I was just curious how often you guys fertilize your garden? I purchased some Fertilome blooming and rooting water soluble fertilizer the other day and the instructions say to use it every 7-14 days. Is this a good regimen for plants like peppers, pole beans, tomatoes, onions, red cabbage ect? The label says its a 9-58-8 fertilizer.
I did till in a cubic yard of mushroom compost and some slow release fertilizer in early spring. Not sure if that makes a difference but thought I would throw it out there.
So is a 7-14 day fertilizing schedule ok or overkill?
once every three or four years for amending with worms/worm poo/worm pee (then i rotate plant ). top dressing with green manure when ever i get around to it or it seems to be needed - usually that means it doesn't happen because the plants seem to be doing ok without it.
the rest of the time i'm adding organic matter to the soil by burying garden debris/weeds/leaves/pieces of bark/partially decayed wood chips/etc. when i have access to those materials. all organic materials are a weak fertilizer and act as slow release as the soil community (bacteria, fungi, worms, etc) breaks them down.
i haven't used chemical fertilizers in the veggie gardens for 10yrs or more. the soil quality keeps improving. when i started the soil was pale, and since we have mostly clay and a little sand it tends to be like a brick when not amended with other things. so i add more sand and any organic materials when i can get them for free or nearly free. we have a large enough area of other perennial gardens that i can use the decayed wood chips/humus that collects around plants over the years and wood ashes provide some lighter soil and trace nutrients along with some charcoal pieces that will gradually get broken down as i plant/weed/harvest. anyways, the gardens i've kept improving the soils and are notably many shades darker and that seems to be working too as there is more signs of worms and other creatures.
also i rarely dig an entire garden each season, instead i only use 5-10% for burying garden debris and the rest is no till as much as possible. i wish i could also plant cover crops, but the manager doesn't let me do that so there are more weeds than i'd like. a good cover crop through winter and into early spring would keep a lot of weeds down.
i think most of them are very expensive for what you actually are getting in terms of minerals/nutrients. if you can set aside some space to grow alfalfa that can provide a lot of N in a form that the worms will enjoy.
the problem i have with many "bagged" materials is that they've not been treated well so that by the time i get them they might as well be considered sterile or greatly depleted. in comparison, if you'd observe what i can make in a worm bucket that is hopping with life for pretty close to free.
there's a lot to be said for scrounging and growing what you can and only using the trace nutrients/minerals called for (by observation or soil test). it's much cheaper and more fun to me...
different plants (even within the same family) may react differently. some things you can learn from reading, but by doing i think it drives the lessons home a bit more firmly.
you've grown more zuchinis than i have and there are plenty of other things i haven't grown here well at all, but i much prefer gardening to tv so i just keep at it. :)
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