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Montoursville, PA

Many in the Northeast got caught with manure and leaf cover that did not get tilled in last fall. April 16th is just about an average month away from when the plants go into the garden. Some will go in a little earlier. The undigested leaf material and even old manures are late going into the soil. I fear nitrogen tie up until warm weather consumes and converts this material. I would like to hear from others. Should we be pumping nitrogen into the patch now to help in the cooler season? What kind and how much per 1000 sq. ft. patch. That's enough for one line. Will the Northeast Opinions please come to order.

4/16/2003 1:49:20 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Dwaine, I was afraid this would happen & blasted the patch in November with 34-0-0 Ammonium Nitrate for it's cool weather release. 3 lbs/M for 1 lb of N. If I were you, I'd have done this 2 or 3 weeks ago. Try 2 lbs/M right now & maybe a sprinkling of hydrated Lime. They're both fast.
Steve

4/16/2003 3:11:06 PM

Montoursville, PA

I have been under snow from the third week in November to just two weeks ago. It is possible a few may still have snow in the corners of their properties.

4/16/2003 3:17:40 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Hey dwaine,

With rain coming tomorrow, tonight I spread a granular gorm of soil bateria. It's called "Healthy Start" from Plant Health Care Company in Pittsburg. I don't carry their line. A friend who does gave me a bag at a trade show. This material is very similar in claimed content as the Promax that I sell. It's not ISO 9001 certified so I can't vouch for it's real contents & this is not an endorsement. I had to make the stuff go away.

I'm still applying the Promax next week. Here's what I know as fact about the Promax:

Besides containing Seakelp, Potassium, Amino acids, B-Complex vitamins, Humic acid, cytokinins, auxins, antioxidants, & sucrose, Promax also contains about 180 billion beneficial soil bacteria per pound. This content is confirmed by the ISO 9001 labs.

I'm going to try to clip the specifications on the bacteria section so you can see what I'm heading for in the next post.

continued

4/16/2003 8:40:09 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

LESCO PROMAX WS contains 6 species of naturally occurring, spore forming bacteria:
Beneficial Bacteria - Bacillus subtilis, B.licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. pumilus, B. megaterium, and Paenibacillus polymyxa.

- P. polymyxa can fix atmospheric nitrogen in forms useful for plants such as amonia. This bacteria activities & aids in degradation of thatch and soil organic matter to release nutrients for plant utilization.

- B. subtilis and B. licheniformis may help suppress certain pathogenic fungi such as Fusarium & Phytopthora through competition and production of antibiotic substances.

- B. megaterium aids in solubilization of mineral phosphorous which may be unavailable to plants otherwise.

______end clip______________

Dwaine, It's the P. Polymyxa that acts like a compost starter & really fuels the rapid burn of organic material. In theory, something like this should help those leaves of yours break down more quickly. I'll let you know since I'm still adding leaves to the expansion area. My hope is that this process will be well advanced by the time the vines grow into this area later in the season.

Steve Jepsen in CT

4/16/2003 8:49:12 PM