I have been having problems getting fertilizers and soils for the garden. It is more than a seasonal problem. Amazon and others are not shipping most fertilizers and insecticides to Hawaii. Finding it locally, is almost as bad. I am not sure this is a shipping issue or a State issue, or both.
What would be alternative nitrogen sources?
I can't add more than an inch of compost and I can't use any manures and most blended fertilizers because they are too high in phosphorus. I do need potassium, nitrogen, and micros. I cannot chop and drop because I actually need to remove nutrients from the soil and I only have vermicompost, which I can only use in new potting mix because while it is high in nitrogen it is also very high in phosphorus.
I am using hydroponic fertilizers, which I can still get locally, but they are very concentrated and short acting so I have to fertilize often. I haven't figured out the schedule yet so my plants start and stop.
Alternatively, what crops can I plant that will use up a lot of phosphorus?
Mint, cabbage and chives are phosphorus users. Tomatoes and beans also. Not knowing much about Hawaiian growing, I wonder if you could grow a cover crop, suck up the phosphorus then till the green portions back into the soil as a nitrogen source. Tomatoes would not be a good idea, though. Grass clippings and leafy greens may help. There are several flowers that like high levels of phosphorus.
I don’t know much about year long growing conditions, so just take this from someone not sure what will help.
I don’t know much about year long growing conditions, so just take this from someone not sure what will help.
I can cover crop with cow peas. I will have to find out if I can get the inoculant. It is not available here. I haven't grown cow peas in a while but I have about 3 lbs of beans. I might still have buckwheat. That is a possibility since it is actually good at picking up both calcium and phosphorus. I could just not till it in for the biomass and put it in the green bin instead to remove phosphorus . It is a six week crop so it won't take as much time as trench composting. I mulch the grass in place and my grass has so many weeds that it I would have to compost it first. Leafy greens and dried leaves might be an idea. It would take a while to collect it, but I can do trench composting. It is normally not practical for me to do that since it takes 5 months to trench compost and I don't want to give up that much planting space. I could do it on a smaller scale and put pots on top the weed block.
Tomatoes and cucumbers which is what I usually grow in pots are heavy nitrogen, potassium, calcium and micro nutrient users but not high phosphorus users. I may have to find a rotational crop that uses more phosphorus. I will check out which flowers and root crops use more phosphorus. Corn is a high phosphorus user. It was one of the reasons I grew the corn to have a net nutrient deficit. I would have made good compost, but I put it in the bin because I did not want to return the phosphorus back into the soil. I can't use it for mulch because of the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle and snails like mulch too.
Tomatoes and cucumbers which is what I usually grow in pots are heavy nitrogen, potassium, calcium and micro nutrient users but not high phosphorus users. I may have to find a rotational crop that uses more phosphorus. I will check out which flowers and root crops use more phosphorus. Corn is a high phosphorus user. It was one of the reasons I grew the corn to have a net nutrient deficit. I would have made good compost, but I put it in the bin because I did not want to return the phosphorus back into the soil. I can't use it for mulch because of the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle and snails like mulch too.
Here are a few more tips: To help remove excessive phosphorus, plant a cereal fall cover crop, such as rye, oats, wheat, or barley. Before planting your garden next spring, the entire cereal cover crop must be physically pulled up by the roots and discarded to remove the plant-absorbed phosphorus. It should not be tilled into the soil as recommended for most cover crops, as it would add the phosphorus back into the soil.
Another option to reduce phosphorus, calcium, or boron levels is to grow brassica crops, as they are nutrient-dense plants. Brassicas include broccoli, collards, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.
It sounds like reducing phosphorus levels is difficult and takes time. Do you do yearly soil tests to monitor your progress?
Interestingly I just received this year's soil test results and my garden is in need of extra phosphorus along with need for nitrogen.
Another option to reduce phosphorus, calcium, or boron levels is to grow brassica crops, as they are nutrient-dense plants. Brassicas include broccoli, collards, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.
It sounds like reducing phosphorus levels is difficult and takes time. Do you do yearly soil tests to monitor your progress?
Interestingly I just received this year's soil test results and my garden is in need of extra phosphorus along with need for nitrogen.
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I’ve used alfalfa pellets in the past — they can be worked into soil or reconstituted in a bucket of water and strained into green manure tea.
Maybe dehydrate the xow pea and other cover crop/ green manures and pulverize to turn them into green powder to add to the potting mix?
I have been making home made bokashi. I have stopped worrying about getting the commercial beneficial microbe starter and have been trying different cultures like (“green juice” extract from growing tips of mugwort family weeds + raw or brown sugar) or something close to Ehime-2 (I use whatever is available — yogurt, yeast, natto (powder), soy or other non-dairy milk, organic brown rice rinse water, rice bran; plus rice bran-based horse feed, fish bone meal, can of anchovies, kelp meal, dried growing up eggshells, used coffee grounds, old wild birdseed, expired flour and baking mix (organic, no preservatives), stale crackers, etc. baked goods, “found in back of refrigerator” old opened home made pickles, fruit preserves, expired milk, yogurt, etc. etc.)
It’s getting so I have to distribute available materials among the big outside compost pile, compost tumblers that can’t tumble anymore but are strategically placed elsewhere where I stuff garden debris generated nearby, …etc., vermicompost bin, bokashi bin, container plant watering jugs ( I like to add fruit peels and scraps, rice rinse water, veg parboiling and pasta cooking, etc. water (no salt or sea salt only)
Bokashi and enriched container plant water are always diluted before use because otherwise they are too strong.
…Phosphorus is the one that I have more trouble sourcing too — I wish you could send me some @imafan!
Maybe dehydrate the xow pea and other cover crop/ green manures and pulverize to turn them into green powder to add to the potting mix?
I have been making home made bokashi. I have stopped worrying about getting the commercial beneficial microbe starter and have been trying different cultures like (“green juice” extract from growing tips of mugwort family weeds + raw or brown sugar) or something close to Ehime-2 (I use whatever is available — yogurt, yeast, natto (powder), soy or other non-dairy milk, organic brown rice rinse water, rice bran; plus rice bran-based horse feed, fish bone meal, can of anchovies, kelp meal, dried growing up eggshells, used coffee grounds, old wild birdseed, expired flour and baking mix (organic, no preservatives), stale crackers, etc. baked goods, “found in back of refrigerator” old opened home made pickles, fruit preserves, expired milk, yogurt, etc. etc.)
It’s getting so I have to distribute available materials among the big outside compost pile, compost tumblers that can’t tumble anymore but are strategically placed elsewhere where I stuff garden debris generated nearby, …etc., vermicompost bin, bokashi bin, container plant watering jugs ( I like to add fruit peels and scraps, rice rinse water, veg parboiling and pasta cooking, etc. water (no salt or sea salt only)
Bokashi and enriched container plant water are always diluted before use because otherwise they are too strong.
…Phosphorus is the one that I have more trouble sourcing too — I wish you could send me some @imafan!
I wish I could. I have done soil tests every three years. I have not added phosphorus to the main in ground garden for 10 years. A different lab did the soil test this time since the UH will no longer do homeowner soil tests. But the phosphorus was over 2000 ppm ( I need 37 ppm). I only add sulfate of ammonia, I should add urea but it is much harder to control. 2 tablespoons sulfate of ammonia per 100 sq ft applied after new leaves have appeared or with transplants. Potassium ( I have used langbeinite, kelp meal, sulfate of potash. Amazon won't ship some of these anymore.) 2 tablespoons per 100 sf . My
soil pH was around 6.0, I forgot, I would have to look it up again. But the calcium was high. >2500 which is actually not uncommon for my soil type, Wahiawa series oxisol. Organic matter 7.8%.
I was adding 4 inches of compost or organic potting soil since it was actually hard to find good quality compost. The phosporus had gone down to about 1600 ppm, but it got worse because the potting soil has added fertilizer and most of the soil amendments and composts have added fertilizers although they don't say how much. So the compost was actually making the phosphorus worse. So now, I was told to only add about 3/4 inch of a compost without added fertilizer, which is pretty hard to find. This amount of compost is for maintenance. So yeah, I probably don't have to add phosphorus fertilizer in forever.
I do grow mostly cabbages and corn as rotational crops in the main garden. Last year, I planted the corn in between the cabbages, because the cabbages never finish on time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked out fine. The corn needed more nitrogen though with the cabbages present.
I have practiced no till for a few years now. I actually went to till once in a while because there actually are problems with no till layering nutrients and compaction of clay soil over time. Some things like dolomite lime does not move through the soil well so it is better tilled in. It still takes 6 months to affect pH. Weeds are also a bigger problem with no till especially when I have to reduce the amount of compost I add on top.
I can't chop and drop like I should with no till, because I need a net loss of nutrients and mulch is a problem with coconut rhinoceros beetles and snails. So, I depend on paper mulch and intensive planting to limit weeds.
I don't have a compost pile only worm bin, I can't use that on the main garden because it is very high in phosphorus as well.
The alfalfa pellets is a good idea. I have to figure out where I can get some locally. I may have to go to the other side of the island. Sam's Club used to sell it, but they haven't sold it in years. I can maybe grow alphalfa, I have to find out if I have the climate for it and how hard it is go kill. The winter cover crops on the mainland don't always work here because you have winter to kill them. I don't. So things like clover are never a good idea. I know Monsanto planted oats and mustard as cover crops for their cornfields. I have buckwheat, at least that is fairly easy to pull out but it becomes a weed if it goes to seed. I have sunn hemp which is a summer cover crop here used mainly to control nematodes. I have grown that but it is hard to pull out. I do plant marigolds in my main garden for nematode control but I could put more flowers in between some of the crops that would take out more nutrients and attract beneficial insects at the same time. I have to find out which ones are compatible. Tomato was compatible with cosmos, but the poppies kept the okra from growing or it may have been the soil in the pot. That was a reused soil pot.
soil pH was around 6.0, I forgot, I would have to look it up again. But the calcium was high. >2500 which is actually not uncommon for my soil type, Wahiawa series oxisol. Organic matter 7.8%.
I was adding 4 inches of compost or organic potting soil since it was actually hard to find good quality compost. The phosporus had gone down to about 1600 ppm, but it got worse because the potting soil has added fertilizer and most of the soil amendments and composts have added fertilizers although they don't say how much. So the compost was actually making the phosphorus worse. So now, I was told to only add about 3/4 inch of a compost without added fertilizer, which is pretty hard to find. This amount of compost is for maintenance. So yeah, I probably don't have to add phosphorus fertilizer in forever.
I do grow mostly cabbages and corn as rotational crops in the main garden. Last year, I planted the corn in between the cabbages, because the cabbages never finish on time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked out fine. The corn needed more nitrogen though with the cabbages present.
I have practiced no till for a few years now. I actually went to till once in a while because there actually are problems with no till layering nutrients and compaction of clay soil over time. Some things like dolomite lime does not move through the soil well so it is better tilled in. It still takes 6 months to affect pH. Weeds are also a bigger problem with no till especially when I have to reduce the amount of compost I add on top.
I can't chop and drop like I should with no till, because I need a net loss of nutrients and mulch is a problem with coconut rhinoceros beetles and snails. So, I depend on paper mulch and intensive planting to limit weeds.
I don't have a compost pile only worm bin, I can't use that on the main garden because it is very high in phosphorus as well.
The alfalfa pellets is a good idea. I have to figure out where I can get some locally. I may have to go to the other side of the island. Sam's Club used to sell it, but they haven't sold it in years. I can maybe grow alphalfa, I have to find out if I have the climate for it and how hard it is go kill. The winter cover crops on the mainland don't always work here because you have winter to kill them. I don't. So things like clover are never a good idea. I know Monsanto planted oats and mustard as cover crops for their cornfields. I have buckwheat, at least that is fairly easy to pull out but it becomes a weed if it goes to seed. I have sunn hemp which is a summer cover crop here used mainly to control nematodes. I have grown that but it is hard to pull out. I do plant marigolds in my main garden for nematode control but I could put more flowers in between some of the crops that would take out more nutrients and attract beneficial insects at the same time. I have to find out which ones are compatible. Tomato was compatible with cosmos, but the poppies kept the okra from growing or it may have been the soil in the pot. That was a reused soil pot.