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| I planted five varieties of winter squash somewhat late this year, and then dealt with squash vine borers. At this point most of the plants look good, but the squash aren't very far along. One of the butternuts looks full size but isn't a mature color. The other squash are much smaller. My Red Kuri is still bright yellow. I bought some organic fertilizer: Organic Labs Veggie Maker Ready To Use Fertilizer contains high levels of calcium and sea kelp with nitrogen. The calcium prevents blossom end rot and is needed for strong cell development, while the sea kelp, a bio stimulant, increases yield, size and quality of veggies. The formula is 0.1-0-0 0.3% Ca, and it's supposed to be sprayed on the leaves, top and bottom. Is it a okay to do this now? I'm concerned that it's getting late in the season, and want to encourage growth and maturation of the squash before the weather turns cold. Thanks for your help! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Tue, Aug 26, 14 at 22:13
| If the plants look good, why fertilize? Doesn't make sense to me. If the leaves are starting to yellow or if they have had poor growth then I could understand. Just let the plants do their thing and the fruits should ripen up for you. And the fertilizer you have is basically micronutrients. At this point I doubt they'd be of any benefit to the plants and with an N-P-K of 0.1-0-0 they wouldn't force new growth (not that you want to force new growth). Rodney |
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| Thanks, Rodney. Between my post and yours, I found this: Foliar feeding can be done during early growth of the plant, during or after blooming, when is plant is under stress, or just prior to plant maturity to increase brix. Information on increasing brix can be found here. Foliar feeding can be done as often as every three or four days, but even applying once will be advantageous. The article makes the point that foliar feeding doesn't replace nutrients from the soil, but enhances them. You're right--I don't want to force new growth. I'm just hoping to encourage ripening. |
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