You had a test done and it showed P-K deficiency? First of all if it was me, I would not add chemical fertilizer.. I believe it kills all the beneficial life in the soil... If I was you i would build up the soil with tons of compost and mulch with leaves.. You could add a pinch of rockdust/woodash for minerals.. That should be all you need.. I wouldn't get into buying that chemical crap.. Don't make it more complicated than it is.. Add compost, add mulch(leaves,woodchips,straw,etc) and maybe some rockdust and you are good to go...

Good luck
Joe

Compost adds very little NPK and I do not have the money to buy tons of compost to cover 17,000 sq. ft.
I will be selling my produce and cannot afford to garden organically with the size I have. I know what compost adds to the garden and NPK are not one of them or they do in very small amounts, my soil tested very low for P and K.

P was only 0.3 lbs per 1000 sg feet and K was only 2.9 lbs for same area.

You would be surprised what compost can do my friend.. You can add a 30-30-30 and i guarantee that compost is going to have more bio available nutrients for your plants.. Compost might seem like minute NPK but it is perfect for plants.. Plus you have to think trace minerals as well, compost provides lot of this... I garden more than 1000 sq ft and I do it organically.. It's actually cheaper in the long run.. Every year, organic garden get better by improving the soil.. Every year chemical gardens decline in productivity because it is killing the life in the soil and you have to keep buying more and more chemicals... My city gov compost away for free, you might want to check that out.. Or look for free manure on the internet... Even if you don't want to add compost.. Instead of using chemicals add organic fertilizer.. Trust me you'll thank me later..

Joe

If this recommendation was the result of a good, reliable soil test then there would have been information about formulations to use. 1/4 pound per 100 square feet of any synthetic fertilizer is not very much and works out to about 43 pounds of something over that whole 17,000 square feet. That small amount indicates your soil is in better condition then you might think.
While test results indicate the nutrients in compost are quite low, those tests also only test for soluble, readily available, nutrients not total mutrients. A soil test for nutrients is one part of getting to know what your soil needs.
What did that soil test say about soil pH?
How much organic matter is in that soil?
How well does that soil drain?
How well does that soil retain moisture?
What kind of life is in that soil?

Potassium sulfate is recommended as a source of potassium. Bone meal will provide phosphorous, but the P will not be readily available to the plants unless the pH is on the acidic side of the spectrum. If the soil has abundant organic material, this will support the growth of symbiotic fungi (mycorrhizal fungi), and the fungi is effective at taking up phosphorous and delivering it to the roots of your plants.

1/4 lb of P and K fertilizer per 1000 sq ft is not going to kill all the life in your soil. That's hyperbole (at least).

kimmsr and ericwi are asking good questions to get at whether you really need even that much. And items like pH and organic matter content will help determine what to do long-term. I understand your reluctance to fertilize with compost over such a large area. You do want to maintain a good level of organic matter, so as long as you know what the level is at now, you can manage it going forward.

BTW, good quality compost has a fair amount of NPK. It doesn't sound like much percentage-wise, but if you're adding an inch to the soil, it can work out pretty well. Just as a back of the envelope calculation, an inch of compost at .5-.5-.5 will give you a couple pounds each of N, P and K per 100 sq ft. Not trying to talk you into doing it this way now, just saying.

For your purposes, any balanced fertilizer with the same # for both P and K will work. Avoid high-N types like 29-3-4 lawn food - by the time you get enough P and K the N will be overloaded. Divide the lb of P (or K) required per 100 sf by the percentage in the product. Multiply that by 170 to get the total for your space. I get 303 lb of 14-14-14. (Somebody check the math, kimmsr is getting 43 lb.).

Compost adds very little NPK and I do not have the money to buy tons of compost to cover 17,000 sq. ft.
I will be selling my produce and cannot afford to garden organically with the size I have. I know what compost adds to the garden and NPK are not one of them or they do in very small amounts, my soil tested very low for P and K.

P was only 0.3 lbs per 1000 sg feet and K was only 2.9 lbs for same area.

here is an image of my soil test. I will look into places in the area that have large amounts of compost. I live in a very rural area, so my best bet is cow manure that I would need to compost, which would not be ready until next year. And by rural, the nearest fast food place or walmart is a road trip. Here is a copy of my soil test. For shyts and giggles, If I were to say use a 14-14-14 or another that you recommend, based on these tests, can someone recommend how much of that fertilizer I would need. I agree with another poster that it comes out to 40plus pounds of each for 17000 sq. ft. but I do not know how to translate that figure into how much to buy say with a 14-14-14 0r 10-10-10. If someone can help me can they show how they come out with the figure? Basically how many pounds of what fertilizer would I need to tell the greenhouse dude I need to correct my issues. Thanks for all the info.

here is an image of my soil test. I will look into places in the area that have large amounts of compost. I live in a very rural area, so my best bet is cow manure that I would need to compost, which would not be ready until next year. And by rural, the nearest fast food place or walmart is a road trip. Here is a copy of my soil test. For shyts and giggles, If I were to say use a 14-14-14 or another that you recommend, based on these tests, can someone recommend how much of that fertilizer I would need. I agree with another poster that it comes out to 40plus pounds of each for 17000 sq. ft. but I do not know how to translate that figure into how much to buy say with a 14-14-14 0r 10-10-10. If someone can help me can they show how they come out with the figure? Basically how many pounds of what fertilizer would I need to tell the greenhouse dude I need to correct my issues. Thanks for all the info.

Here is the image:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/35412455.png/

This post was edited by HendersonsPF on Mon, Apr 1, 13 at 12:34

any advice?

Henderson that link is not working.... Try again...

Joe

Henderson, That is a large garden. You did not specify what crops you are planning to grow. At this late date it is kind of late to do many things unless you find some well finished composted material.

Otherwise i would suggest buying 2 kinds of fertilizer. I would recommend adding and tilling in some organic fertilizer like Plant Tone into the row areas as you till to plant. This will provide some slow release fertilizer. Also since you need the other 3 elements [NPK], I would apply some banded 12-12-12 at planting time. I would estimate 160 to 200 pounds of the 12-12-12 and 80 pounds of the Plant Tone for the season.

I also suggest starting a cover crop soil enrichment program as you can in the late summer and fall. I like the 'tillage' radishes. Also well rotted manure applied in the fall along with composted leaves would be gteat.

any advice?

Link works for me when I copy and paste into browser

This?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:274979}}

I looked at the image and even after enlarging it to 200% it was too blurry to read.

I can read it perfectly. clean your glasses or get on a monitor instead of a 3.5 inch phone screen. Thanks anyway.
Just got this in the email, thanks anyway fellows and LMAO at the dude who recommended like 200 lbs of fertilizer.

"if you are for example using 14.14.14 as you fertilizer to solve these deficiencies then here is what you do.
For Phosphorus: Divide the amount to apply by the decimal percentage; so that would be 0.25 lbs divided by 0.14 = 1.78 lbs of 14.14.14 per 1000 sq. ft. Then take that times 17 since you have 17,000 sq ft to cover and that is = to 30.35 lbs of 14.14.14 for the entire area.
The same math can be used for the potassium and of course the same amount to apply. That solves both deficiencies.
For nitrogen, applying 30.35 lbs/17,000 sq ft is like applying 1.78 lbs/1000 sq ft (see above) and the concentration of nitrogen in the bag is also 14% so take that times 1.78 and you get 0.25 lbs/1000 sq ft of nitrogen. This is good for a starter but you will want to side dress your veg crops as the season goes along. You can use more of this fertilizer and it wonâÂÂt hurt to apply a little more phosphorus and potassium or go with a nitrogen concentrated source like urea which is 46% nitrogen."

Steven D. Cline, Ph.D.
EarthCo, Inc.

Wow, boorishness taken to a new record height for this forum.

Is borishness the right word.. I think we could find a better name then boorish .. Boy oh boy..

Asking for advice and then countering the suggestions provided isn't a very good way to receive help.

The soil test gives recommendations. The first thing on the list is to add 2" of compost (horse/steer manure, bulk compost, added mainly to the rows/planting areas if using less). Improving the organic matter level in the soil will allow the vegetables to grow better whether other fertilizers are used or not. Also the recommendation does come out to about 200 pounds of fertilizer for your size garden using the recommendation of 1/4 pound per 100 square feet. Since the email you received recommends 1/4 pound per 1000 square feet instead you may want to go with that recommendation, although the compost/manure along with good gardening practices may be enough.

Hey, pal. The doctor was basing his rate on .25 lbs. Per 1000 sq. ft. You said in your post that it was .25 lbs. per 100 sq. ft.
Tox's math is correct at 303 lbs. based on the info you gave. I'm on my phone and can't see your results but either you screwed up or the good doctor. Now be nice.

oops. Double post.

This post was edited by gargwarb on Wed, Apr 3, 13 at 10:12

Hey, pal. The doctor was basing his rate on .25 lbs. Per 1000 sq. ft. You said in your post that it was .25 lbs. per 100 sq. ft.
Tox's math is correct at 303 lbs. based on the info you gave. I'm on my phone and can't see your results but either you screwed up or the good doctor. Now be nice.

this might help Mr. Henderson.

Here is a link that might be useful: how to read fertilizer

Like others stated I'm not sure how he will get around not buying compost when his test results specifically state he should apply 2 inches of it.

Hey, a guy doesn't necessarily have to *accept* good advice. :-]

Thanks for checking the math, garg - thought I had lost my mind but it was just a decimal point that was lost.