NcgOsh
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Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Help to Identify Good Soil, Fertilizer, etc.

Hi Guys

I am planning to plant some Fruit Trees and Vegetables in Melbourne. Below I have listed the steps (bottom to top) how I am going to lay layers of soil, fertilizer, etc. Please let me know the following:

Fruit Trees - Name of good:

1. Top Soil and Organic Matter.

2. Fertilizer

3. Blood and Bone additives.

4. Slow-release Fertilizer

5. Organic Mulch




No Dig Veggie Garden and Name of good:

1. Hay

2. Organic Fertilizer / Manure

3. Loose Straw

4. Fertilizer

5. Compost

Thanks in advance.

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floridahillnursery
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Posts: 93
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:44 am
Location: Orlando Florida

Hello, If you want the mother of all vegi gardens here you are.


1. Raised beds 5'x10'x 12" high



2. Fill the beds with Mushroom compost. They just about give the compost away. I have provided a link to mushroom farms in your area... https://www.hotfrog.com.au/Products/Mushroom-Farms



3. Rhizogen organic fertilizer applied directly into the bed use the aglife 4-2-2 it wont burn and you can really pile it on... This particular organic fertilizer contains several different bacillus and nitrogen fixing Nematodes that support healthy root and plant growth. 1/3 of a bag per bed. I really cant stress this products ability enough.
https://rhizogen.com/pro/?page_id=125


4. Ironite mixed directly into the soil. 1 lb per bed.



5. Pelletized sulfur at the rate of 1 qt per bed.



6. Rototill the mixture together. Be careful not to walk on the soil as it will compress the medium thus restricting root growth and hindering beneficials.



7. Timed dripline irrigation with misters set at 7 minutes per day. Battery operated timers work just the same as regular timers without the hassel of running wires and the 9 volt batteries last for around 2 years. https://www.digcorp.com/Landscape_Irrigation/56-Battery_Operated_Controllers_&_Valves_


8. let stand for two weeks before planting.




This setup works very well and produces LARGE crops of veggies.. Good luck and post back if you have any other questions. :D
Last edited by floridahillnursery on Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:28 am, edited 3 times in total.

JONA878
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Location: SUSSEX

One query ...why have you put Hay.
Straw...yes as it is a good mulch and plant winter protector ... but hay just brings in a whole multitude of weed seed.
One to avoid as far as I can see.

:(

DoubleDogFarm
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Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm

another hay basher :P

and 5ft is to wide. :P

IMHO Eric

NcgOsh
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Hi floridahillnursery

Can I use same for Fruit plants?

Thanks

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floridahillnursery
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Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:44 am
Location: Orlando Florida

Hello, fruit plants are generally more specific in their growing requirements. I would read up on each fruit and plant specific. The reason I like 5' wide beds is their ability to accomodate three rows of plants and still be accessible from both sides. When this pattern is repeated it reduces the amount of walkways between beds and increases your plant to square foot ratio. I will use Brocolli as a baseline. The recommended spacing for brocolli is 12-18" with rows spaced 2-3' apart. Here are the rough numbers.

5x10 Three rows of brocolli at 6 plants per row amounts to 18 plants. Thats one plant per 2.7 square foot.

4x10 two rows of brocolli at 6 plants per row amounts to 12 plants. Thats one plant per 3.3 square foot.

Now if you factor in 2' paths between the beds using three beds as the baseline grid the square foot print would be 160 square feet and in that 160 square feet you can plant 36 brocolli plants thats 1 plant per 4.4 square feet. Compare that with 2 beds at 5x10 you are still able to grow 36 brocolli plants and you drop one path thus achieving 120 square feet and in that 120 square feet you are able to grow one brocolli per 3.3 square foot. thats an increase of over 30% in an area 20 percent smaller... These rows can be extended to accomodate almost any yard or garden. The rule of thumb is that the yield decreases as you go down in size with 5x10 being the most optimal per square foot of gardening area, and the multipliers change with different plants but this general rule works with larger plants such as brocolli, cabbage, brussel sprouts and couliflower.

Keep in mind some people may not be able to reach in 2.5 feet to weed exc... But if you are able to reach another 6 inches from either side of a plant bed (from 4x10 to 5x10) the benefits are huge. 5' wide is about as big as I would recommend. Larger plants such as brocolli will overgrow and shade out weed growth when planted in blocks. Generally you will have to weed once maybe twice (Depending on the amount of weed seed in your soil) when the plants are small after that the Brocolli will do the rest. Hope this helps :D

I have added this link for anyone growing veggies in the state of Florida. This pdf is a must have for folks in the sunshine state.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VH/VH02100.pdf
Last edited by floridahillnursery on Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:25 am, edited 2 times in total.

cynthia_h
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Location: El Cerrito, CA

Most people I know (and know *of*) who use raised beds do so to increase the number of plants per square foot and to make it easier to reach the plants. Therefore, 4' (1.25 m) across is the maximum for bending over and weeding for an average gardener. Interplanting, the practice of planting different veggies among one another, is also popular in the raised-bed community: taller plants can provide shade to shorter plants, succession planting is more easily dealt with, broadcasting is easier, etc.

Read Jon Jeavons' How to Grow More Vegetables... for info on raised beds without built-up sides but with interplanting. Read Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening (be sure to get the 2005 edition) for built-up raised beds and somewhat more...ah...orderly planting. What I *actually* do is built-up raised beds, 4' wide, with interplanting.

[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=133667#133667]This[/url] was a good thread about intense planting in small places.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

JONA878
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I guess from your query that as regards fruit you are thinking of Top fruit trees. Apples , pears , peach etc.
A few things to think of with these are that once planted and established it can be very difficult to alter sopme aspects easily, so it pays to get them as near to correct from the start.
A move that your questions suggest you are fully aware of.

So.
Get the soil profile as near to perfect as you can. Good drainage and any deep 'pan' broken up. Years of digging to one depth can produce a very hard pan that must be shattered.
Test the soil and get it to as near neutral ph as possable although fruit in general will tolerate a few points either side of that.
( with the exception perhaps of Blueberry...if you are planting soft fruit as well).

Always stake fruit trees for the first couple of years to stop root rock and allow good root hold.
Plant at the same depth that the tree was grown in the nursery.
If you can get plenty of organic material incorperated into the soil pre-planting.
Once planted and the soil is up to full copacity with water, mulch with something to keep that moisture in.
Never mulch onto dry soil....it acts as a roof and can stop moisture reaching the plant.
Check carefully as to what root-stok the tree is grafted to and then check the distances for planting or you may finish up with the trees too close or too far apart.

Hope that helps for starters.
:?



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