|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
We have at least two resident experts on home growing. Add or ask questions. Continued from the "lonely hearts topic".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by poptart on 27 April 2009
We have at least two resident experts on home growing. Add or ask questions. Continued from the "lonely hearts topic".
Sorry, that doesn’t make sense. What I meant was please add any info on growing green or ask any question you might have so we can keep the experts coming back to this so very interesting topic. 
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by parannoyed on 29 April 2009
manure is my secret
I tried steer manure a few years ago and mixed it with my dirt but alas..... I guess my fingers aren’t green enough.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Cow manure is good, Poptart, but like any manure it has to be used properly. I have had good results making "tea" from it and using that as a liquid fertilizer. Just be sure and get the dried patties so that it is not too "hot", put them in a bucket and add water. After a day or so, stir and pour a couple cups of the liquid around your plants once a week or so. You might want to add more water as the patties dissolve and the solution gets stronger.
Pumpkins and watermelons really do well with such a regimen.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by JoeFin on 29 April 2009
Cow manure is good, Poptart, but like any manure it has to be used properly. I have had good results making "tea" from it and using that as a liquid fertilizer. Just be sure and get the dried patties so that it is not too "hot", put them in a bucket and add water. After a day or so, stir and pour a couple cups of the liquid around your plants once a week or so. You might want to add more water as the patties dissolve and the solution gets stronger.
Pumpkins and watermelons really do well with such a regimen.
Hmmm, what I bought was in heavy plastic bag and was not patties, it was all smashed and looked like mulch. It really stunk, I don’t know how I could stand to have it in a bucket of water, it really draws flies. pee uuu.(:
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
So after you make tea out of it and use the tea can you then use the manure mixed in your soil? The manure I buy is always damp.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
I think the stuff you are buying is supposedly composted manure. I have bought it myself to mix with other stuff ( humus, sand, etc.) to make potting soil but I never got good results with it either. It is really hard (for me at least) to make good potting soil. Potting soil is necessary for starting plants from seeds in small cups or for potting plants that will spend their life in pots. That is why I recommend buying a good quality potting soil. Miracle Gro has a large bag for about 9 bucks (I forget the quantity--it is sold by volume [cu. ft.]) at Ace Hardware and Ace also has the type that is top of the line. I forget the name but it is made in Canada and comes in a large, 2 feet square black plastic bag. It’s about $35 dollars now, although when I first started buying it, it was only about $16. The Miracle Gro is comparable but pricier per volume.
The cow manure I was talking about is right from the pasture. Just look about for the old, dried out patties. That way you can be sure there will be no biodegration/decomposition that will make heat and thus possibly cause plant damage at the roots. Plus it’s strength--nitrogen-wise--will not be enough to "burn" your plants. Fresh manure from any animal is "hot" in that it can do more damage than good. The "hottest" is perhaps chicken manure with its high ammonia nitrate content down to cow, horse, sheep, and goat and rabbit being possibly the best. Goat and rabbit can be applied directly to the plants with no fear of burning.
Manure is basically a fertilizer and all fertilizers are rated on an N-P-K basis. "N" is the chemical symbol for nitrogen which is the primary nutrient for growth but it is also the one that can "burn" your plants if too much is applied or too great a concentration. "P" is phosphorus and "K" is potassium or "potash" (potash can be acquired from ashes if you have a burn pit--tomatoes seem to love it). Too much of those will not harm your plants in most cases. That is why I like 6-12-12 fertilizer (the numbers correspond with the percentage of NPK in it). I thought I would really give my tomatoes a kick one time and applied 20-20-20 and ended up killing them. Some gardeners I know use 30% ammonium nitrate with good results but for the novice, (myself included) I would just stick to 6-12-12 if you want to use commercial fertilizer.
As for manure (organic is good), just remember that too much of a good thing is not always a good thing. Find someone who raises cattle (or horses or any livestock) get the already dried out stuff and make tea. Use sparingly, the way you would use any liquid fertilizer such as Miracle Gro--once a week or so in place of just watering.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Oh--DO NOT mix it with your soil. Put a little around your plants maybe and water through it. But to be on the safe side, best not mix it with your soil. If it is not fully decomposed, it can make heat and sour and damage the roots.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Well now I know at least one reason my garden didn’t work.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Maybe I should clarify a little on the bagged manure. I wouldn’t use it on potted or container plants but it does make a good soil builder for "in ground" gardens. It’s best though if worked in in the fall and allowed to further compost during the winter. Another use for it or dried manure of any type--some people dig a hole (usually with post-hole diggers) and place some in the bottom with a little dirt on top of it and then fill the rest of the hole with good dirt and their plant. When the roots grow down to the manure, the plant is well established and will usually really take off.One friend of mine even used this method on his tomatoes only he dug the hole deep enough so that he could place the whole tomato plant below the surface of the ground. That way he could start his tomatoes very early (early March) without worry of frost damage. During a freeze he just lay something over the hole. As the plant grew out of the hole, he would just add more dirt to eventually bring the hole level with the ground surface. Tomatoes will put roots on all up and down the stem when covered with dirt so it gave his plants a good root system, too. There seems to be a competition amongst gardeners as to who can get the first homegrown tomato. I say the one who gets the first one is not the winner--the guy who is eating homegrown tomatoes well into fall or early winter is the winner. I feel much more smug if I am eating my homegrowns long after everyone else’s are gone.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
I think I will skip the manure and get the mix you were talking about. I am going to try and get down there this week, it’s getting late in the season. I used to grow wonderful watermelon but haven’t been successful at it since I moved. Doesn’t seem like I did anything differently except get much older, that must be it, lol.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
I got an e-mail from Ace Hdwre that said they had the Scott’s potting soil on sale for $6 a bag (1 cu ft)which is a good deal. Comparable to the Miracle Gro at about $8+ a bag.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by JoeFin on 03 May 2009
I got an e-mail from Ace Hdwre that said they had the Scott’s potting soil on sale for $6 a bag (1 cu ft)which is a good deal. Comparable to the Miracle Gro at about $8+ a bag.
Thanks very much. They took my ace hardware away, I will have to find another one. Do they have plants also?
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Are you still here PARA or did you join the others that have ’sort of’ left basic?
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by parannoyed on 08 May 2009
im still here
I am glad, we need more posters in the growing topic and we would miss you. I think there might be 5 of us here, lol.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Still haven’t gotten to the store for mater plants and now it is very HOT. Don’t like the thought of going out in it.
Hey Joe, will you keep us apprised of your garden with more pics?Soooooooo exciting. Have you seen that "topsey turvey" planter on Tv? Growing maters upside down. I wonder if it really is that good? Those info-mercials aren’t always what "they are cracked up to be". Another senseless phrase, hummmm.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by poptart on 09 May 2009
Still haven’t gotten to the store for mater plants and now it is very HOT. Don’t like the thought of going out in it.
Hey Joe, will you keep us apprised of your garden with more pics?Soooooooo exciting. Have you seen that "topsey turvey" planter on Tv? Growing maters upside down. I wonder if it really is that good? Those info-mercials aren’t always what "they are cracked up to be". Another senseless phrase, hummmm.
I haven’t seen the commercials on the upside-down tomatoes, Poptart, but the idea has been around for several years now. I forget all the "advantages" to growing them that way but I think it is mostly just a novelty. I got 2 friends that are doing that this year. Will let you know how they turn out. In the meantime, don’t waste your money on the kits if you want to do it. The guys that started the whole thing just used 5-gallon buckets with a small (3") hole cut in the bottoms. Works as well as the pre-made kits.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 757
|
Quote: Originally posted by JoeFin on 10 May 2009
Quote: Originally posted by poptart on 09 May 2009
Still haven’t gotten to the store for mater plants and now it is very HOT. Don’t like the thought of going out in it.
Hey Joe, will you keep us apprised of your garden with more pics?Soooooooo exciting. Have you seen that "topsey turvey" planter on Tv? Growing maters upside down. I wonder if it really is that good? Those info-mercials aren’t always what "they are cracked up to be". Another senseless phrase, hummmm.
I haven’t seen the commercials on the upside-down tomatoes, Poptart, but the idea has been around for several years now. I forget all the "advantages" to growing them that way but I think it is mostly just a novelty. I got 2 friends that are doing that this year. Will let you know how they turn out. In the meantime, don’t waste your money on the kits if you want to do it. The guys that started the whole thing just used 5-gallon buckets with a small (3") hole cut in the bottoms. Works as well as the pre-made kits.
Cool! They said that nutrients go directly to the plant and the soil is warmed by the sun? I am not sure why that would be better and it seems to me that your soil and nutrients would end up all over the plant eventually. Thanks for the tip. You are right that would work. I’m not sure what sort of material that the earth is in, it almost looked like cloth? That’s got to be difficult to get the root system in that little hole unless you start it as a little guy. It seems you would have less chance of survival if it is that small?
|
|
|