This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: fertilizers -- i'm confused!

At 06:21 PM 6/27/97 GMT, you wrote:
>i have been reading the messages on fertilization frequency,
>fertilizers to use etc.  I am mightly confused at this point. :))
>there seems to be agreement that fish emulsion & seaweed should be
>added.  also epsom salts. ...

Epsom salts supply magnesium, which is required for tomatoes. I've never
seen signs of Mg deficiency in my tomatoes, so i've never bothered.

> ...here are my questions:
>1. is kelp same as seaweed?

Kelp is a type of seaweed. I guess for fertilization purposes, it's the same
thing.

>2. the fish emulsion i bought is 5-1-1.  i thought that high nitrogen
>produced only foilage (& that this was the objection to miracle grow)

I'm not too familiar with fish emultion. Miracle-Gro comes in several
formulations. The one i like is the general vegetable mix, 15-30-15 (which
becomes 0.23-0.47-0.23 when the product is diluted as directed). Some
objections to Miracle-Gro and similar products are that
  1) The nutrients are taken up very quickly by the plant, which is not
     necessarily good for its health. Cf binge eating by humans.
  2) Excess nutrients leach into watersheds, causing water pollution.
     This is true of excessive use of *any* fertilizer.
  3) Miracle-Gro does not enrich the soil. Organic amendments such as
     compost are still necessary.
  4) Miracle-Gro lacks many trace nutrients. Organic amendments such as
     compost are still necessary.
It is said that synthetic fertilizers chase away the earthworms. I have not
found this to be the case with Miracle-Gro brand in particular, but i did
once read a very sad annecdote about a product that *killed* all the
earthworms in a garden. So be careful!

>3. calcium is needed.  is this from powdered milk?

Hmmm. Never heard of that one. Horticultural lime is the usual amendment,
and is probably cheaper. Also, save your used eggshells. If your pH isn't
too low then you can use gypsum.

>4. do all veggies like a basic soil?  some more than others?

Most veggies do. Leafy vegetables, as you know, benefit from extra nitrogen.

>if i apply all of these things once a week or so, do u think i'll have
>the correct balance????//

The only way to know for sure is to have your soil tested. However, in the
absense of symptoms, i wouldn't worry too much about it. :-)

>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>Judy (zone 7, close-in SS, MD)
>to e-mail me:  jcosler@mindspring.com

@->-`-,----------------------------------------------+
|  Cousin Ricky      USDA zone 11, Virgin Islands    |
|  rcallwo@uvi.edu   formerly zone 6, Massachusetts  |
+----------------------------------------------------+

***************************************************************************
To unsubscribe, send to: listserv@umslvma.umsl.edu
the body message: unsubscribe sqft
See http://www.umsl.edu/~silvest/garden/sqft.html for archive, FAQ and more.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index