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I'm growing mostly lettuce and greens. I don't think my soil is particularly rich. How important is fertilizing? I haven't done it and my plants seem to be growing slow and small.
Congrats on your first garden, hope it does well
Fertilizer and compost in your soil is very important..
I would head over to your local county extension office and find a Master Gardener
they are there to help new and old gardeners with their question..They can tell you
which fertilizer is the best for what your want to grow..
If I was in Cal I would tell you what you might want to try but this native california is up in oregon.
The Sunset Western Garden Book is also a great source of information..
Good luck
Let us know how the garden grows.
I added bone and blood meal to my above-ground garden just prior to the rains here in Phoenix and my veggies are flourishing. It is a natural fertilizer and I bought an organic version. Just watch out if you have a dog because it smells delicious to them and they will tear up your garden.
I added bone and blood meal to my above-ground garden just prior to the rains here in Phoenix and my veggies are flourishing. It is a natural fertilizer and I bought an organic version. Just watch out if you have a dog because it smells delicious to them and they will tear up your garden.
Instead of fertilizing try adding lots of compost & redwood mulch & chicken manure. My dad uses this amendment called Bumper Crop and he gets pounds & pounds of tomatoes. It's available at smaller specialty nurseries, so google it.
I'm in N.C. and down here Lime is more important than fertilizer, red clay, mine is all tilled up, it is approximately 100 ft wide and about 80 feet back. I've partially planted my first two rows. The first row is red onions and Texas Sweets, covers 2/3 of row, the second row is 9 Broccoli Plants, 9 Cauliflower, and 9 head cabbage plants, all of these can take a medium frost, we still will have at least one more good frost before I plant the other stuff. NOW...... in the "OH NO" department, that evening after tilling and planting, right at dusk, I looked out the front window and saw 8 Deer staring at, what will be, my garden. I do not plant peas and beans, when I do, the deer arrive in force, eat the peas and beans then munch on everything else on their way out. By the time I've done all my planting, I will have lettuce, carrots, spinach, 2 types of yellow squash, zucchini, acorn squash, cucumbers, three types of peppers (including Poblano), okra, three types of tomato, cantalopes, sugar baby watermelons, and a brand of corn, properly named "incredible". I'll need to fertilize and lime one more time before I put the rest of the stuff in. Several years ago I planted a sprig of Rosemary, it now takes up as much space as a washer and dryer out in my front "Rock Garden" it didn't start out as a rock garden, I just wanted to dig up the rocks I kept hitting with my lawnmower, eventually I figured out those rocks ain't goin' anywhere, they're bigger than my truck. Oh yeah, during the growing season, at night, at irregular hours, I let my dogs out the front door---keeps the deer on their toes (so to speak).
Bumper Crop is the best..I accidentally planted my potted cherry tomatos in all Bumper Crop and they did super well
The regular potting soil version of Bumper Crop is the best too..
Ok, I'll look for Bumper Crop. The soil where I live is extremely sandy. It's near the ocean. It obviously doesn't hold water well and I assume it's not very fertile. But digging a trench or hole is like butter, that's one good thing about it. Everything I planted has been from seed. I've planted a salad and asian greens mix, red sails lettuce, spinach, onions, collards, carrots and roma tomatoes. The tomatoes are only going to get about 5 1/2 hours of direct sunlight. I hope that's enough? Also, people don't eat a lot of collards out here. I'm not sure if I've ever had them. If anyone has any tips on cooking collards? or ways to eat them, in salads? Just wondering what people in the South do?
Ok, I'll look for Bumper Crop. The soil where I live is extremely sandy. It's near the ocean. It obviously doesn't hold water well and I assume it's not very fertile. But digging a trench or hole is like butter, that's one good thing about it. Everything I planted has been from seed. I've planted a salad and asian greens mix, red sails lettuce, spinach, onions, collards, carrots and roma tomatoes. The tomatoes are only going to get about 5 1/2 hours of direct sunlight. I hope that's enough? Also, people don't eat a lot of collards out here. I'm not sure if I've ever had them. If anyone has any tips on cooking collards? or ways to eat them, in salads? Just wondering what people in the South do?
Chop them up, add a little onion and the juice of one half a lemon or lime, a piece of ham will help, or, use a quarter cup of Olive Oil, salt and two shots of hot sauce, then boil it half to death.
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