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I bought a soil testing kit and when I tested the soil here are the results
PH 7.2
Nitrogen, WHAT NITROGEN
Phosphorous medium
Potassium HIGH
Now, Whats the best wey to add ALOT of Nitrogen to your Garden.
BTW, There's still alot of clay in the soil so I know I need to add some kinda Compost or Mulch to it to Balance it for a Loam type soil
Dont Know About The Whole Garden But Mom And Granny Use To Put The Fish Carrces(sp) Under The Flower And Rose Beds,,,,they Did Well...looks Like There May Be A Ample Supply In Your Area
Did it not give you pounds/acre of N that is in the soil? It didn't give you a target?
There are a couple of options; with Phosphorus testing medium I would look at
DAP (18-46-0). That would be the best option.
The other options for just Nitrogen would be 1)Ammonium Nitrate 2)Urea
BTW-pH is just about perfect. Could stand to be slightly lower, which an application of any of the above fertilizers will help to drop the pH some.
when I started 5 years ago. I dug them all up and started the garden. I've added a good bit of Sand to it already and then last year, I bought some garden mulch to add to it. Had no idea about what the levels were of anything. I bought a test kit form a yard and garden place and did the testing myself. I HAD been adding agri lime to it each year but looks like I added just abit to much. The test kit came with a color palate to match the levels and it BEARLY changed colors on the Nitrogen so I need ALOT. I was thinking about some fertalizer with a high first number for the Nitrogen but have no clue about the high already Potassium level. I wondered why last year NONE of my plants grew much lol
my garden is not very big. About 12' x 50 foot. Several types of Peppers, 2 kinds of Squash, maters, Okra, things like that
DD, ammonium nitrate definitely needs to be used sparingly...a little goes a long long way. I killed my greens last year with it and had to bum off the folks' gardens.
As much as you cook, you should have plenty of table scraps. Put everything in a bucket and add a little dirt here and there, some leaves if you have them, and when the bucket gets full set it aside. After a couple of months of sitting, work it into the soil. Won't so much help this year, but it'll put in pretty much everything your soil needs. And you won't have as much trash either!
don, dont worry too much about potassium, potash, etc. i have had a garden or years, and never checked the soil , lol. you can use a balanced fertilizer like triple 13 while the plants are growing. as far as nitrogen, you dont want to overdo, because that causes a lot of leafy growth at the expense of fruit, especially on peppers. use about a tablespoon of ammonium nitrate around each plant at 30 day intervals, but be careful...lots of nitrogen makes you have beautiful plants....but no fruit. i think its better to just go with the 13-13-13. my 2 cents, lol.
Potassium being high won't necessarily hurt anything, to a certain point, and it's probably not high enough to hurt in your situation.
The reason that I pointed towards DAP, which stands for Diammonium Phosphate. With this you will get Nitrogen and Phosphorous. Phosphorous is particularly important early season because it is essential in cell formation and cell division (growth!). Nitrogen is needed for shoot and stem growth as well as photosynthesis.
Here's my plan (iffen I were you).
DAP-right now
Urea-half at planting; half prior to fruiting
Just don't get crazy with the Nitrogen, you will grow nothing but a vine!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DonDon
I think part of my problem was the last time I really added soil, I used the Miracle Grow garden soil which until they added the Miracle Grow to it, it had no nutrients at all in it. I bet I put 20 bags of it on there. I will say I had an awesome Garden that year. I bet my Squash was 4 feet tall with leaves almost 2 feet across. I was giving it away I had so much. LAst year, I coated the ground fairly heavy with 13-13-13 and Agri Lime and tilled it in 3 or 4 times just before I planted but NOTHING GREW. My Habs, bells, Jalapeno's, Okra and the few corn plants I put out did NOTHING at all. Pepper plants and Okra got about knee high and didn't produce at all. I did put some Manure compost under my Maters and they got 8 feet tall but with them being in the Wooden fence corner, I don't think they got pollinated cause I had blossom Drop BAD. They'd bloom and then after a few days, the Knuckle just below the flower would turn yellow and the blossom would fall off. Don't think I was getting enough wind nor bees to pollinate them. I will be moving them this year though.
I may cook alot BUT I also EAT TO MUCH LOL