Allotments 4 All

Hmmm, ok am officially confused. This weekend, with the rain at last banished for a few days I managed to get out in the garden at last and decided that with most stuff safely in the ground it was time to give things a bit of a feed. I had a look in my one solitary veg book (the recent 'Grow your Own' BBC book) and saw what my various plants needed in terms of feed and came up with a list of three kinds I needed (one rich in potassium, one with lots of nitrogen and one general purpose).

Off I went to the garden centre, list in hand, only to be baffled by the selection on display. Nothing seemed as simple as it should be and none fitted the requirements of my list other than there being lots of 'general purpose' feeds, although most had pictures of flowers on so I had no idea if these would be ok for veg. I ended up reading the ingredients labels of them all only to find almost all contained between 4-6% of both potassium and nitrogen, an amount that hardly seemed a big enough value for it to be classed as a particular strength of the feed....

So I'm stuck... I ended up with some tomato feed (does what it says on the tin and all that) and some general purpose 'Miracle Grow' as it seemed to have both potassium and nitrogen in and at seemed suitable for veg from the description on the box.

I'm guessing the miracle grow in particular doesn't fit in with the idea of being organic, its bright blue for a start which doesn't seem too natural... ;)

So... my question, eventually, is what I bought suitable, should I use it, if not what on earth do I feed my poor veg with, where can I buy it and why can't things be as simple as they seem in books! ;)

I know its a novice question and eyes are probably being rolled around the forum as I speak but hey, I'm the very definition of a novice so I'm allowed a daft question now and then... :)

So you want to be Organic??

If so, look at the Organic Catalogue.

If not, you've done fine!!

Cuke, thanks for asking this as I'm clueless on the topic of feeding too!

my questions are:
1  do I have to feed my fruit/veg or will they cope on their own?
2  which fruit/veg, if any, must be fed?

Well, not so much that I'm aiming for 100% organic, but you know, would have liked to not be pumping too many nasty chemicals into things...

It's mainly the peppers and sweet corn that I'm worried about, they seemed to need more than a general purpose feed. But I guess, general purpose is better than nowt.... Would still be interested in finding some feed that specificaly says 'high in potassium' or 'high in nitrogen' there has to be some surely, or else what is my book on about?


Oooooh, and while I'm at it... how often should I feed things? How often is 'regularly'? I seem to remember somone telling me Toms and cucumbers need it once a week when they're in growbags? Does the same apply for other veg thats planted out in beds?

Its all so confusing.... lol :)

Hi,why dont you make your own using nettles and comfrey,all you need is a container with a tap on the bottom of it.get some nettle leaves and comfrey,add  a little water,and a weight to keep leaves pressed and leave for a few weeks (it smells horrible) .when its ready put little bit in can dilute with waterand water away..

That doesn't quite answer the question?

Inorganic nutrients are not 'nasty'. If they were, you couldn't step out of your house. All they do - if used
solely & consistently - is degrade the soil. In your lifetime? It does NOT poison the product - we have used inorganic feed on our glasshouse plants for 40+ years & we're still in charge of our senses! I think!!

Yes - you can get any combination of NPK that you wish - see http://www.vitax.co.uk/ for instance?

Feeding? Before planting out - when established to push things on - every week (every day for us - diluted) for glasshouse crops - as the book says. Outdoors - not so needed.

We never feed Corn, or Brassica. Courgettes & Cus only get a heap of manure under them. If the soil is in reasonable 'heart', feeding is not de rigueur.

In an ideal world, it's the soil that needs feeding, rather than the plants; ie. dig in a plentiful supply of rotted organic manure over a number of years. But if you've just taken on an allotment, you're not starting there, are you?

So add chicken pellets when you plant and water with diluted comfrey or nettle, especially if the plants look as if they need a bit of extra help. I feed all indoor crops at least once a week; outdoor tomatoes perhaps fortnightly; beans, peas, courgettes if they need it; other crops never. (And don't water outdoor crops too much either, unless they look limp and/or you've nothing else to fill up your life!)

Hi
I don't know whether you have access to animal poo - sheep - cow - horse?

If you have go into a field pick up a carrier bag full of dried animal poo (not dog/cat or anything that eats meat).  Put it in an onion sack or hessian sack and lop that into a water tank.  The ensuing liquid is great for most veggies and it is free!

When it becomes too diluted take out bag and collect some more!

Good luck

Old Bird

Sounder advice than mine.

Of course, the reason I don't feed much outdoors, other than Potatoes, is because we put on loads of compost (own & mushroom) & manure each year.

Chicken pellets - what is their NPK? Must try.

 :-\

Chicken manure pellets: NPK 4, 2.5, 2.3 Tim.

Careful how you use it if you have foxes around, they love it! Having merrily scattered the pellets about last year, I came back to the plot to find the neighbourhood fox had been digging about all over my lovely beds!

;)

Thanks!

Maxicrop seems a pretty good product.

Used it from its early days - till I aged!

Stephan likes it?

No, you don't scatter chicken pellets. I've got foxes too - and a couple of dogs who are on-site more often! When you dig the hole for the plant, put a few pellets in the bottom, then put the plant in. So the canines can't sniff it out. Sorry to be a vague earlier.

      Hi Cuke,
   Rich in potassium- Sulphate of potash, N.P.K. 0.0.48
   Lots of nitrogen - miraclegrow lawn feed, N.P.K. 36.6.6
                               evergreen lawn feed, N.P.K. 24.0.0.
                               sulphate of ammonia, N.P.K. 21.0.0.
     general purpose - growmore, N.P.K. 7.7.7.
                                  chempak no 3, N.P.K. 20.20.20. unfortunatly not organic.