Allotments 4 All

this is my first year of properly growing veggies.
I need to know what feeds to use, i've read alsorts of things, and still confused.

toms, pre-flower and flowering and fruiting
pots
onions, leeks, carrots 
cucs    p/f, f, f
sweetcorn   p/f, f, f
melon   p/f, f, f
strawberry   p/f, f, f
beans  p/f, f, f

I know that you use a tomato feed on melons and other fruits when fruiting, but this is the only definate thing i know really
please help

Littlegem, I'll have a go at the ones I think I know

>toms, pre-flower and flowering and fruiting
>cucs    p/f, f, f
>melon   p/f, f, f

I think cukes, melons (and chillis and peppers and aubergines) all have the same kind of feeding needs. You don't need to feed them until flowering and then fruiting, and they prefer something high in potassium - ie tomato feed or comfrey 'tea'. Until my comfrey is established next year, I will be trying nettle tea, cos I read it has decent amounts of potash in it.

>strawberry   p/f, f, f

The nutrients in fresh compost should be sufficient to provide satisfactory growth until the plants come into flower. At this stage, a liquid feed high in potash and low in nitrates (e.g. Ken Muir strawberry feed or tomato fertilizer) should be given once a week until the fruits start turning colour.
Like over-watering, the regular application of a fertilizer high in nitrates can adversely affect the cropping. Strawberries will crop best if they have the appearance of suffering from a slight deficiency of nitrogen resulting in the leaves having a pale green colour. A rather too yellow-green leaf colour is an indication that the plants need feeding.
A compound fertilizer should be applied after the plants have finished fruiting, when the old foliage has been cut back. This will encourage new growth and flower initiation for the following year. After the end of September, plain water only should be used. Reduce watering to a bare minimum after about four weeks when growth shows signs of slowing down; this is usually when the leaves begin
to show autumn tints. The compost should be kept slightly damp throughout the winter. The plants should not be fed again until the following spring unless the leaves appear pale green.
Have extracted this from the ken muir website. This is the advice for container-grown strawbs.

Hope this is all helpful

thanks moggle, so basically fruiting stuff is about the same, just need to know for the other stuff now, thanks again :D

Littlegem, that is my understanding of it - and it's what I did last year with toms and peppers.
Trying to be more organic this year :) Why is all the good organic stuff so smelly though  ???

i know what you mean, got a bag of organic fertiliser in my vine house and it stinks, even though theres a load of glass missing from it, first i had it in storage shed but its not very big shed and it was a minging smell. mind you, you know what they say, s**t dont smell of roses really!! :D

Beans - I give a good load of compost or manure dug in before planting and a bit of chicken manure on planting.

not grown melons or cucs before but courgettes (same family) get the same treatment as above. They need rich, moist soil.

I don't think you feed carrots. They should be sown in ground manured/composted for a previous crop (ie - a year before).