Hi, Mea. Are these all the controlled release granules - even the blood meal? That doesn't sound right to me.

I usually use about 3/4 cup of controlled release in something like 10 gallons of soil. That's 12 tbsp., so a heaping tbsp./gallon of soil will be a good bet. The fertilizer is best used incorporated into the soil & not put on top, which will/can cause very erratic release rates.

I copied this from one of my previous posts. You may find it interesting & it might prompt some additional questions:

"For the plants I want to show rapid growth, I fertilize with a full strength concentration of 20-20-20 soluble granular fertilizer plus, I add 5-1-1 fish emulsion in full strength concentrations to the solution. Because all my soils are highly aerated and drain very well, I am able to do this weekly. I have never seen a single sign of fertilizer burn. I use a similar strategy in my other floral garden containers that are in a 90% organic mix. At the first sign that leaves might be showing some yellowing, I fertilize with a full strength mix of 5-1-1 fish emulsion plus 20-20-20 granular. If leaves show good color, I use 2-3-1 fish/seaweed emulsion plus 10-50-10 granular soluble to increase bloom profusity. (I'm not suggesting you or other readers adopt this particular nutrient supplement program, but it suits my growing habits and the soils I use very well.)"

Al

Mea, thanks for asking some questions I've been wondering about lately...

I recently re-potted some houseplants and perennials using the soil recipe suggested by Al. I added the initial quantity of CRF to the soil mix as indicated. The questions I now have are (some might be the same as Mea's)--

- How long should I wait to fertilize the plants additionally? Should I go by the leaf color (or some other symptoms) or by a schedule?

- How does the quantity of fertilizer correlate with the size of the plant/pot, or does it simply go by dilution and the amount of water the plant/pot will take?

- What is the significance of using different strengths and types of fertilizers (granular, fish emulsion)?

Sorry about the bombardment of questions :-) I, too, have only been using the generic blue Miracle Gro granules till this season. But as I'm getting more interested in gardening, I'd love to understand some basic concepts. Any guidance toward that will be much appreciated.

Also, Al, can you please point to the original thread the above excerpt was taken from?

Thanks,
Anchita

- How long should I wait to fertilize the plants additionally? Should I go by the leaf color (or some other symptoms) or by a schedule?

I would go by both. The controlled release fertilizer will have a certain life expectancy (usually 3-4 months--check the label). You should expect it to run out even sooner under extremely high temperatures, possibly in as little as 2 months instead of 3. You can use this time estimation as a general guide for when to look for slight color change or loss in plant vigor. Experience will help guide you later on, but with good judgement and knowledge you should do well from the beginning.

My typical feritilizer program is to use CRF at a conservative rate, and supplement as needed with soluble fertilizers when the plants are growing vigorously. Plants sometimes enter a period of semi-dormancy during extreme heat, just at the same time the CRF is releasing at the highest rate. Not being totally reliant on the controlled released stuff allows for some flexibility--you can always add fertilizer, but it's pretty much impossible to take it out. Soluble fertilizers are also more likely to contain micronutrients--another discussion entirely.

- How does the quantity of fertilizer correlate with the size of the plant/pot, or does it simply go by dilution and the amount of water the plant/pot will take?

Slow release that is mixed with the soil--you go by the volume of soil. Soluble fertilizer--use the dilution rate on the package and water as you would normally.

- What is the significance of using different strengths and types of fertilizers (granular, fish emulsion)?

It can be quite significant. You just need to know the rate of release (it could be gone in 2 days or last 12 months), what the fertilizer is supplying to the plant, and whether your plant need these nutrients. Plant nutrition is about balance--not too much or too little. Don't, however, worry about being absolutely precise--there are too many factors, and you'll never get it "perfect". (In other words, don't be like me calculating nitrogen in parts per million).

Jason

JD did a good job of answering your questions & there certainly isn't anything there to disagree with. I'll expand on your last question a little.

Different plants grow best with more of some nutrients in the soil and less of others. E.g, some plants grow long and weak when they get too much N, or their leaves might burn in the presence of N levels that another plant might find ideal, so we try to tailor our fertilizer blends to particular plants. Tomato food isn't really just for tomatoes at all. It just happens to be a blend of fertilizer we use to attempt to balance green growth against most abundant fruit yields.

Which brings me to using fertilizers to achieve a goal. If you are growing something like Coleus, or other plants for their foliage, you might be inclined to use a fertilizer that is higher in N, because it promotes foliage growth. For flowering annuals, you might select a bloom promoting blend (10-50-10), to stimulate the plant to produce more blooms instead of foliage.

I use a similar strategy on containerized woody plants. Once they are grown to an appropriate size, I reduce the N applications. This slows branch extension and reduces foliage size. It also makes it much easier to maintain a neat and compact plant. You can learn similar strategies & implement them once you are familiar with the plant material at hand (fertilizer preferences) and how different fertilizers cause plants to react.

For those that want to rely on all organic fertilizers, that's fine, but they are slow acting and require microbial activity in soils to act on them (break them down) so the elements become available for plant uptake. The problem lies in the fact that soil organism populations vary widely with cultural conditions. Soluble fertilizers are immediately available for plant uptake, on the other hand.

Fortunately, plants are pretty forgiving. If we grow in a healthy soil, plants will suffer all sorts of indignities & still make more energy than they use. It is up to us to make sure there are nutrients available to the plants, but by & large, they (lyrics) "take what they need and leave the rest", as long as we don't put too much of something in the soil, including nutrients, that poisons the plant or makes other nutrients unavailable for uptake.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: C'mon Leah. We'll go look at the thread you asked after.

I just checked the box and the Blood Meal is not granualarized and it doesn't say slow release plant food on the box like the other two boxes. I mainly bought the blood meal to counteract the pine bark in the soil mix. Since it doesn't say slow release can I use Blood Meal independently from the other fertilizers or should I use a 50/50 Blood Meal/(Tomato or Bloom Food) mixture and only apply 1 tablespoon/gallon?

I'm going to try out this new soil mixture with the fertilizer on some rose bushes I just bought to be put into a container. In the past when I tried to grow rose bushes they did OK but never made it past the first year. It's too early to start putting anything else outside but the rose bushes should be OK and they'll be my guinea pigs. I just made my first batch of soil sans perlite because the nursery by me didn't have their shipment of perlite in yet. Actually when I went there last week it looked like the place was closed since they had no customers. I must be getting an early start this year.

When I go there next week I'll check for fish emulsion too. I've never used fish emulsion before either.

Thanks for your patience with my questions, Jason and Al. Sorry about getting back late, as I was away for the weekend (to see the beautiful Texas wildflowers, I might add!) But I really appreciate your informative answers.

Mea, you mentioned that you're using the blood meal to counteract the pine bark in the soil. I assume that's because pine bark somehow ties up the nitrogen available to plants and you're trying to supplement that with the blood meal. Am I right? If so, do plants growing in such soil need to be supplemented for N right away beyond the CRF and seaweed emulsion initially added to it (according to Al's recipe)? Or is this addition of blood meal specific to the vegetables Mea is growing? On a related note, and just to be clear... Having added CRF to the initial mixture means that I wait 2-3 months (or till I see signs of deprivation) before I add any other kind of plant-specific fertilizer to my plants, is that correct?

I do have some Coleus and also some flowering annuals I'm trying to grow from seed... I guess I'll be looking to apply different kinds of fertilizers to them now!

--Having added CRF to the initial mixture means that I wait 2-3 months (or till I see signs of deprivation) before I add any other kind of plant-specific fertilizer to my plants, is that correct?

Yes. Your plants may need no additional fertilizer, or may respond well to some soluble fertilizer. Depends on how much CRF you used, the plant, etc. As to when the CRF will run out, you just have to estimate. The release rate on the package is calculated at around 72 degrees. If average temps are higher than that, the fertilizer will release more quickly.

Jason

Anchita, as far as I know, and the more I learn the less I seem to know, decomposing wood takes away nitrogen from the soil. Since I'm trying out on some variations of Al's soil recipe using pine bark my main concern with using pine bark was its effect on nitrogen and how it would affect the plants growing in that mixture. I'm more comfortable with just using lots and lots of perlite which, AFAIK, doesn't have any effect on the soil chemistry. But my local nursery had a bunch of bags of organic pine bark that looked like the bark in Al's picture so I'm going with it for a bunch of containers. I saw the blood meal on sale at Menards and noticed that it was all nitrogen so I figured that would be perfect to balance out the pine bark.

I'm not worried about this soil making it past this year. I just want to get decent container grown tomatoes. I have had much success with hot peppers, herbs, cucumbers, etc. even with the soil I've used in the past that had been kind of poorly aerated. In the past I only fertilized with that soluble blue stuff made by Miracle Grow. I'm not sure if I'm going to fix what ain't broke and use pine bark in those containers or start them out with a controlled release fertilizer. The tomatoes are definitely getting the full experimental treatment because they're broke in my garden. I had lots of BER, cracked, and funny shaped tomatoes and I'm sure that my bad soil and lack of proper fertilization led to that.

Right now my two guinea pig rose bushes look pretty happy and I used the recommended 3/4 cups of blood meal/bloom food CRF mix per 10 gallons. We're also having June weather in April here in Chicago this year so the planting madness might start early.

Are you thinking you'll use blood meal in a foliage spray? If so, you probably shouldn't do that. There are cautions about using blood meal on or very close to your plants because it is so high in nitrogen, works almost immediately when wet, and can burn leaves and roots. I use it sprinkled in small amounts on the soil around my lettuce plants and then work it into the damp soil. As a quick nitrogen fix, it can't be beat!

The smell of it can attract animals if not buried!

Jason and Mea, thanks a lot for answering my questions. Mea, I agree with you on "the more I learn the less I seem to know" part. But I guess this feeling also means that the blissfully-ignorant stage has probably been passed! Hope the tomatoes and other veggies do well for you.

Regards,
Anchita