Fertilizer basics

[inchworm]

I have to confess that I really don't understand what it means to "fertilize". I know all the chemical P-K-N stuff, but what I mean is, how do you fertilize without buying the bag of blue Miracle Grow? I have a new lawn, established garden beds, and a rotating raised bed for annuals and veggies. I know I'm supposed to be fertilizing, but how do I do it if I don't want to buy synthetic fertilizer? Or should I buy the synthetic fertilizer?? I do have a compost pile that I use whenever I need "dirt" or to use as mulch occassionally.

Confused,
Inchworm

 

[patandchickens]

The only reason to fertilize would be if your plants' growth is unduly limited by one or more nutrients (N, P, K or micronutrients).

If they are growing fine, or if their growth is limited more by the availability of (say) water, then there is no reason to fertilize.

If they DO seem to be growing more poorly than they should, in a nutrient-related way, then in the broadest sense of the word, "fertilizing" just means "adding something that provides available nutrients, of whatever nutrient(s) they're short of".

In the case of Nitrogen for instance, you can supply it as a glork o' Miracle Grow, or in some good compost, or as blood meal, or you can go pee into a bucket and dilute it with a little water and pour *that* on the plants, or any of a vast number of other options.

Not all options are exactly equivalent -- obviously it is easier/faster to add immediately-available N by means of a glork of Miracle Grow than by means of compost, because compost just *has* less immediately-available N *in* it. And different chemical forms of nitrogen are differently-available to the plants and also differ in their tendency to remain in the soil long-term vs leave if not immediately taken up by plants. Also, in one fertilizer the extra N (or whatever) will be accompanied by one set of other chemical compounds; in another fertilizer it will be accompanied by different ones; and that can affect how appropriate a given fertilizer is for your particular situation.

So it does make some difference what form your "fertilizing" takes.

Still, on the whole, it just boils down to "if the plants are doing ok, leave them alone; if they are short of something, give it to them" And if you have good soil, and top it up with compost periodically, and aren't growing extra heavy feeding plants, then it is quite possible you may not need to fertilize per se.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[hoodat]

I agree. The best advice I ever got was from my grandma who always said, "Feed the soil, not the plants". Of course you need to give plants a boost once in awhile but if you start out with healthy soil things just sort of take care of themselves.

 

[digitS']

If Scott's Miracle-Gro is available to you, Inchworm, Scott's Whitney Farms fertilizers are probably also on the shelves.

I grow lots of stuff and have had several gardens for quite some time. For several years, I carried everything from 2 gardens of about 1,200 square feet each -- to a compost pile in 1 garden with about 1,200 square feet. In other words, all the plant wastes from 3,600 square feet went into 1 compost pile.

In my typical "slow composting" method, that compost was available after 18 months. I had enuf for approximately one-half of 1 garden! So, 3,600 square feet of plant wastes turned into enuf compost for 600 square feet of garden!

Now, you don't need to apply compost every year, but still . . . .

John Jeavons, who wrote Growing More Vegetables than you can shake a stick at, on Less Land Than You could throw a cat across (or, something like that), claims that you should grow 60% of your garden crops: For Your Compost Pile!! That's probably about right. I just wish I could feel comfortable allocating that much garden space to feed a hungry compost pile!

If I'm going to buy something for the soil and plants, I'm quite willing to buy good organic fertilizer.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

Green manure is a great way to handle that problem. Hairy vetch is the best I've found but if you use a tiller you have to till before it gets to the vining stage or you'll spend more time cleaning the tines than tilling. Annual rye is great for increasing humus but it doesn't increase the nitrogen like vetch does. An unusual but highly effective green manure crop is Southern cowpeas. Pigeon peas is the one I like best and you can usually find it in bulk seed, especially if you live in the South.