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| I need to add some fertilizer to my garden this year and as it is a new garden and I've never had to add anything more than compost, I feel like I need a little guidance. I purchased the above product and would like guidance on how you would apply it. It's 2-5-3. The best help I could find in the directions was for transplants and seedlings. As I have seedlings that are under a foot tall, I thought I should go with that. However it says "For a 2-inch pot-size seedling, apply 1tbs into the planting hole and mix with surrounding soil. for a 4-inch pot-size plant add 1.5tbs." Well, that's fine but I want to mix it in the top inch of soil within the drip line of the plants. How much would you guys (and gals) put under each plant in this fashion? Thanks! Below is the link to the item I purchased if that helps... http://www.lowes.com/pd_41133-304-09066_0__?productId=3562424 |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by PlanterJeff 7B GA (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 9:41
| If you continue to read the bag it will give you instructions on how to add as a side dressing. That is the best way to go. I've had good luck with that stuff. |
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- Posted by jacob.morgan78 7 (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 20:32
| Thanks for the help but I swear I looked and don't see any directions for side dressing... The uses specified in the directions are for Soil Preparation, Seed Plantings, Transplants and Seedlings, and Container Gardening. Do you mind sharing how much you use per plant when you use as I want to? Or am I missing something!? I'm going to try to attach a picture of the directions. We'll see how that goes. |
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| Since it is low dose then side dressing around each plant with 1.5 T should cause no problems. Otherwise the label (per their website) says "1 cup per 10' row for side dressing. Apply every 8 weeks." Dave |
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| With the given analysis (2-5-3.) it does not have much juice. In other words it is 90% junk filler only 10% fertilizer. Plus the ratio is all messed up. You need N the most and P the least. It is your money ! I buy 16-16-16 for about $1 per pound. That is 48% fertilizer power. |
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- Posted by jacob.morgan78 7 Central Virginia (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 8:28
| Seysonn, I've already made my choice on fertilizer for my own reasons. Do you have any recommendations related to my question about how much to side dress each plant? thanks. |
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- Posted by PlanterJeff 7B GA (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:00
| Take a look at the directions that are in the second column down. I think it says "one cup per 10 square foot/linear feet to be prepared as a side dressing". That is exactly how I apply it in my garden. I do square foot gardening so it is real easy for me to calculate. I like the analysis on this product as well. It is very good for tomatoes and peppers. before the growing season I just pour a cup over the 10 feet and work it into the ground, but once I have plants growing I apply it by taking a 5 gallon bucket of my compost and then mix in a cup of the fertilizer. I then spread the compost around 10 square feet of my garden as a mulch and loosely work it into the soil with my fingers to avoid damaging the roots. As it rains it will leach the nutrients into the roots of the plants. I have had good luck this way. The compost also helps with breaking down the nutrients because of the microbial life it provides. I hope this helps. EDIT: I add this mulch layer when they are about 6 inches to a foot tall, so this fertilizer is safe to use on your babies! |
This post was edited by PlanterJeff on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:14
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| I've had far better luck with those "junk" filled organics with low numbers than I've ever had with commercial fertilizer. Organic fertilizer is slower, less likely to burn and conditions the soil with all it's "junk". It feeds the soil organisms which then convert the nutrients to easily used NPK. It usually has more micronutrients,too. I use fish emulsion, kelp and manures. All low numbers. Slow and steady wins the race! |
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- Posted by jacob.morgan78 7 Central Virginia (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:10
| Okay! I see that :-) I guess I'm just confused because I want to use it per plant instead of along the entire row... I have my plants spaced about two feet apart so there are spaces where I don't necessarily need the fertilizer... I guess I can do the math and figure it out by subtracting the space from the formula that I dont' want to fertilize to get a per plant answer but that's no fun at all!!! :-) thanks for the help |
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- Posted by PlanterJeff 7B GA (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:17
| Jacob, In that case, I would do the bucket method and just place a nice mulch layer under each plant that you want fertilized. Cover the ground about and inch to two inches and stay within the drip line. This will probably give you the perfect amount and you really have no risk of burning it. |
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- Posted by PlanterJeff 7B GA (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:24
| BTW if you do not use compost you can definitely use the 1.5 tbs per plant. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup. So you can see, that basically one cup feeds 10 plants. |
This post was edited by PlanterJeff on Fri, May 30, 14 at 9:30
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| you can definitely use the 1.5 tbs per plant. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup. So you can see, that basically one cup feeds 10 plants. Correct. Sorry but I thought I had already made that clear above. Dave |
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- Posted by PlanterJeff 7B GA (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 13:40
| "Correct. Sorry but I thought I had already made that clear above." Dave, i guess I should have read your response! Sorry to take your thunder. I thought I read the whole post, but must have missed your comment. I guess we can just consider it a little more re-assurance for Jacob. |
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| Oh no problem Jeff. No thunder to take and you hit the nail on the head. ) I was just wondering why the OP was still asking the same question about per plant. Or if he had checked out the maker website I mentioned that explains both methods. Sometimes, if we don't refresh the page now and then we don't see all the posts so I thought he might have missed it or I didn't make it clear. Dave. |
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- Posted by jacob.morgan78 7 (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 19:39
| I missed it. Sorry. The per 10' thing threw me off for some reason. Since it is organic, I probably don't need to worry as much about over doing it... I definitely tend to overthink things sometimes so thanks for dealing with me! Since this is the first application, you guys think I could by with adding more? Maybe 2-3 tablespoons per plant? There I go again over thinking... oh well... :-) thanks again! |
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| Seysonn, I've already made my choice on fertilizer for my own reasons. Do you have any recommendations related to my question about how much to side dress each plant? |
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