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Garden State Pumpkins

Quick observation leaves didn't get as much urea this year and they aren't as hot as last year...My thinking was to avoid making the compost unacceptable to the worms but quick observation says hit em hard with the urea early the decomposition is worth it. I will be dealing with way to many leaves this spring whereas last year they were well decomposed and much more manageable...live and learn.

2/7/2004 4:10:08 PM

Montoursville, PA

I quickly got myself out of trouble using Symbex and molasses last spring. I had been caught by early snow. All of my manures and leaves were on top of the ground come spring. I turned to Craig Lembke for help. Thirty days later we were transfering seedings into nicely prepaired soil. Symbex and molasses will not knock down your biological ballances. They will build them by feeding them and the soil will ballance itself.

I used urea last spring as a pre planting fertilizer. It killed me flat out biologically. Knocked the dickens out of my worms and grew me soft fast vines and stems. Some of the early stems folded being to soft to support the huge early leaves. I learned my lesson. Never never again!

By the time we got to fruit formation the urea was flushing out of the patch, the Symbex, kelp and molasses were begining to rebuild the damage I had done. We finished the year looking half ways decent. It's a darn wonder I got any healthy fruit last summer. If we had not gotten all that excessive rain I shudder to think what that urea might have done to me.

2/7/2004 7:20:31 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Urea does wonders on leaves left in piles. The piles heat up & stay warm.

Leaves spead on the patch won't benefit from this heating.

I don't see the need for urea in a healthy patch unless the amount used is very low. The early patch (biologically active or not) won't liberate much Nitrogen while the soil is warming up. So a very light hand then won't hurt the pumpkins or the biological diversity.

Moderation is the key.

Steve

2/7/2004 7:58:27 PM