Over Fertilized Raised Beds

12 years ago

I have a 12x4 raised bed that has about 18 inches of compost (half sweet peet and half recycled green waste compost) I added some espoma organic bone meal and some espoma organic dried blood. I applied the bone meal correctly, but added too much of the dried blood. I added the amount for 100 sq. ft. but the bed is about 50 sq. ft.

I was going to add tomatoes, peppers, basil, and watermelon, but I am worried about burning the roots. Besides removing all the material and starting over. What would be your thoughts of digging down about 2 feet and tilling the clay soil in with the compost?

Thank You
Dave

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Comments (3)

wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
12 years ago
I vote for mixing some good soil into that fluff regardless of your concern [not to worry much] about the fertilizer.
cablestarman
Original Author
12 years ago
I'm going to mix some wood chips and soil in. Why shouldn't I be worried about too much nitrogen?
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User
12 years ago
...or you could just wait for a hot day and water it enough to leech a bit out. Heck, applying a at 24-0-0 to 28-0-0 (like you've done with the blood+bone meal, and closer to 24 than 28 N) rate like this most likely will not cause an issue...especially with the plants you've listed.

Blood meal is rather quickly available with moisture and moves rather quickly down into the soil if you do want to leech it a bit, though.

The bonemeal you've used probably isn't very quickly available, though...it could take a couple seasons before you're seeing it's effect if you're looking for a quick fix for P (or the N it contains, though the N becomes available a bit quicker...in a slow release over a long time period).