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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: davholla on May 10, 2018, 12:59:51
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Am I right in thinking that to top dress, you just put it on top of the ground? Or do I have to dig it?
Sorry I don't really come from a background of growing soft fruit.
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Yes, you just scatter it around the plants, it will wash into the soil as it rains or you water.
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Yes, you just scatter it around the plants, it will wash into the soil as it rains or you water.
Thanks for that, that is what I did, but it still seems to be there despite heavy rain in the first few weeks of April. I suppose it is possible that the nutrients washed into the soil
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This is how I carry out top dressing prior to planting out.
If applying later in the season spread it similarly between the rows and hoe it in!
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Thanks for that, I don't have a hoe, but I will try with a trowel.
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Thanks for that, I don't have a hoe, but I will try with a trowel.
If you have a rake or garden fork, drag it back and forth. The object is to place the granules just below the surface, so they absorb some water and soften.
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Incidentally a ring of growmore will put slugs off in anything except really wet weather (it is a mixture of salts including nitrates and phosphates and works just like salt as long as it is still visible as little balls) - sorry if I left this late - but it turned out to be useless until now anyway.
It's worth sieving the little balls out of the mix for this purpose - I just shake them to the top and cream them off - I keep them dryer in a plastic bottle. The dust that remains is fine for normal uses (but don't scatter it if there's wind - absolutely none of it will go where you want). I've no idea if the balance of nutrients changes - I've never noticed any difference.
Cheers.