What should I feed my garden vegetables?

[TreeSpirit28]

Hi I have had all my vegetables transplanted for about 1 month. I was told after about a month or month and a half that they will all need to be fed. My compost is not ready to use yet. This will be my first time feeding a garden so any help would be great.

I only want to use all natural feed for my garden. I don't want to use anything with chemicals etc..
Any recommendations?

Thanks

[rainbowgardener]

There are all kinds of commercially available all-natural organic fertilizers these days. Dr. Earth is one trusted brand, but there are many others. Tomato tone is good for tomatoes and other vegetables. Just do a search on "organic fertilizer."

[applestar]

Where are you located? How made-from-scratch did you want to go?

I noticed you posted similar question in several different forums -- while I appreciate the distinction, I'm not sure if the discussion might be better addressed all at once.

If you are buying commercial fertilizer and you are looking for organic recommendation, I guess we could talk about what we like or tend to use, but I imagine some of that will depend on regional availability and price.

If you want to mix up organic fertilizer to supplement your compost -- and that will depend on quality and ingredients you used -- we also need to talk about what kind of vegetables. Some of the fruiting vegetables will need similar fertilizer as your fruit trees and plants you asked about, and some of the leafy vegetables will be closer to what is needed for herbs, although, as pointed out, many aromatic herbs produce more intense fragrance when kept lean and dry.

Natural amendments and supplements I reach for are alfalfa pellets, bran, crushed oyster shells, which I get from the feed store, rock phosphate, greensand, dolomitic lime which I get from the garden center. I also make AACT (actively aerated compost tea) which will need organic unsulfured molasses. That's a good one to make when your finished compost supply is too low to cover the entire garden.

I'm undecided about using cottonseed meal and soybean meal also available from the feed store, since those are likely to be made from GMO and/or conventional/not organic plants.

I do sometimes get and use UCG (used coffee grounds) from coffee shops even though they are not organic.

I always use grass and weed clippings, leaves, etc. as mulch. Also have started getting wood shavings. I sometimes get clean straw and hay to use as mulch. I turn them into spoiled hay.

All of that eventually breaks down, but moreover, preserves the soil microbes and feed the earthworms.

Generally speaking, I only get and use commercial fertilizer when it seems like my garden is falling short on nitrogen. I do also try to grow legumes -- peas, beans, vetch -- before planting heavy feeders in the same area.

[TreeSpirit28]

Applestar -

I was very pleased to read your reply to my post. It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge on this topic.

I live in Phoenix Arizona - 85032 zipcode

I am currently growing

Vegetables =
10 Sweet Corn - divided in Half whiskey barrels
6 White Spanish Onions - Around the rim of 1 of the whiskey barrels of corn
20ish Radishes - Around the rim of the other 2 whiskey barrels of corn
1 Green Bell Pepper - Clay pot about 18-20" in diameter
1 Red Bell Pepper - Clay pot about 18-20" in diameter
1 Gourmet Orange Bell Pepper - 5g. buckets
1 Ghost Pepper - Small planter container
1 Roma Tomato - clay pot about 18" in diameter
6 Cherry Tomatoes - Plant containers about 1' in diameter
1 Yellow Pear Tomato - 5g. buckets
6 Cucumbers - 5g. buckets
6 Zucchini - 5g. buckets
6 Yellow Crooked Neck Squash - 5g. buckets

Herbs=
Peppermint - Small planter container
Italian Parsley - Small planter container

Fruit =
1 Sugar Baby Watermelon - 5g. Bucket
1 Cantaloupe - Clay pot about 24" in diameter
2 Strawberries - In an above ground planter box
1 Raspberry - In an above ground planter box

As far as how organic I want, it depends on what it is I will be buying. As long as what I need to buy is all natural and healthy for my plants then I am willing to try it. I am thinking about Jobe's 8lb bag of Organic Heirloom Tomato and Vegetable plant food, it's ratio is 3-5-3, hopefully I could use it on my 2 herbs as well. I don't know how long a bag that size would last. Its a slow release feed so I am also wondering how often I would need to feed them. I don't think I could use that one on my fruits so would need to find one for them.

I found one for fruits that I might like to try but it looks like a liquid and the ratio is only 8-0-0. I read that raspberries need 10-10-10.

[jal_ut]

A commercial fertilizer marked 18-10-10 would be excellent. However, be careful with this stuff and do not overdo it. A little is good, too much will kill your plants.

If you are growing in containers, there are several container fertilizer products that should be available at your garden store. Read the directions and do as instructed.

[Susan W]

You can use the Epsoma product (plant-tone etc) available at Lowes, HDept and more. Granular, slow release, helps build the soil. If you have or have access to, add a few earthworms to your containers.

[Gary350]

I use 15-15-15 and ammonium nitrate and pellet lime.

[imafan26]

You are growing mostly in containers, if you want to be organic you will need something like pro-mix which contains micorrhizzae. The biggest problem with organic in containers is that organic fertilizers need to be converted into inorganic elemental form before it will be available to plants. There is not as big or as diverse a community in a pot as in the soil. Organic fertilizers like 3-5-3 is the total analysis and all of it is not available to plants. You are planning to grow tomatoes and corn which are heavy feeders. You will need to supplement with fish emulsion, compost tea or kelp to provide additional nitrogen.

The containers look big enough, but I would use self watering containers for the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, since they need a lot of water. I would put cucumbers in bigger containers like a 15-18 gallon container. A five gallon bucket may work but cucumbers need a lot of water and don't like drying out. The larger container will give the roots more space to grow and it won't dry out as fast.

Organics are hard to balance in containers. I would use a fertilizer like 8-8-8 instead of 3-5-3. It is better to use a balanced fertilizer as a base. For myself, except for aquaponics which is supplemented with fish and bone meal 4-20-2 (fish meal) 4-40-0 (fish bone meal) results have been o.k. only with herbs since they are not heavy feeders.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers have done very well in aquaponics in 15 gallon containers.

My best results with heavy feeders has been with synthetic vigoro citrus and avocado food 6-4-6 plus micros as a starter food, supplemented with sulfate of ammonia at first flowering, first fruit, and monthly thereafter. I use 18 gallon containers and I add about 1/4 cup to start. Sulfate of ammonia is 1-2 tablespoons as side dressing. BTW I use peatlite that contains osmocote for all my potted plants when they are potted or repotted.

While corn can grow in pots, it will not yield very well. It is better in the ground or not at all.

[TreeSpirit28]

Wow all of you are have been so helpful. Thank you. I will making a trip to the local nursery here and picking up a feeder but I like the fish idea and will be grabbing some worms for sure.

[GardenThrive]

I use Neptunes Harvest, a liquid seaweed and fish emulsion fertilizer. Works great, is organic, and complements other fertilizers nicely.