Gardening - Feeding Your Hungry Plants

Okay, you have your soil prepped, garden ready, plants put in, watering organized, Now what? Well, plants need food and there are many ways to feed them.

There is always a debate between organic feeders and fertilizers. Truth is, your plants really don't care a lot. If they need nitrogen, they are not fussy about the source. The real question is how much work do you want to do, how much money are you willing to spend and what is the nature of your soil.

If you have poor soil and no chance to make compost or bring in top soil, then you will need to feed a lot and you will need good commercial fertilizers.  Get a cheap one but be careful. One of the cheapest is Milorganite which is processed sewage. Now this is excellent for lawns and flowers, although it is a bit smelly, but processed does not mean sterile so do not use it around anything you might eat. At the other end of the scale, you have stuff like MiracleGro. This soluble food is wonderful but you have to apply it frequently and boy does it get expensive. Something in between these 2 extremes will do, just follow instructions, do not overfeed, and be ready to water after feeding or you will burn your plants to a crisp. Note: time released fertilizers are not any better but they are more costly; the 1 advantage is, you don't have to be as concerned with watering immediately.

There are fine organic formula fertilizers and they are better for eco-systems. They dissolve slowly, so your feedings last longer. But, they are expensive unless you mix your own. I have done this; you just mix stuff like bone meal and manure, and a few other things, depending on what your soil needs. How do you know that? Send a soil sample to a agricultural agency, an agricultural college or even take it to a nursery. they will test it, often for free, and tell you just what to use. Important note: if you use manure, make sure you buy sterilized manure, otherwise it will stink and you will not want to eat the produce (it will likely contain a bunch of unpleasant bacteria).

Before you do any of this, I urge you to compost. Compost is organic matter and contains pretty much everything your plants will need, plus, it is cheap. If you plant in compost rich soil, there is an excellent chance you won't need any fertilizers and even if you do, you will need very little. Less work and less cost make for a happier gardener.