Posted on 05/07/2010 6:30:17 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners! If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. There are many Freepers from all over the Good Ol’ USA that are willing and eager to help.
I thought a little primer on fertilizers might come in handy this time of year especially to those of you just starting out.
What do the numbers mean?
Every bag or container of commercial fertilizer has a three number code that tells you the percentage that that particular fertilizer has of the "Big Three" nutrients used by plants.
The big three nutrients are, in the order listed on the container:
A bag of fertilizer labeled as 13-13-13 will have equal percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium for a total of 39%; the rest is filler.
Ideally a soil test is needed to determine how much of these nutriments your soil needs.
Also the type of vegetables or plants you are growing may require different percentages of these nutriments to grow or produce successfully. Know your plants needs.
And remember small amounts will go a long way. Don't over fertilize. Too much at one time or too often can overwhelm plant systems and cause problems.
“Is that some good silt loam texture?”
That’s good old Wisconsin clay (I live across from a lake) amended with tons of cow manure, peat moss and homemade compost for the past 15 years!
I just used my little tiller this year and the soil was beautiful before I added my compost. I hated to walk on it.
Mangoes! Cool!
That sounds about right (the price). “Spendy” as Hirim Quick would say, but worth it if you are cursed with clay. I did not mean to leave you off of my post about our progress here in unpredictable WI, but I never can remember how to spell our screen name and my poor attempts get rejected by the mods every time. Scroll up for my progress report.
I’ve been itching to put in my tomatoes (beautiful weather the past week). The garden centers are still saying “wait”. Sure enough the weather turned cold last night — in the forties in teh day time and low thrities at night. My tender plants are back indoors.
I read in the paper yesterday that the Ozaukee County corn crop is already more than half planted — early this year.
“I hated to walk on it.”
The minute, and I mean the exact MINUTE Mike was done, the dogs were in there rolling around in it. *Rolleyes*
We had a late light frost yesterday morning but the day turned out to be the best one yet this season as the wind finally blew itself out. I put Scott’s Weed and Feed on the lawn to surprise my First Wife when she gets back from a few days in Ashland Ore with our First Daughter and our First grand daughter. Then I continued the yard clean up of broken branches from the Redwood trees and the elderly Red Alder as we may be getting company.
We planted 24 hills of Yukon Gold and 24 hills of Red Gold on Wednesday that had sprouted in storage. I should have ordered Caribe tater seed as I lost my stock to blight. I am pre-sprouting corn seed in damp paper towels in the kitchen window as it will rot in our damp NW Calif soil. I may plant the seed in styrofoam cells today and grow them out to about 3 inches tall and then transplant them 2 to a hill in the garden the end of May...
I ordered both the regular algoflash and the one specifically for tomatoes from Jungs last week.
I also ordered 3 ‘tea’ camellias. I think it will be cool to pick and brew my own green tea.
BTW, I love your greenhouse. A greenhouse is on my list of ‘wants’ right now. Right behind a few other things too unfortunately LOL.
We were up in Lansing (about 120 miles north) a couple of weeks ago, and I was amazed how much further the leaves were behind us here in NE Indiana.
Our garden consists of planted broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard. We have seeded starters in peat pots: 2 varieties of tomato and eggplant. I still have to move these inside some nights and windy/stormy days. Otherwise, it is COLD today and supposed to be colder tomorrow.....
hh
Oh My! I love mangoes! I wish I could grow mangoes and papayas!
You must mean Max, my faithful Golden Retriever who is generally underfoot. However, he's very suspicious of the new fence. He was right on top of me during all that preparation until we "closed" the fence. Now he won't come near. He probably thinks that I might close the gate and lock him in! He's a rescue Golden that was found as a stry. His original rescuer took him to her parents' house where they locked him in a shed for 6 months before I got him, so he's a little cautious about gates. Can't blame him.
For me a mango tastes roughly like a peach but much much better and never is acidic unless picked too unripe. Mango can be picked somewhat unripe and let to ripen in a paper bag. People do this if birds are assaulting their mangoes. Squirrels can also get up there and feast
The mango pests luckily zero in on one or two mangoes usually. They don’t take a bite out of numerous fruits the way deer will hit corn
Can anyone school me and the Mrs on terracing? We live on the side of a damn hill, and couldn’t plant a traditional garden at all. Thanks!
Whatever you do, the first year you won’t get many good eating sprouts. Wait until you get the first ferns of asparagus and have several ripe red berry seeds. Break them apart and let them dry and you will have enough to plant a number of plants for the future. A thick asparagus bed can produce more than you can eat.
He’s gorgeous. I don’t blame him at all for being suspicious!
I wasn’t interested in it for the soil as we have all sand here in this part of FL. However, I was on the lookout for it so that I can build a square foot garden later this year - perhaps in time for fall planting.
Oh, and my name is easy to spell - it’s Polish so it is spelled exactly the way it sounds :P
Not so much this year. I find many of the fertilizers on the market have the analysis missing, or obscured so that it is really had to find. Miracle Gro is one of the worst offenders. I don't understand it. Are they trying to hide that information from terrorists. Other people have complained too, so It's not just me.
When I shop, it is usually on the run because we are down to one care this year and I never seem to have it. If my husband is with me, he always has to complain about what I am buying, saying "we already have that" (not true) We may have something similar, but not the precise item that I've picked out. I want those numbers big, on the front, right where I can see it so I don't have to scramble all over to find them. I want to be able to "grab and go" 'cause I don't have time to study it.
When you say ‘break them apart and let them dry’, you mean the seeds, right?
I hadn’t thought about re-seeding my beds that way.
I have a couple of 1X6 planks I move around the garden to walk on to preserve the texture of the soil after spading...
You could grow a mango tree in a pot. It has to be on wheels so you can wheel it in during a cold snap. But I’ll bet you have enough sunlight for them
I have seen pretty big pots at garden centers with lots o mangoes. For sale for maybe $250 and you have a fruiting mango tree. But start with a nice $30 tree and you will get fruit the second year though maybe just 4-5. The little tree will need to be propped up so the mangoes don’t snap branches
If you are interested I’ll call up a garden center and ask what variety is best in a pot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.