Fertilizer...

[theOEGBman]

Hey Everyone,


Im talkin to my grandma about the garden and she's asking me to ask you guys something. Fertilizer is the thing we are wondering about. What fertilizer do you use for which veggie, and how often do you fertilize each type? We are growing the usual: Corn, Tomatoes, Peppers, Beans, Squash, etc. She's always used Miracle Gro, but is there any specific fertilizers that help each veggie? And what would be the best one to use? Thanks!



Jordan

 

[ams3651]

I water with a liquid fertilizer you mix with water (Id have to go see what brand) I think maybe once every other week. But other wise all I use is maneure. Chicken is good for corn but I think any kind good.

 

[theOEGBman]

Ok, thanks! I'd love the hear the brand, if possible. I will let her know. Thanks again.



Jordan

 

[digitS']

Jordan, Miracle-gro can be kind of expensive especially for a larger vegetable garden. It is less expensive to apply fertilizer to the soil during the initial preparation for the growing season. For "heavy feeders," like corn, tomatoes, broccoli, etc., you may wish to fertilize another time or two during the growing season.

Vegetable gardeners don't often use plant-specific fertilizers. The usual advice is for a "balanced" fertilizer. What is meant by that is a NPK designation of equal percentages, like 5-5-5 or 10-10-10. [NPK stands for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K)]

If your garden soil would benefit from 2 pounds of 10-10-10 for every 100 square feet, you could apply 4 pounds of 5-5-5 in the same area. There are several organic mixes that come in at 5-5-5. A good composted steer manure may be 1-1-1. You could use 20 pounds in 100 square feet.

Actually, with the organic fertilizers and especially those with lower numbers like composted manure, it is fairly safe to "over-fertilize" since it usually takes so long for the NPK's to become available to the plants. These fertilizers have the added benefit of adding organic material to the soil so that moisture retention and soil "tilth" are improved. (Also, composted manure is probably the cheapest of the organic fertilizers.) Synthetic fertilizers like 10-10-10 (or 16-16-16) are sort of "one shot" deals.

Steve

 

[Rosalind]

Regular compost from the compost bin, mixed with any kind of animal (chicken, horse, cow) manure/litter: Squash, corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, peas, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, celery, beans and their relatives.

Sand and compost and just a wee bit of fish/seaweed emulsion in early summer: carrots, onions, things I want to have nice-looking roots.

Greensand and compost from the compost bin: strawberries, roses, raspberries, fruit trees, anything in the Rosaceae family.

Plain chicken manure & pine litter: Blueberries, anything that needs somewhat acid soil.

I never use Miracle-Gro. In my experience, it's too much work--one bad spell of weather, one drought where there's no outside watering allowed for a month or two, and forget it, you've just lost the whole garden that was dependent on you watering and fertilizing it. If you put something like compost or greensand down, something that takes a long time to break down as water and stuff becomes available, the plants can withstand a bit of nasty weather. You won't get as big of a yield as you would in a really good year, but you won't lose everything and you won't be left high and dry, either.

 

[sparks]

Rosalind...Thanks for the info...What do you mean by greensand? Sounds familiar but can`t remember!::dance

 

[Rosalind]

Greensand

Decomposes extremely slowly, so you only have to put it down, hmm, maybe once every 5 years or so.