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What feed / fertilizers do you use?

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
There are tons of feed and fertilizer options out there. I'm curious as to know what feed and/or fertilizers are you using on your vegetable or even flower gardens?

I've been using a mixture of triple 18, natural mineral fertilizer (from GrowFood.com), and epsom salt and have been happy with the results thus far.

What are you using?
 

w_r_ranch

Master Gardener
Administrator
Moderator
Plus Member
Messages
6,449
Location
South Central Texas
Planting Zone
8b
I use an injection system that allows me a great deal of latitude when it comes to fertilizing, as well as pest management & dealing with various fungi.

I normally fill the system with Grow More All-Purpose 15-30-15 for the vegetable garden and fruit trees. Additionally, I use Bio-Stimulant Soil Conditioner (with 6% Iron) once or twice a year.


EZ-Flo_Installed.jpg
 
H

Hangman

Guest
i been using miracle grow from lowes but can be cost a lot.
 
P

Phins Fan

Guest
I started with Miraclegrow liquafeed but ran out so Ive been doing 10-10-10 just to give them something to snack on.
 

Mike

Might know the answer
Messages
977
Location
Kentucky
Planting Zone
6b
I've been looking for triple 13 or 14 but neither Southern States or Tractor Supply around here carries it. It's either triple 10 or 20!
 
P

Phins Fan

Guest
Same up here. Tractor Supply and our local farm store are limited on what they sell.
 
E

ErnieCopp

Guest
A very experienced grower friend on the other forum that lives nearby brought over several different specialty fertilizers and i bought a few different ones, as i was starting out, but i have gradually changed to just using Miracle Grow on almost everything. I have an 8 gallon Sprayer with plenty of pressure, and i either apply as foliar or soak it around the plant.

I had always assumed the big claims they make was just B S, but I admit i was wrong. I will eventually use up the others stuff i have on hand, but keep putting that off and stick with the MG. I am not needing nearly as much this year as i get my soil amended.

Sam, I like your little injector setup. Does yours suck out the fertilizer or push it out? I used liquid Urea on the Nursery, 50 gallon barrels, and just dropped a hose in the barrel and the drip setup would suck it out.
 

w_r_ranch

Master Gardener
Administrator
Moderator
Plus Member
Messages
6,449
Location
South Central Texas
Planting Zone
8b
Sam, I like your little injector setup. Does yours suck out the fertilizer or push it out? I used liquid Urea on the Nursery, 50 gallon barrels, and just dropped a hose in the barrel and the drip setup would suck it out.

I believe it does both to some degree, by creating differential flow pressures. I have been happy with it thus far & only wish I had installed it earlier. If you have an interest in them, their website is:

http://www.ezflofertilizing.com/
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Sounds like the same principle the big one on the farm used. It had two valves and two pressure gauges, so the pressure differential that created the venturi effect could be adjusted. My irrigation system is divided between four different automatic lines and a couple that are just on timers, so one injector would not work. Some things have not needed any fertilizer so far, so i will probably keep applying with the sprayer. I pull it behind the lawn tractor and put a bigger pump on it so i can reach everything from the tractor seat.
Ernie
 
E

ErnieCopp

Guest
Hangman,
I found a larger package of Miracle Grow at Costco, that was a lot cheaper, if you have one of those stores in your area.
Ernie
 
E

ErnieCopp

Guest
I believe it does both to some degree, by creating differential flow pressures. I have been happy with it thus far & only wish I had installed it earlier. If you have an interest in them, their website is:

http://www.ezflofertilizing.com/
Sam,
Taking a second look at your fertilizer injector, it looks possible that the long coupling where the two tubes are connected is a flow restrictor, that creates the differential in a much simpler manner than the two valves and pressure guages i needed, so that is a real clever device. Some one could build there own very easily with large PVC fittings and that little coupler/restrictor device.

Ernie
 

finkikin

Well-Known Member
Messages
204
Location
Tomball
Planting Zone
8B
I don't use anything but mother nature and my own water to feed the vegetables. Never been a fan of putting something man made on the items I eat. Now, flowers and other plants I use Miracle Grow.
 

Rahab222

Well-Known Member
Messages
354
Planting Zone
9B
I'm still experimenting, but I use LOTS of composted materials tilled into the soil. One of the best purchases I've made is my leaf shredder. I save all my fall leaves, but it takes them FOREVER to make compost. This spring, I've been shredding my leaves and tilling them directly into my garden's soil, along with chicken manure and a very fine compost I purchase from the Master Gardener's. For my tomatoes and peppers, I put LOTS of the MG's compost in the hole, along with 1 tbs. of Epsom salts and fill it with a diluted solution of Miracle Grow. I hill almost everything to keep my roots away from the summer heat. I put a solid shield of compost out to the leaf line and then a solid circle of coffee grounds on top of the mound to keep the slugs and snails away from my new foliage. Last year, every morning I'd go out and something had eaten 2-3 of my herbs down to the ground - overnight! I've gotten the ants in my two strawberry beds under control with diatamaceous earth, but now I've got pill bugs chowing down on the ripe strawberries, ruining about half. We've had rain in Houston the past couple of days, so I haven't been able to apply Sluggo Plus which apparently rids your garden of pill bugs, as well as slugs and snails. This year, I purchased some Nutri-Cal (Liquid Calcium) from Burpees for my tomatoes and peppers, as a foliar spray. I'm supposed to wait until the plants flower to apply it the first time, but I think the cool spring weather is keeping everything dormant, so the flowers are slow to appear. I also need to do a better job on the fertilizing schedule for Miracle Grow. Last year, I became rather lax on this once the heat set in and I'd just go out and turn my drip hoses on:) Hopefully, we'll get enough rain this year that I don't have to water so much. I need to set up a rain catch system, but I've about busted my gardening budget for this year due to the added costs of expansion.
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
I just have a little bit of several different kinds of veggies, melons fruit, etc, and i find Miracle Grow Foliar spray to be the best for me, because i can either put it around the roots or on the leaves and alter the amount as I change varieties, but still trying to get my balance right. First year i put on too much and had too much growth. Last year i cut back and cut back too much. So hoping i can get it just right this year, but may need a few more years practice.

Ernie
 

Rahab222

Well-Known Member
Messages
354
Planting Zone
9B
For tomato plants, I put Miracle Grow in the planting hole with compost and Epsom salts. The Nutri-Cal said to wait until the plants are flowering before applying it. I think the cool temps are delaying the flowering this year. But my tomato plants have been in the ground for 3 weeks now. Should I be feeding them with Miracle Grow every two weeks now? How often do you apply Miracle Grow as a foliar spray? I don't think I fertilized enough last year.
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
Rahab,
On the foliar spray, i do not know how much or how frequent as i am still learning but here is what i am going to do, based on prior experience.
When i started injecting liquid fertilizer in the drip system at the Nursery, I had Idaho University, who i worked with a lot, calculate how much Urea i should put in the lines. They calculated way too much and i ruined a lot of trees that turned out looking like Long Tall Sally, with far too much trunk between each set of laterals. So after that i judged fertiliser by the appearance of the trunk length between side branches.

I am going to study some nice looking tomato plants and get the idea of what the comparison of main stem height to side branches is, and then watch that and apply MG foliar spray accordingly. You can always add more, but no way to take it back if you apply too much.

Tomato plants have various shades of green so going by color might not work. If you want to use your spray rig to put liquid around the base of the plant, See how many numbers you can count to while running sprayer into a quart measure, and then just hold the spray wand at the base and count as many times as will equal the amount you want to apply.

Ernie
 
M

majorcatfish

Guest
would be careful using m/g as a foliage spray it's high in nitrogen 24-8-16 get the mixture wrong and you could burn the plant.
plus if you have amended your soil correctly there should be plenty nitrogen already, if you have a type of veggie that needs extra you can side dress it with nitrate of soda or blood meal.

as for a foliage spray would recommend seaweed/kelp 0-4-4

for Epsom salt would only use it when planting or as a side dressing.

if you are going to add something important to your soil it's boron
heres some good reading on it.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_deficiency_(plant_disorder)
 
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Rahab222

Well-Known Member
Messages
354
Planting Zone
9B
I with y'all, still trying to figure all this out, too. There's A LOT to know/learn about gardening. My Dad made it look so easy. With the 30-acre garden, Dad always said, "You can figure on getting about half of what you produce. The other half goes to nature." I'm just having problems with his philosophy since every plant counts in my suburban backyard.
 
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