i am starting my first large gardening endeavor this fall (primarily containers...sub irrigated planters to be exact), and am now turning my attention to fertilizers. cost and simplicity important factors for a novice like me.

not sure on the specifics of usage, but i do know that i want a granular fertilizer (to be mixed into the soil prior to planting), plus a liquid fertilizer (for supplemental feeding as necessary). i have procured a 20 lb bag of espoma garden-tone granular fertilizer to satisfy the former requirement (3-4-4; includes hydrolyzed feather meal, pasteurized poultry manure, cocoa meal, bone meal, alfalfa meal, greensand, humates, sulfate of potash, and sulfate of potash magnesia).

now here's the trouble. i know very little about organic liquid fertilizers, and my long search yielded a local product called "liquid fish blend" from medina brand. n-p-k is 2-3-2 and it includes: "mixture of fish solubles, kelp extracts, molasses, apple cider vinegar and leonardite ore." i picked up a gallon for $20.00

does this sound like a reasonable product for my purposes? i've never heard of apple cider vinegar being used in a fertilizer before. also, why does it include molasses? i thought that was for foliar feeding?

finally, i am not sure how to feed when the time comes. do i water it in? do i spritz it on the leaves? do i drench the soil right after planting my seeds, or wait a while? or am i going about this fertilizing thing the wrong way entirely?

help me please...you are my only hope! the nursery staff was unhelpful.

And I'd also consider doing some research on the pros/cons of foliar feeding. Plants will absorb some of their nutrient demand via the foliage but the vast majority will need to be processed through the root system as nature intended.

I know a lot of folks don't like to hear it but it is hard to be 100% organic as well as 100% successful in a container gardening situation.

Emgardener has done some interesting trials using "Zero Cost Organics" in containers. If you search for emgardener gardenweb you'll find more.

There are many ways to achieve success with your plan, but it may take some time to figure out what works best for you. You might consider growing in the ground or building raised garden beds.

sub-irrigated container gardening is my best bet in the extremely hot and drought-prone climate in which i live. we also have dreadful soil conditions--a thick, impermeable layer of caliche underlies our thin, predominantly clay, alkaline topsoil. in addition, i have physical limitations that largely preclude in-ground gardening as a viable possibility for me (i have a bad back).

regarding my potting mix composition and the necessary soil biology appropriate for granular fertilizer, i am doing a 2-2-1 mix of pine bark fines, sphagnum peat, and coarse perlite. i do believe it to have a suitable balance of wicking ability, drainage ability, and aeration for my purposes and in my climate. the granular fertilizer, espoma garden-tone, includes application instructions for containers on the packaging, so i probably wouldn't be the first person to use it in a container. as it relates to mineralization/"digestion", the fertilizer does contain "895 colony forming units" from a variety of microbe species. i do not know to what extent this promotes nutrient release/'digestion', but it certainly can't hurt. finally, i am inoculating my seeds with both endo- and ecto-mycorrhizal fungi prior to planting, which is good for soil chemistry and increases nutrient absorption by a symbiotic relationship.

i think that is the most i can do to encourage a healthy growing environment without introducing compost or other dense organic matter that will weigh down the mix significantly and hold way too much water.