Prepping for spring
How far ahead of planting should I till in fertilizer? What r other things to do to prep the garden for spring?
If you build your soil year round you should actually plant a cover crop in the fall and till it in to add biomass. Add compost every time you plant. I have used cowpea and buckwheat as cover crops. Cover crops must be tilled in at the first flowering to be of maximum benefit. Buckwheat will become a weed if it goes to seed and the legumes nitrogen fixation peaks at flowering. I have inoculated the the seeds for better fixation. It is good to put in only the fertilizer you need based on a soil test. I'd like to do that a month before I plant but because I can plant year round, it usually ends up being only a couple of weeks before that. I divide my total nitrogen requirement into 2 or 3 side dressings.
I am planting cool season crops now daikon, broccoli, kale, beets, lettuce, cilantro, Swiss chard. March 1 I will hopefully be able to plant my corn and I will follow that with another scavenger crop like mustard cabbages or a legume like bush, pole or long beans.
https://www.aganytime.com/Documents/Arti ... 0Crops.pdf
I use nitrogen scavengers because I can tell by the size of my plants that I have a lot of nitrogen left in the soil. I get monster tops from beets and not much root. I will sometimes only fertilize the first planting of corn and plant a second without any additional nitrogen.
I am planting cool season crops now daikon, broccoli, kale, beets, lettuce, cilantro, Swiss chard. March 1 I will hopefully be able to plant my corn and I will follow that with another scavenger crop like mustard cabbages or a legume like bush, pole or long beans.
https://www.aganytime.com/Documents/Arti ... 0Crops.pdf
I use nitrogen scavengers because I can tell by the size of my plants that I have a lot of nitrogen left in the soil. I get monster tops from beets and not much root. I will sometimes only fertilize the first planting of corn and plant a second without any additional nitrogen.
Jnunez918, a soil test is often recommended and would be especially helpful on new ground. Even if a garden has done well on the soil the previous year, it may be in order. Those areas with long growing seasons will have many weeks for plants and weather to deplete nutrients.
Organic fertilizers need time for soil organisms to break down the material for plants to use. Recommendations for manure are to spread it in the fall for the garden the following year. It's common to see commercial organic fertilizer with directions to apply to the soil 3 or 4 weeks prior to planting.
Synthetic fertilizers are readily available to the plants. They often go on when plants and seed go in. Some will leach away in the ground beyond the reach of the plant roots if applied too early. Here is a Cornell University 5-page pdf file on fertilizing a home garden with advice on both organic and synthetic fertilizers: Fertilizing Garden Soils
Steve
Organic fertilizers need time for soil organisms to break down the material for plants to use. Recommendations for manure are to spread it in the fall for the garden the following year. It's common to see commercial organic fertilizer with directions to apply to the soil 3 or 4 weeks prior to planting.
Synthetic fertilizers are readily available to the plants. They often go on when plants and seed go in. Some will leach away in the ground beyond the reach of the plant roots if applied too early. Here is a Cornell University 5-page pdf file on fertilizing a home garden with advice on both organic and synthetic fertilizers: Fertilizing Garden Soils
Steve
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jal_ut
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As advised, a soil test is good so that you know what the soil needs.
In my particular soil, the thing most often lacking is nitrogen. It can
be added at time of planting or any time for that matter and watered
in.
Organic fertilizers such as manure are best applied some time before
planting and worked in.
Composted materials can be added at any time, used as mulch or till
it in before planting.
In my particular soil, the thing most often lacking is nitrogen. It can
be added at time of planting or any time for that matter and watered
in.
Organic fertilizers such as manure are best applied some time before
planting and worked in.
Composted materials can be added at any time, used as mulch or till
it in before planting.
Nitrogen is a limiting factor of growth. Even if your soil is rich or extreme in the other elements there will always be a recommendation for some nitrogen fertilizer. Slow release nitrogen is better but I use a combination of slow and fast release. I use Scott's organic lawn fertilizer for the slow nitrogen. It does contain feather meal which I do not like and composted steer manure, about a 1/4 inch over the soil and worked in ideally a month before planting. I have tried blood meal, but it is a lot more expensive than the organic lawn fertilizer and I prefer not to use animal by-products if I can help it. The slow nitrogen, is a little too slow so I also supplement with sulfate of ammonia when the seedlings are in active growth about 3-4 weeks after they germinate, at first flowering, first fruit, and monthly thereafter.
Some people prefer to use fish emulsion or AACT instead and that works if you want to be more organic. My neighbors complain if I were to use fish emulsion weekly and I don't have enough vermicast to Make enough AACT to go very far.
I used to use miracle grow every two weeks, but I found in 2003 after we had 42 days and nights of rain when I couldn't use Miracle grow, that my orchids actually produced more flowers the next year without it. Of course the year after that, blooms were a lot worse. I used to add lime every two years regularly, but ran into problems with okra not growing well. That is when I started testing my soil. As it turned out the pH of that plot was 6.4, but it had phosphorus levels greater than 2000, potassium, and calcium levels were also high and extremely high and all that was recommended was about 30 cents worth of nitrogen, essentially none.
Ever since then I have done periodic tests and they have been generally about the same. I probably won't have to use any phosphorus for the foreseeable future. I add compost, which in my case has also been tested at a pH of 7.8 , so I don't lime either. I only use sulfate of ammonia, because my other plots are alkaline and 6.4 is fine and urea is easier to over apply. I divide my nitrogen and I plant cover crops and nitrogen scavengers to suck up the excess. I can plant root crops in my alkaline plots but the acidic plot is better for leaf crops, cucumber, beans, and tomatoes. I have planted comfrey,kale, and borage to actually mine the calcium from the alkaline plots. the comfrey gets added to the compost pile and kale and borage get eaten.
Some people prefer to use fish emulsion or AACT instead and that works if you want to be more organic. My neighbors complain if I were to use fish emulsion weekly and I don't have enough vermicast to Make enough AACT to go very far.
I used to use miracle grow every two weeks, but I found in 2003 after we had 42 days and nights of rain when I couldn't use Miracle grow, that my orchids actually produced more flowers the next year without it. Of course the year after that, blooms were a lot worse. I used to add lime every two years regularly, but ran into problems with okra not growing well. That is when I started testing my soil. As it turned out the pH of that plot was 6.4, but it had phosphorus levels greater than 2000, potassium, and calcium levels were also high and extremely high and all that was recommended was about 30 cents worth of nitrogen, essentially none.
Ever since then I have done periodic tests and they have been generally about the same. I probably won't have to use any phosphorus for the foreseeable future. I add compost, which in my case has also been tested at a pH of 7.8 , so I don't lime either. I only use sulfate of ammonia, because my other plots are alkaline and 6.4 is fine and urea is easier to over apply. I divide my nitrogen and I plant cover crops and nitrogen scavengers to suck up the excess. I can plant root crops in my alkaline plots but the acidic plot is better for leaf crops, cucumber, beans, and tomatoes. I have planted comfrey,kale, and borage to actually mine the calcium from the alkaline plots. the comfrey gets added to the compost pile and kale and borage get eaten.