Hello! This is my first post, and I was looking for some help on fertilizing my veggies this spring. These are some things I would like to use, and I need some direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Happy Frog Happy Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer
Alaska Fish Emulsion
Boogie Brew Compost Tea
I'm also looking at Azomite mixed in my soil, and Epsom Salt for the tomatoes. I will be starting with 50/50 top soil and compost.
So I guess my question, will the combination of these products supply the necessary nutrients? Can they be safely combined? When is best to use each one? Is there anything I'm lacking?
Mostly, these will be used in raised bed vegetable gardens that have tomatoes, squash, peppers, leafy greens, and some herbs.
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rainbowgardener
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The compost is good and 50-50 is a very rich mixture. But the nutrients in compost are only available as it breaks down further and releases them.
I looked up your Boogie Brew, which seems to be some kind of compost tea starter that you brew up yourself. That's good, because once made the compost tea needs to be used right away. If you have your own compost pile, then you don't need to buy this starter. In the meantime, it should be fine - it has an expiration date on it, which suggests it does still have living microbes. Add a little bit of molasses in with it and "brew" it in water with an air bubbler for 24-36 hours. This is a great addition for your compost heavy soil mix. What the tea mainly does is give you a very lively culture of microbes that will help break down the compost faster and release its nutrients.
You can make a new batch as often as weekly if you want and use it to water with. It is hard to overdo and you can't really harm your plants with it. You can also use it as a foliar spray, which may help prevent fungal diseases.
The fish emulsion is a good source of the Nitrogen james mentioned. It will be good diluted in water to use at the beginning while you want to encourage plant/leaf growth. It is natural and not too concentrated, so you could use it every couple weeks if you want. Once the plants are getting big and you want them to start thinking about making flowers and fruit, discontinue the fish emulsion. Your soil should be plenty rich by then if you are doing the above.
With all that AND Epsom salts AND Azomite, the fertilizer is a bit superfluous. It is organic and a balanced NPK formulation and not too concentrated (all of which is good). So you could add a dose of it (as james said following box directions) about the time you quit with the fish emulsion.
But remember, it is in the nature of plants to grow.... you don't have too work so hard at making them do it!
I looked up your Boogie Brew, which seems to be some kind of compost tea starter that you brew up yourself. That's good, because once made the compost tea needs to be used right away. If you have your own compost pile, then you don't need to buy this starter. In the meantime, it should be fine - it has an expiration date on it, which suggests it does still have living microbes. Add a little bit of molasses in with it and "brew" it in water with an air bubbler for 24-36 hours. This is a great addition for your compost heavy soil mix. What the tea mainly does is give you a very lively culture of microbes that will help break down the compost faster and release its nutrients.
You can make a new batch as often as weekly if you want and use it to water with. It is hard to overdo and you can't really harm your plants with it. You can also use it as a foliar spray, which may help prevent fungal diseases.
The fish emulsion is a good source of the Nitrogen james mentioned. It will be good diluted in water to use at the beginning while you want to encourage plant/leaf growth. It is natural and not too concentrated, so you could use it every couple weeks if you want. Once the plants are getting big and you want them to start thinking about making flowers and fruit, discontinue the fish emulsion. Your soil should be plenty rich by then if you are doing the above.
With all that AND Epsom salts AND Azomite, the fertilizer is a bit superfluous. It is organic and a balanced NPK formulation and not too concentrated (all of which is good). So you could add a dose of it (as james said following box directions) about the time you quit with the fish emulsion.
But remember, it is in the nature of plants to grow.... you don't have too work so hard at making them do it!
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applestar
- Mod
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Depending on the height of the raised bed and whether it has a solid bottom or directly over existing soil, AND depending on the composition of the soil and compost (clay-y or sandy), you may also need to add something to aid drainage like sand or crushed granite.
You don't want the bed to be too rich if you are direct sowing seeds or growing herbs, so that will also determine how much amendments you will mix in and how much will be put down a little way out from the seeds for them to find as they grow,
Also, you don't have to put in all of your fertilizers and amendments at once. You will want to side dress or water in later on, depending on how your plants are doing and depending on what you are growing.
You don't want the bed to be too rich if you are direct sowing seeds or growing herbs, so that will also determine how much amendments you will mix in and how much will be put down a little way out from the seeds for them to find as they grow,
Also, you don't have to put in all of your fertilizers and amendments at once. You will want to side dress or water in later on, depending on how your plants are doing and depending on what you are growing.
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Meatburner
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:00 pm
- Location: SW MO zone 6b
Mjav8199, just out of curiosity, what is the reason you think you need to add all of these additives. Did you read posts on forums somewhere, or do you know you soil needs any additional nutrients beyond organic matter. Your location is extremely important to know so please put that information in your profile before anyone can give good responses.