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South East

How much fert you give? less is more i heard a couple off times. well, i read about larry checkon who said he only gave extra ferts 3 times on a season(1469). But i,ve been reading about other who give ferts once a week, twice a week. the same goes for foliar feeds, spray when you think the plant needs it, or before that. maybay this something only experience can tell, who can help, and while i,m at it, high or low nr fert, or none at all an go all organic? anyone?

2/5/2007 5:09:55 AM

Montoursville, PA

I have been to Larry's patch and find his reports are indeed true. That having been said I must say that each of us has to know that he physically can and does start out in the fall with lots of raw manure. I personally can not do that for site and personal physical reasons. Therefore I mimic as best I know how.

I work towards my way staying as close to the basics of soil building as I can. Manures, remineralization, compost and compost teas and yearly cover crop. I feel strongly that these basics are important. If you lack the ability to start with raw manures the options are to use very low number organic fertilizers like 4-2-4, kelp meal or alfalfa meal and possibly crab meal. I use Azomite or Ironite for remineralization. I am relatively sure that Mycorrhiza of the Endo type is a good investment. This year my option was the use of mushroom compost which was easy for me to handle as compaired to raw manures. I would be first to say that raw manures in the fall would be better but that is not possible for my physical site and personal ability to do the work.

There are so many right ways to mimic anything others do. The management is really up to you and I in an effort to build a stronger soil using organic principles.

Actually there are simple choices to make. Synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides kill the live biology you may wish to build with. If you agree with that statement you need to manage by reducing or eliminating the use of them.

No matter how you manage with or without synthetics it will take several years to build up the soil or break it down to a ruined status. The exact timing varies according to our learning curves and willingness to set a direction and stick to it or trust it. I firmly believe there are many examples of ruined patches which may be example enough for you to move into baics healthy soil management.

2/5/2007 11:05:31 AM

President - GPC

So True, so True........From my own experience, know what you have, know where you want to be, know what your adding, and go slow......

2/5/2007 11:57:18 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

docgipe, When you refer to "raw" manures, do you mean fresh manure which has not been broken down yet?

2/11/2007 7:14:20 AM