Comment

Comment by Glenda Truscott z8 on May 3, 2012 at 2:16pm

When I went through the  Master Gardeners Class they stressed not using the cheap ones.  That was in 1991 though. I hope they have gotten better since then. 

Comment by Karen on May 3, 2012 at 8:16am

Hi folks,

Anyone available to discuss home soil testing methods?

 

Karen

 

 

Comment by Howard L Roberson on January 22, 2012 at 12:20pm

I haven't used cover crops much since I sold my 12 acre hobby farm in 2006. Then I built the siol up with alfalfa and clovers.

But I have been experimenting with recycling leaves and grass clippings  in composters and food scraps in my worm farm. They both add a lot of natural microorganismas.

Then in the fall I have an abundence of leaves that I recycle on my garden with the compost. 24 inches will insulate the soil and breakdown to about 6" by spring adding more microoranisms, soil fungus, and worms to the garden to do the tilling and convert the leaves to plant nutrients. Then I add some lime in the spring. It sure makes the tomatoes grow.

Comment by Karen on May 24, 2011 at 7:02am

Howard, you mention the use of a PH meter. I've seen these for around $20-30 but as I recall they claim to also test N-P-K, is this the type you are referring to? Are they reliable?  How about the soil test kits that sell for $2-3. 

Comment by Karen on May 24, 2011 at 6:58am

Like a decent cook vs a great chef I dont know enough about fertilizing but I so want to learn. Thank you to whomever started this group!

 

 Question: Wholeed you wrote, "fertilize the crop, not the soil."  Implicit in this advice is the assumption that you are using water-soluble chemical fertilizers." Can't one fertilize the crop through compost/maure teas or such?

Comment by Cindy H on April 25, 2011 at 9:06pm

I recently put organic corn meal gluten on my garden & grass & WOW does it ever work! I added Texas green sand to the grass as I need nourishment desperately in it & the corn gluten has helped take awayt the patches I've been trying to get rid of. ( hope this makes sense).

Comment by wholeed on April 18, 2011 at 11:16am

Espoma brand fertilizers are a good choice for starting an organic garden.  Although they are expensive, they innoculate the soil with a wide variety of beneficial soil microorganisms.  Once you have established your garden, compost will serve this purpose. Then you can use something cheaper such as pasteurized chicken litter.

Phosphorus and Potassium tend to build up in soils, so you may not need to add any, especially if you have added rock phosphate (P) and/or granite dust (K) in the past. Nitrogen is more complicated.

Ammonia (NH4+) is not readily usable by plants, but it breaks down in the soil into usable nitrate (NO3-) . This process acidifies the soil, which necessitates using lime (CaCO3).  Calcium Nitrate (CaNO3) is often a better choice, or potassium nitrate (KNO3), if you can find it.

Your county extension agent will tell you "fertilize the crop, not the soil."  Implicit in this advice is the assumption that you are using water-soluble chemical fertilizers.  In organic plots, nutrients are bound up in the soil microbiota. These are constantly reproducing and dying, resulting in a constant supply of free nutrients in the soil.  You needn't worry much about overfertilizing.

Fertilizers with high N-P-K numbers can burn your plants. This includes organic fertilizers such as blood meal, or (some say) even bone meal.  You can add these fertilizers to mulch or compost first, then put mixture on the garden after it has mellowed for a while.

Comment by Dave MacLean on March 6, 2010 at 9:49am

Hi Howard, good source of Potassium as well. It might be a good idea to get a soil analysis 2 or 3 times per year. You don't want to tie up any of those neat nutrients by going out of balance.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on March 6, 2010 at 8:12am

I use woood ashes to neutralize the acidic soils just by burning the limb and twig debree from my yard in my outdoor fireplace. Then sprinkle them on my garden. You don't want to use too much though because it can cause the soil to become too alkaline and impair plant growth. A PH meter can help determine your soils acidity or alkalinity.

Comment by Dave MacLean on March 5, 2010 at 6:29pm

Hi Linda, we have a great "foliar feed" as well called "Total". It is a concentrated, high energy liquid to feed the plants. All plants hvae what's called "stomata"---thousands of tiny mouths on the undersides of leaves. This is where they take in the nutrients. Our Total contains fish, seaweed, coral calcium, molasses, beneficial biologicals etc. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you more info. and pricing. Thanks.

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