Will Be Setting - up My EBs Soon AS Weather Allows? Part II

Glad to report that my broccoli made it thru the freeze with no apparent problem. I wish I could say the same for the impatients and the brugs. Certainly have seen the end of those for this season.

I buy the cheapest fertilazer I come across, doesnt matter the name. I use 12-12-12, not sure I have seen the 13-13-13. I think the point is, not to use a time release, like osmocoate, and not to use one of the blooming fertilizers that are like 2-56-12.

.carrots are the hardest thing I have ever tried to grow....go figure. From reading the veggie post, im not alone.

Joy -- It amazes me that some container mixes and some fertilizers are available in one part of the states but not the rest. Any brand fertilizer under the 15-15-15 formula is excellent for EBs. Brand names don't mean anything? It is like buying a bottle of milk. The brand is meaningless as long as it has the USDA approval.
I now have nineteen EBs, one five gal gro bag, one 1gal gro bag for an individual lettuce and two lay flat bags. I'm going to try to buy Bob's fertilizer to be used strictly for my roses when I scrape up some more cash as it is the perfect mix for any container. Your friend would be amazed to see our results meaning Bob's and mine! Oh by the way, you would be perfect for roses as they love to be drowned every third day? I will take some pictures today of my roses and post in Rose Thread. They are not all in bloom but the ones that are are magnificent if you will please pardon my bragging as I am new to rose growing. Less than a year!

Shoe -- I need to know more about the liquid BT and where to buy it as I have a fogger and it fogs my neighbor's area and although it works like a charm I must be sneaky and do it when she is not home AS THIS IS THE WINDY TIME OF THE YEAR AND IT CARRIES. Horned Caterpillars are a real nuisance along with Whiteflies down here?. Would very much appreciate your advice. (You and Farmerdill are my mentors) Of course this includes you also Carolyn but I have you with me all the time by the presence of my Bible -- Your Book!

TPlant: What does everyone mean by time-release? Isn't all fertilizer except the liquid time release? My Shultz's Tomato and Vegetable 10-12-12 is Slow-Release Plant Food, is that what is meant by fertilizer? And is there a difference between slow release and time release? Now, you see why I like brands and pics of what to use, gotta have patience here with me, as I'm new remember? LOL I've become infamous for printing out notes and pics to go by since I've joined Daves. LOL Oh, also when I bought my two square footers from Gardners Supply they came with a bottle of all-purpose fertilizer which is 5-5-5 their custom organic which I am going to use in their square footers; but I also bought the 5 lb bag of specially formulated tomato fertilizer from them also, it's 100% organic and is 5-6-5. It calls for you to mix it in the 40 quarts of container mix and then side dress 4-6 weeks later with a cup each time. I thought I would use this in my topsy turvys and the Shultz's in my EBS. Now the Schultz's lasts for 12 weeks, which is a growing season right?
joy112854
joy112854

Answers: First question -- Time release and slow release the same. A growing season depending on where you are an what you are growing can be far longer than three months. Some tomatos take that long just for their first batch from seed to maturity. Do you have Carolyn's book "100 Heirloom Tomatos For The American Garden?" If not I very strongly suggest you purchase it and read it thoroughly and all your questions will be answered. That is how I learned! Also purchase gardening books to read and prepare yourself over the winter months as you certainly will have enough time to do so . Forget about fertilizers for now as you will not be using any other than you already have and the good old 10-10-10 is a general standard for most every beginner. You are trying to accomplish to much to much to fast an it requires mistakes, experience and learning from one's mistakes . What I tell you may not work for you? Also if you have a tendency to overwater than surely you will have a tendency to over fertilize and this requires self study that is why I buy books on the subjects. I have specific books on each variety I grow including dahlia and all bulbs and of course tomatos. If you bought Bob's fertilizer formula why are you buying so many other varieties as it is just a waste of money?

Tplant, thanks for your compliments, however methinks you yourself are a mentor, especially when it comes to EB's!

As for the liquid Bt, "Thuricide" is what I've used for years and it is usually found in Garden Centers. I imagine Home Depot/Lowe's should carry it as well. I just checked my bottle and it is sold by the "American" company. I think you, and your neighbor, will like it.

Joy, you might want to stick with your liquid Sevin (and also Thuricide/liquid Bt) rather than the Ferti-lome Triple Action plus. Sevin is a much safer product to use, when timed properly (thinking of the bees here). Although Ferti-lome T-Action states that it is mainly Neem oil it also contains malathion and methoxychlor, both which are hard-hitters on the bugs (beneficials as well), the ground water/aquatic life, as well as being hard on the human (malathion being carcinogenic).

That being said, Sevin will zap quite a few of the bad bugs, in the liquid form it is easy to use, and it also breaks down fairly quickly to a benign chemical, not leaving any secondary effects.

I think it would be great if you folks could mix the liquid Bt (Thuricide) with liquid Sevin. That way you can do double duty with your sprays and also say time, energy (and water!). I'll double-check when I come back in this afternoon and let you know. (Some products can be safely mixed together while others are not.)

A warm 52º here so better get back out there and enjoy it while I can.

Best to all!
Shoe

Joy, What these guys say is right on. I may add that plants need to be in an environment conducive to a steady growth rate. This is very important. You want to try to avoid stressing the plant with too much moisture, lack of moisture, too much fertilizer, or not enough fertilizer. Such conditions tend to set a plant back so they are not ready to produce when the temperature and daylight hours are right for them to do so. For example if a plant is stressed or set back due to too much fertilizer causing the feeder roots to be burned, the plant may die or it may take 10 days to too weeks for the plant to develop new feeder roots and get back to where it was before the stress. Obviously, you can see why you have just lost two weeks of production.


The triples in fertilizer, 5-5-5, 10-10-10, 13-13-13, or 15-15-15, simply indicate the percent of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash in a given mix of fertilizer. For example in a 100 lb bag of 5-5-5, 5 lbs (5%) will be nitrogen, 5 lbs (5%) will be phosphate, 5 lbs (5%) will be potash, and the remainder will be a carrier.

All things being equal, to achieve the same results received from 15-15-15 you would have to use more of the 5-5-5.

You may like to take a look at these sites:
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/soils/types.html

http://www.learn2grow.com/gardeningguides/fertilizer/basics/understandingfertilizernumbers.aspx

Google can be your friend.

Remember practice, practice, practice = experience, experience, experience. Our mistakes are our best teachers. Never give up.

Gardening can be a most rewarding adventure so long as we accept failure along with our successes and keep moving forward.

Good luck and stay with it. You'll do just fine.

I, too, have settled on liquid Sevin because of it short half-life and its effectiveness. I still use BT dust for any worms. I use Greenlight snail & bug bait for grasshoppers, slugs, and pill bugs. I use Amdro for ants.

Five years ago there was an infestation of grasshoppers around here to the extent that when walking through the pasture grasshoppers would continuously raise up in groves. As you might expect they were eating everything.

After searching the Internet, I found this product http://www.planetnatural.com/site/semaspore-grasshopper-bait.html and after using it for three seasons, last year there were hardly any hoppers left.

I am truly amazed at how well this product works on the hoppers.

I have purchased Lady bugs, P-Mantis from this site also. However, when the Lady Bugs could no longer contain the aphids the use of Sevin on the aphids also killed the Lady Bugs in the garden.

I know you put a line of 10-10-10 in the eb,do you also put any kind of fertilizer in the reservoir?

How's little Scooter?

This message was edited Nov 20, 2008 2:56 PM

Scooter is fine thank you and no to fertilizer in resevoir. Not necessary is proper fertilizer is used such as granular 10-10-10.

Thanks everyone. I have gotten such good advice and appreciate it all very much.
TPlant, I will google that book and see where to buy it from? I have Martha Stewart's Gardening 101; along with about 6 others for now though. I didn't buy any of Bob's fertilizer, as I wanted to use up what I have on hand first, was just thinking that if mine is slow released and covers 3-4 months, then I have to side dress after that? Is that applicable to EBs also? I have noticed that when a person uses organic fertilizer it doesn't have the high numbers that nonorganic has, so then the numbers can be low right, on the organic ones, like in 5-5-5?
Horseshoe: That mixing of the two has crossed my mind also, as when it rains you need to reapply. I actually think you might be right; and that Sevin and the BT will cover all the bugs I have had a problem with in the past. I haven't seen any slugs or any other bugs in my garden or EBs yet in numbers that presented a problem for me. So; if I haven't seen them, no since in treating for them. Mostly what I've seen evidence of as presenting any problems is aphids and either horned catepillars or leaf rollers. So; I'm thinking the BT and Sevin is all I need.
I, being unknowledgeable with them, only used Sevin twice last Spring and Summer and that was all I used. I was careful not to get the stuff on anything but the leafs also, as I have bees and didn't want to harm them or the beneficial bugs in the garden and did it in the evening. I didn't realize it didn't last forever. LOL
I only used the fertilizer that came with the Garden Patches last year also, and only used it as instructed, this will be my first year of adding it and the dolomite lime to it, that was until I found that the fertilizer strip in the Garden Patch had crystalized to the cover on top, then I added a little liquid fertilizer to the water in the reservoir to correct it, my reason for wanting the EB covers now on all my boxes.
I did overfertilize my cannas a bit, but then corrected that by watering them like crazy, all that is needed is to look at the leafs when you do that. Apparently, they don't need fertilized very often, like once every month. I have switched to the Miracle grow fertilizer in the hose spray attatchment for them, the one that has the bottles you just screw in and that seems to be fine for them. I do add a bit of epsom salt to my water for the cannas especially, as it makes the stems a bit thicker, which makes them stronger, as I don't have many dwarf cannas, I have the tall ones, so strong stems are important.
For my daffodils I planted the bulbs in containers, where they will live once they grow up, and underneath, I spooned in bone meal and container plant food, as they need it to nourish them when in hybernation.
Being a beginner, I shopped til I dropped so to speak or til my wallet did, I think that happened first; so want to use up what I bought before buying anything else this next Spring. I bought some Jobes fertilizer spikes for everything under the sun and even some sea magic seaweed, was thinking since I liked steak, and I spoil myself from time to time why not spoil my veggie babies and flower babies right?
LOL
Has anyone used the Sea Magic Seaweed yet? I was thinking of using it in my topsy's and Gardener's Revolution Planters.
joy112854

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