>> if the soil already has too much potassium and phosphorus does that mean the
>> veggies will get enough of those nutrients from the soil?

Yes. Until you get a feel for it, only do the minimum. That means correct the N. Only.

Get something like Ammonium Sulfate ( 23-0-0 ?).
I have a half used bag of it. I use it mostly during growth stage and on leafy veggies.

In most established gardens "P" and "K" tend to accumulate. More so "P" than "K". But "N" (being readily water soluble) is either used or is leached down. That is why soil tests are valuable.

Urea is another good choice for N.

"Get something like Ammonium Sulfate ( 23-0-0 ?). "

IMO, that's just very poor advice.

None of the veggies you listed need high amounts of N. Get a meal that's N specific like cottonseed or feather meal or blood(fast release). With what your growing, 2-3 inches of compost should even be sufficient or a fair amount of AGED chicken manure should do. Maybe halfway through the season, a sprinkling of more meal.

A lot of those tests will show low in N anyways, since it gets leached out or evaporated during the winter.

Kevin

Agree with Kevin - all you need is low dose nitrogen and many kinds are available both organic or synthetic whichever you prefer. Compost being one of the easiest to use

Most all soil tests will show low nitrogen since N is so volatile but that doesn't mean there is none there or that you need a great deal of it - and yes, it is possible to over-dose with N.

It seems like I should have a fertilizer that has some of each nutrient,

That is a very common misconception and can easily lead to making the soil much worse rather than better. So for the good of your plants you really need to set that belief aside, ok? If it is there, they will get it and clearly there is plenty of it there. :)

Dave

I respectfully disagree with Kevin regarding nitrogen. Apart from C, H and O, N is still the most important nutrient for plants, whether they are fruit or leaf vegetables. In fact, some leafy crops like chard use/need much less N than tomatoes. Most amateur gardeners tend to overapply nitrogen and get excessively lush, aphid-attractive growth but this does not change the fact that nitrogen is an important nutrient and must be applied to any soil that is deficient in it. Just don't apply too much of it at any one time, and this can be done by using a slow-release fertilizer and/or an organic source of N in judicious amounts. You can screw up with fish emulsion just as easily as with urea or ammonium sulfate and conversely, you can get excellent productivity with chemical fertilizers if you use them appropriately.

Growing up, it was all manure and compost for the vegetables. Maybe a box of citrus feed, applied as directed.

It always seemed that the standard synthetic amounts were quite high. Here is a neat MSU doc that mentions 20 pounds of 10-10-10 as a "standard rate" and then refines from there.

I guess enlightened by recent research that I interpret as saying that the benefit of organic food is in the lack of pesticides, and that the "harm" of chemical fertilizers cannot be found ... I am more open to light use, in addition to those organics.

Update: oops, 20 pounds per 1000 sq ft per year.

Here is a link that might be useful: MSU PDF

This post was edited by johns.coastal.patio on Fri, May 9, 14 at 19:43

Slimy: Thank you for "respectfully" disagreeing with me. LOL. Makes for good debate when there's a mutual respect flowing...:)

I never said N wasn't important though. I merely pointed out that high amounts of N aren't really needed for THOSE veggies. As opposed to say, onions and corn.

I, or anybody in their right mind, should apply sulfate of ammonia to those veggies. It simply isn't NEEDED and like you said, lush, aphid magnets. That's why i suggested much what you did... Organic matter(compost, manure, etc.) or organic meals that are relatively low in N and slow release.

"You can screw up with fish emulsion just as easily as with urea or ammonium sulfate and conversely, you can get excellent productivity with chemical fertilizers if you use them appropriately."

Yes. But the chances are so much less. And yes, chemical fertilizers are fine if used "appropriately." in this case, IMO, sulfate of ammonia would NOT be appropriate.

Kevin

Thanks for all the good information. I have a much better idea now what my veggies need. Since I already have blood meal I guess I will use that. Now my question is how much and how often should I use it? I don't want to overdo like everyone was saying. Thanks for the help!

Now my question is how much and how often should I use it?

That depends on how you will be using it? Tilled into the whole bed, as a side dressing around individual plants, dissolved in water and diluted to water with, etc.

There should be application instructions on the container and different crops need different amounts. You mention zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers. For those three I would use as a light side dressing per label application rates. if you don't know how to do side dressing then Google it for instructions as it isn't done right up next to the plant itself.

Blood meal can burn plants so use with care.

Dave