• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Fertilizing with blood and bone meal

rds040800

rds040800

What are some appropriate amounts when used with peppers in containers of various sizes, from 1/2 gal to 5 gal? Have some plants still needing the nitrogen boost, and some that need the phosphorus boost, and I have plenty of each.
 
A little bit goes a long way with bone and blood meal. For my 5 gallon containers I use 1.5 tablespoons spread on top and watered in, less for smaller containers. You might get a moldy breakout a couple days after using bone meal but that is the bone decomposing, no worries. Results in under a week.:)
 
I have read alot on both of them and blood meal can cause a large release of ammonia into the soil if too much is used, especially in a damp warm enviroment. And the directions on the bag are no help as they are geared towards plants that are in the ground.
 
Yea the instructions on the bag are not helpful at all. We used to add 2 handfulls of bone and blood meal when transplanting large trees when I was landscaping, but they had a rootball that was in the 2'+ range. I did find a recipe for a soil-less mixture online, but it is geared towards large scale amounts. I guess you could scale the mixture down some by dividing it a number of times. But basically you add ½ cup of each per every 8 gallons of mix. So for 8 gallons of soil/peat/coconut coir you would use:

½ cup Bone Meal(Phosphorous)
½ cup Dolomitic Limestone (Raises soil pH and provides calcium and magnesium)
½ cup Blood Meal or Soybean Meal or Dried Kelp Powder (Nitrogen)

I haven't tried this mixture yet, but it does seem rather sparing on the bone and blood meal as well as the dolomite. I would like to try it with a pure coconut coir, perlite and vermiculite mixture and see how it competes with the standard potting soil I get from the local nursery. Either way, the amounts used probably should be small when adding it to a pot. Hopefully someone else can chime in and provide some more information.
 
Blood meal doesn't really dissolve all that well into water. You'd probably end up plugging your sprayer. You'd be better off either using epsom salts or picking up a product like VitaMax B1, or Liquid Seaweed and use those as a foliar spray. I'm not sure, but you may also be able to use Superthrive as a foliar spray for feeding, but like I said, I'm not sure so double check that. Alaskian Fish Fertilizer will also work as a foliar spray, but because of it's unpleasant smell, I don't really recommend it.

I've been using VitaMax as a foliar spray as I try to nurse a few nutrient deficient plants back to health. So far it's been working great! The color is coming back and almost all of the leaf curl is gone. I've also been using it on my seedlings. They've really perked up and have gone a nice deep green since the application. Either way, there are a lot of other simpler options out there than trying to use blood or bone meal as a topical spray
 
I followed the suggestions on the amounts to use yesterday morning, and wouldn't you know that it rained all night long and they said no rain. Ill wait on adding anymore, since the last time it rained, and the onlt time since April, my plants went crazy with new growth. Must be something in rain water they like.
 
I was just up at the local nursery and asked how much bone meal should be put into a pot. I happened to be buying a 6" pot at the time and was told not to put any more than 1 TBSP of bone meal into the mixture. I was also told not to use dolomite with bone meal as both provide calcium. Just choose one or the other, but don't use bone meal and dolomite. It's still just a rough estimate, but it's far better than the suggestion of weight to area measurements they have on the bag.
 
Blister said:
I was just up at the local nursery and asked how much bone meal should be put into a pot. I happened to be buying a 6" pot at the time and was told not to put any more than 1 TBSP of bone meal into the mixture. I was also told not to use dolomite with bone meal as both provide calcium. Just choose one or the other, but don't use bone meal and dolomite. It's still just a rough estimate, but it's far better than the suggestion of weight to area measurements they have on the bag.
Click to expand...

Not to mention that dolomite is much cheaper, only costs $4.50 per 50 pound bag at the local feed store.
 
Blister said:
I've been using VitaMax as a foliar spray as I try to nurse a few nutrient deficient plants back to health. So far it's been working great! The color is coming back and almost all of the leaf curl is gone. I've also been using it on my seedlings. They've really perked up and have gone a nice deep green since the application. Either way, there are a lot of other simpler options out there than trying to use blood or bone meal as a topical spray
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I've never used either and wasn't aware that they don't dissolve well. I'll try and get some VitaMax on the way home today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top