Hey guys,
I just picked up some jalapeno and cherry tomato plants today and I am wondering what type of fertilizers everyone uses and what types you recommend? I am gardening on my roof in NYC. Thanks for any tips you can give. Also do you use pesticides?
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- microcollie
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As a pesticide, I use Dr. Bronners Castile Soap with a little vegetable oil and water in a spray bottle. Make sure to spray only when needed, so as not to hurt anything beneficial. Depending on how high you are, some pest might not reach you, but also pollinators (especially bees) might stay down low.
Compost and fish emulsion are my fertilizers of choice for anything that I'm going to eat. (I'd also recommend going with an organic potting soil)
Compost and fish emulsion are my fertilizers of choice for anything that I'm going to eat. (I'd also recommend going with an organic potting soil)
- rainbowgardener
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I also use mainly compost and compost tea for fertilizing, only those for in ground gardening. But gardening in containers on a roof top is a bit different. Roof tops can be kind of fierce environments--direct sun pouring down, heat reflected back up from the roof, wind.... You have to water a TON to keep things going and in doing so you are flushing nutrients out. Compost may not be the best thing for those containers, because you need to keep it free draining. Earthworm castings if you can find it would be good, but homemade compost can be pretty dense and moisture holding for that use.
It's a very artificial environment, so it's harder to garden it the way you would a natural system. Liquid seaweed/ kelp/ fish emulsion type fertilizers would be good. You need something mild enough that you can use it every week or two.
Wait and see what kind of pests you have before worrying about pesticides. The upside of roof top gardening is there are probably fewer insect pests at that level.
It's a very artificial environment, so it's harder to garden it the way you would a natural system. Liquid seaweed/ kelp/ fish emulsion type fertilizers would be good. You need something mild enough that you can use it every week or two.
Wait and see what kind of pests you have before worrying about pesticides. The upside of roof top gardening is there are probably fewer insect pests at that level.
Great point, RG. One thing to add about rooftop (container) gardening is that you don't want to use dirt in the containers. A potting mix is better since it doesn't hold water like soil does.rainbowgardener wrote: It's a very artificial environment, so it's harder to garden it the way you would a natural system.