M
Mr_Yan
Guest
Usually I tend not to use fertilizer in my garden but I broke down this year. For the last few years in the fall I've been mixing organic matter into my gardens each fall to compost in place. That and I vermicompost all our kitchen scraps and add the worm castings to my gardens. While this has worked I think I am draining the nutrients from my garden faster than I am rebuilding them. I think this as my harvests and plants, especially the garlic, are getting smaller year over year.
I know I should test the soil but don't really know how to collect the sample. 90% of my garden space is made up of containers (yes a 4'x7' 18" deep box on concrete patio is a container). These containers are mostly built up of composted in place organic matter with peat, perlite, and some native soil mixed in. As each was composted at a different time with different material accurate samples would require several lab tests or a ton of work mixing all of it to a homogeneous state.
Except for last night's application I've been going light on the fertilizer rather than push things too far out of balance too fast. Earilier this season I was using balanced fertilizers but last night I applied a fruiting specific fertilizer over my tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbits.
These are the store bought fertilizers I've used this year:
Smith and Hawkins 7-7-7 that a neighbor gave me
Osmocoate 10-10-10 time release type
Fox Farms Tiger Bloom 2-8-4 (liquid concentrate with micro-nutrients mixed strong at about 4 t per gallon)
I have not used it but still have some hydroponic nutrient for fruiting and ripening - General Hydroponics KoolBloom 2-45-2
Any thoughts?
I know I should test the soil but don't really know how to collect the sample. 90% of my garden space is made up of containers (yes a 4'x7' 18" deep box on concrete patio is a container). These containers are mostly built up of composted in place organic matter with peat, perlite, and some native soil mixed in. As each was composted at a different time with different material accurate samples would require several lab tests or a ton of work mixing all of it to a homogeneous state.
Except for last night's application I've been going light on the fertilizer rather than push things too far out of balance too fast. Earilier this season I was using balanced fertilizers but last night I applied a fruiting specific fertilizer over my tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbits.
These are the store bought fertilizers I've used this year:
Smith and Hawkins 7-7-7 that a neighbor gave me
Osmocoate 10-10-10 time release type
Fox Farms Tiger Bloom 2-8-4 (liquid concentrate with micro-nutrients mixed strong at about 4 t per gallon)
I have not used it but still have some hydroponic nutrient for fruiting and ripening - General Hydroponics KoolBloom 2-45-2
Any thoughts?