• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Mixing different ferts question

MeatHead1313

MeatHead1313

Hi all. As this was my first year growing peppers. I made some mistakes along the way. One of those mistakes was thinking I didn't need to use any ferts because the potting mix had some already in it. After realizing my mistake, I started adding fertilizers (fish emulsion and bloom booster), rotating every other week. Having learned from this, I've ordered some Espoma tomato tone for my current plants, and am also getting some rabbit manure either today or tomorrow. My question is, can I use both at the same time ie mix in the poop and tomato tone together into the soil? Or will this possibly lead to over fertilizing? 
 
Have a look at the analysis of the fertz you're using. You don't want your plant to over dose on something. Tomato food is great for peppers since the fruits are similar in nutritional requirements. Poop is great too. Sprinkle the pellets on the surface and water it in. I add tomato food blood bone and composted cow poo on my plants. Don't know the total effects yet but they look happy.

I don't know the science behind binding nutrients and what causes it.

Note I have in the past and will continue to mix my potting mixes though. I usually buy two premium potting mix and some cheaper bags and use those as fillers. Its worked in the past so this being my first year on peppers will see if it works on them!

I also use a seaweed based liquid fert.
 
Sarge said:
Have a look at the analysis of the fertz you're using. You don't want your plant to over dose on something. Tomato food is great for peppers since the fruits are similar in nutritional requirements. Poop is great too. Sprinkle the pellets on the surface and water it in. I add tomato food blood bone and composted cow poo on my plants. Don't know the total effects yet but they look happy.

I don't know the science behind binding nutrients and what causes it.

Note I have in the past and will continue to mix my potting mixes though. I usually buy two premium potting mix and some cheaper bags and use those as fillers. Its worked in the past so this being my first year on peppers will see if it works on them!

I also use a seaweed based liquid fert.
Click to expand...
The tomato tone is 3-4-6 according to the Espoma website, and from what I've read online rabbit manure is roughly 2.4-1.4-0.6. I'm guessing it should be ok to use both then as those numbers combined are less than the bloom booster ferts I was using this year. Thanks for the info!
Gotrox said:
Rabbit pellets= natural "time release" fert.
 
But seriously, soil tests are usually cheap.
 
You can mix a batch up, and take a couple cups for testing, or see what your local soil needs.
 
For your state (probably others on a local level):
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/SPESS/ServiceLabs/soil_testing_lab/
Click to expand...
All my plants are in pots, found out the easy way this season that the little bit of space we have in the ground here is a waste for peppers. Nothing but compacted clay. Would soil tests still be beneficial on the potting mix I have them in? 
 
Natural soil amendments used for fertilizer should be mixed into the soil at least a couple months before a plant is transplanted into it, and that soil kept damp so it can decompose.
 
Once the plant is there and has established root growth, that's the point where you should leave the soil alone and top water or foliar feed with either liquid fertilizer or powder or granules that dissolve in water.
 
At this point if I were you, I'd get together a pile of that clay ground soil and mix in some rabbit manure and a LOT of yard debris like leaves, dead weeds, grass clippings, tree bark, little twigs, etc.  Leave it sit, water it every now and then.  Stir it up if you feel ambitious.  Next spring it'll be on its way to a decent soil but at that point you can add even more fine dry woody material like peat moss.
 
As for planting directly into compacted clay soil, it can be done.  Till up an area at least a half foot deep a foot circle.  Make it an even bigger area if you have more replacement soil to replace what is taken out in the next step.
 
Remove at least a quart of soil from the middle of that area leaving a hole.  Transplant a small plant into that hole and fill the hole with potting soil mixed with a lot peat moss, or other fine dry material that is fluffy in consistency.  This keeps the root ball from sitting in muck and once the plant gets a bit larger the roots will better penetrate the clay around it. 
 
With plants in this much clay, do try to plant where there isn't a lot of standing water after a rain, and if you need to water, water deeply but only as often as necessary.  Mulch on top is a good idea and over time will degrade to form a nice layer of topsoil over the clay under it, which you can till in next year.  It may take a few seasons but that clay soil can be made fit without a big investment, just mixing yard waste into it.
 
Dave2000 said:
Natural soil amendments used for fertilizer should be mixed into the soil at least a couple months before a plant is transplanted into it, and that soil kept damp so it can decompose.
 
Once the plant is there and has established root growth, that's the point where you should leave the soil alone and top water or foliar feed with either liquid fertilizer or powder or granules that dissolve in water.
 
At this point if I were you, I'd get together a pile of that clay ground soil and mix in some rabbit manure and a LOT of yard debris like leaves, dead weeds, grass clippings, tree bark, little twigs, etc.  Leave it sit, water it every now and then.  Stir it up if you feel ambitious.  Next spring it'll be on its way to a decent soil but at that point you can add even more fine dry woody material like peat moss.
 
As for planting directly into compacted clay soil, it can be done.  Till up an area at least a half foot deep a foot circle.  Make it an even bigger area if you have more replacement soil to replace what is taken out in the next step.
 
Remove at least a quart of soil from the middle of that area leaving a hole.  Transplant a small plant into that hole and fill the hole with potting soil mixed with a lot peat moss, or other fine dry material that is fluffy in consistency.  This keeps the root ball from sitting in muck and once the plant gets a bit larger the roots will better penetrate the clay around it. 
 
With plants in this much clay, do try to plant where there isn't a lot of standing water after a rain, and if you need to water, water deeply but only as often as necessary.  Mulch on top is a good idea and over time will degrade to form a nice layer of topsoil over the clay under it, which you can till in next year.  It may take a few seasons but that clay soil can be made fit without a big investment, just mixing yard waste into it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info for planting in clay soil. Unfortunately, the only space we have in the ground in front of our house is right where the rainwater runs off the roof into. So it's always full of standing water after rain. There is a raised bed between our duplex and the next, though the soils ordinary in that too. Not going to worry about that now as we plan on moving in the new year anyway.
 
^  What about putting a gutter and downspout there and a rain barrel under the downspout with an overflow hose aimed downhill from the plant site?  Granted since you are moving it is not a good time to improve that site, except that if you own the home then the gutter might be seen as a value added improvement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top