is quite high in nitrogen. Depending on the amount that was added to the soil, the compost mix, and how old the compost was, you may already have all the nitrogen that you need for this summers gardening.

The greener the compost the more available nitrogen. (This is where you may actually burn plants) Depending on what your chicken droppings were mixed with can make a difference as well. Some mixes use up a lot of the nitrogen, in the act of composting down, so supplemental nitrogen can be needed. Older composts can be great for soil conditioning, but may not contain a lot of nitrogen.

Gardening is a science!