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organic organic fertilizers

C

cneal

So I've got my plants put in their final containers, plastic grow bags. I'm wondering what people are using for organic fertilizers? I've bought a lot of stuff already this year, but don't want to skimp out now. I was planing on top dressing with the compost I'm building from kitchen scraps. My grow media is 50% pro mix, 20% aged pine fines,20% leaf compost, 10% rice hulls. I've also got another 10 pounds of worm castings that I could mix in and a little Langbeinite from last year. What organic fertilizers are you all using? I mixed in a little Azomite, Epsom salt, worm castings and Mycos at the root zone. The plants where just planted out last weekend yet a few are flowering nicely. They seem to like things right now. 
 
Alaska fish works just as well, if not better than Neptune.  At least for me.  I got better results with AF.
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Just about any organic fertilizer is going to be fine.  Don't get too carried away.  Pick something and go.  Liquids are almost always better than dry, as far as efficiency, but dry works fine.
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Environmental conditions trump fertilizer.  A properly built/selected media and the right weather parameters will take your grow farther than any selections of NPK that you will find.  Just make sure that whatever you use, is dosed properly. 
 
Ive seen Neptunes Harvest liquid produce some stellar plants but as mentioned its super expensive. If you just had a couple plants sure but for 20 plants it would be very costly.
 
A gallon of Alaska fish emulsion is under $25 virtually anywhere around here. At 1 tbs per gallon of water thats a lot of fertilizer.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Ive seen Neptunes Harvest liquid produce some stellar plants but as mentioned its super expensive. If you just had a couple plants sure but for 20 plants it would be very costly.
 
A gallon of Alaska fish emulsion is under $25 virtually anywhere around here. At 1 tbs per gallon of water thats a lot of fertilizer.
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I can't remember for sure, but I thought I posted a AF vs Neptune grow around here somewhere a couple years back.
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No significant advantage for me from the Neptine.  Better, healthier looking plants from the AF.  I quit buying Neptune products, after that, and use a combo of AF and Kelp meal. (and yes, as you mentioned, the cost is orders of magnitude lower)
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I have a homemade rabbit poo and seaweed fertilizer that actually beats the both of them.  I have 5 gallons of the stuff, and it has enough residue in the bottom to recharge it probably 7 or 8 times.  I'm pretty sure that the alfalfa from the rabbit feed is what supercharges it. I don't even have a guaranteed analysis on it, but it's good stuff.  So that's another organic route...
 
I've got over 20 plants to care for, so maybe Neptune is out. It seems like the Alaskan Fish Fertilizer is super popular. I'll have to look in on the seaweed/kelp and alfalfa, interesting. I don't have any rabbits, maybe straight alfalfa meal is acceptable?
 
cneal said:
I don't have any rabbits, maybe straight alfalfa meal is acceptable?
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Or even straight rabbit (feed) pellets.  Or straight alfalfa hay, for that matter.  But if you use alfalfa or kelp, it only needs to be one or the other.  You don't need both.  It's the plant growth hormones that you're after.  Kelp gives you some trace elements, but it's arguable whether or not they are actually needed. (especially if you use the fish fert)
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I prefer to use straight kelp meal, which you can buy in 1-2 lb bags on Amazon fairly cheap.  You hardly need any at all.  Literally 1-2 tsp per 5-7 gallon container, 2x per season.  It's potent stuff.
 
2 inches of inch screened wood chips on top as mulch and 500 worms in the pot
 
I've never had to fertilise any of my plants with this method. I just keep the wood chips topped up. 
In the pots themselves is a mixture of compost and regular potting mix. The compost is simply bokashi food scraps that I mix with the potting mix
 
Alfalfa pellets are very good. You can also make alfalfa tea with them. Plenty of recipes online. Soybean meal is great. I use some blackstrap molasses when I mix up my ferts too. 
 
If you want to use alfalfa pellets look for the ones for horses. Heckuva a lot cheaper at the farm&feed stores. It should only have one thing listed as the ingredient....alfalfa ..They should have it in a meal too. The stuff you see at pet stores usually has all kinds of other stuff in it.
 
I get alfalfa pellets (the ones for horses) and soybean meal at the feed store. 40lbs alfalfa pellets is $12.00 and SBM 40lbs is $14.00
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
The stuff you see at pet stores usually has all kinds of other stuff in it.
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It's fortified with vitamins.  A complete non-issue, if it's what happens to be available.
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When I got rid of my rabbits, I repurposed the feed for fertilizer supplementation.  It works well. 
 
have you seen the compost tea thread? that can be a great organic fert.
i used this for a bit. it is essentially compost tea with molasses. https://hortamericas.com/catalog/fertilizers/pre-empt-organic-fertilizer-2/
 
the above method is more of a fertlize on demand / schedule / hydroponic process.
 
The other more popular organic process is soil building. like adding in various composts, manures, earth worm castings, fish meals, etc.
there are tons of options there.
 
This is pretty common for what i see in "rabbit pellets" at places like Petco for WAY more $$$$$. Heckuva lot more than just a few vitamins and most of it aint gonna help my garden anymore than the cheap stuff.
 
Ingredients
Sun-Cured Alfalfa Meal, Ground Oats, Wheat Middlings, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Ground Oat Hulls, Ground Flax Seed, Dried Cane Molasses, Ground Rice, Dicalcium Phosphate, Soy Oil, Salt, Whole Cell Algae Meal (Source Of Omega-3 Dha), Fructooligosaccharide, Calcium Carbonate, Yeast Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Dl-Methionine, Mixed Tocopherols (A Preservative), Copper Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract, Citric Acid, Cholecalciferol (Source Of Vitamin D3), Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Folic Acid, Dried A. Oryzae Fermentation Extract (Source Of Protease), Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selen, ite, Artificial Color.
 
 
Most the stuff at farm & feed stores for horses is just alfalfa. No guess work and under $25 for 40-50lbs. Leftovers get added to compost and mixed into raised beds for next year.
 
thanks all there's a bit here for me to look up. I'm currently on a no ground up animals momentum, if I can help it. Yet, I glue together musical instruments with ground up hides!
The alfalfa meal and kelp meal both look promising. 
 
yes  the Tractor supply has pellets and cubes. Have to be careful some have other ingredients, molasses,soybean oil, proprionic acid?.  I'm surprised by the pellet idea. How long does it take for them to break down? How much to use or how to apply? It seems that the NPK is around 2.5-1-1, whereas Kelp meal is more in the potassium range at 1-.1-2. As Solid7 stated, it's the growth hormones that really make these shine.
 
They leech out some of the goodness from the very moment you water them, and they turn to mush.  Then, between bugs, microbes, etc, it's a process of weeks and months.  But you get a little gain right from the get go.
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You really don't need to worry about NPK.  That's not your focus, and it's not going to make a hill of beans to the rest of your feeding regimen, in the long run.  You don't need to reapply the pellets at every feeding.
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I would add about 1/2-1 cup for containers up to 10 gallon.  Alfalfa pellets aren't a primary feeder, so there's no real need to be careful about how much you use.  
 
OK so for a primary feed, If I don't use fish fertilizer, I'm wondering if top dressing with kitchen scrap compost or even leaf compost would work as a primary in containers? Maybe mix in some worm castings then apply some alfalfa once or twice. Or should it be compost tea in container gardening outside?
 
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