Organic Gardening of Tropical Fruit

[zands]

I do add a very small amount of liquid soap to my sprays to act as a sticker. We don't have the same kind of alkaline soils here as in Florida, so don't have the iron problems here.
Oscar

Many thanks on that plus I just did so to my foliar spray.  You jogged my memory, I must dig up my old copy of  Secrets of the Soil http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Soil-Solutions-Restoring-Planet/dp/1890693243/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2  It had lots on foliar feeding plus a lot of subtle energy stuff you can find on the Acres USA bookshelf

[sultry_jasmine_nights]

I have been slowly trying to go organic. The year before I sprayed only twice and this past year I didn't spray anything at all. We have lots of compost from our chicken coops (they are cooped at night and free range most of the day) and we built some vermicompost bins underneath our rabbit hutches last summer to start worm composting. It is working out pretty well so far. The worst thing I get here, are the fire ants getting into my pots. I read some good things to try on the thread about ants so I will be trying that out next time they start up.

[zands]

I do add a very small amount of liquid soap to my sprays to act as a sticker. We don't have the same kind of alkaline soils here as in Florida, so don't have the iron problems here.
Oscar

Just added some soap to my foliar mix so thanks a lot. Very interesting how you rate foliar feeding superior to ground feeding. But of course you are adding tons of humus via wood chips so this takes care of a lot of ground feeding and fertilization.

[adiel]

For fruit trees, it depends on the soil type.  For example some places have very rich soil.  These places it will be easier to do organic "fruiting".  Other places have high alkalinity soil, on those places iron is needed as an additive.  Until they don't come out with a reliable source for "organic iron", you really cant say you are growing tropical fruit trees organically in such places that have an iron deficiency. 

For vegetables, its a different matter, you can be organic pretty much anywhere.  This is why you hear the term "Organic Gardening" referring to vegetables.

Adiel

Come on, organic gardening only refers to vegetables? Why is it then there are all kinds of fruits grown and certified organically grown. While it's certainly true that some soils tend themselves more to growing fruits than others it's also true that any place can produce organic fruits. Some fruits will be a lot easier to grow than others in difficult soils.
Oscar

Oscar, it would be nice to have your soil here in Florida.  We could do alot of organic "fruiting". 

Adiel

[natsgarden123]

All you need to do is take some laxative and use your yard as a toilet.. 

In my backyard, this happens...we actually have an "out house"-- Ill post a picture-the former owner put it up and used it as a garbage can holder- It has a sign on it, Nuclear Bomb Shelter.. its been there since 1978 and is a riot

Anyway, as far as burying the scraps goes-I wasnt kidding:  I actually put a whole lot of the scraps in a bag and bury in the ground. I put the vegetable planting mix ( peat moss, compost and some other stuff) on top. It works-my tomatoes grow amazingly well.!!










 

[MangoFang]

Yes, I'd recently read somewhere that Foliar Spraying is MUCH more efficient at getting nutrients
into a tree's system than laying the same fertilizer on the ground.  A bit more work, perhaps, but then again, if you've got the 2 gal sprayer already filled with liquid worm poop, then one can cover a lot of trees, I would think.  I just like the idea of soil that is alive and feeding the roots.

So, was it Zands and Fruitlovers who both feel that Worm Castings are not enough to only use as the NPK ingredients, especially the nitrogen?  Well that's interesting because wasn't it Dr. Campbell who said he ONLY uses Potassium to feed established plants.

Anyone know the NPK component of worm castings....well....let me look it up right now....
OH, and a very interesting article came with that info:


Worm castings are basically the same as 'normal' compost. However, it is thought that worm castings have several benefits over plain ole' compost.

The nutrients in worm castings have exceptionally high availability for the plants, so that while the numbers on analysis sheets may appear low, worm castings make for nutrient rich diet for plants.

Worm castings provide a very good structure to the soil, thanks to the mucus coating that the worms provide and because of high humus content. Thus mucus coating also keeps the nutrients available, providing natures own slow-release nutrients. Worm castings also retains water very well.

Worm castings are thought to contain a chitinaze-enzyme, a enzyme that melts the chitin that most insects exo-skeleton is made of. This means worm castings acts as a pest repellent/pesticide, and possibly can even trigger chitinaze production in plants, too.

Worm castings also have strong and live beneficial bacterial populations. These bacterial populations will act as a line of defense against pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Worm castings' nutrient content depends on the diet the worms have been fed with.

To answer with a quote:
"Analysis of earthworm casting reveals that they are richer in plant nutrients than the soil, about three times more calcium and several times more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium." (K.P. Barley, Advances in Agronomy, Vol. 13, 1961, p. 251)

Usually plain worm castings made from variety of organic waste will support plant growth without additional nutrients for some weeks (3 to 5 weeks), although my experience is nitrogen and magnesium supplement doesnt hurt (with a N & Mg greedy plant).

The worms will consume nutrients from the waste, naturally, into their bodies. This is not lost however, as the worms themselves make an excellent fertilizer (NPK 10-1-1 with high calcium and magnesium).

Worm casting NPK numbers found on the internet range from NPK 3-2-2 to 0.5-0.1-0.1. Worm castings also usually contains high levels of other macronutrients and micronutrients, and while the three main nutrient levels may appear low, there is usually plenty of micronutrients in worm castings, and the general nutrient availability is high.

But again, this depends on what feed the worm castings was made with.

Here are two analyses of different vermicomposts:

Parameters: Eisenia foetida - Perionyx excavatus - FYM
pH: 7.40 - 7.00 - 7.200
Organic Carbon (%): 27.43 - 30.31 - 12.20
Total nitrogen (%): 0.60 - 0.66 - 0.55
Total phosphate (%): 1.34 - 1.93 - 0.75
Total potassium (%): 0.40 - 0.42 - 2.30
C: N ratio: 45.70 - 45.90 - 24.4


Here's the page it came from, which contains more How-To info as well:  http://www.420magazine.com/forums/how-grow-marijuana/71705-worm-farming-basics.html


MangoEyeTooth

[phantomcrab]

For those of you that live in alkaline areas, try sprinkling used coffee grounds around your plants to lower the pH. The grounds are acidic.

[fruitlovers]

For fruit trees, it depends on the soil type.  For example some places have very rich soil.  These places it will be easier to do organic "fruiting".  Other places have high alkalinity soil, on those places iron is needed as an additive.  Until they don't come out with a reliable source for "organic iron", you really cant say you are growing tropical fruit trees organically in such places that have an iron deficiency. 

For vegetables, its a different matter, you can be organic pretty much anywhere.  This is why you hear the term "Organic Gardening" referring to vegetables.

Adiel

Come on, organic gardening only refers to vegetables? Why is it then there are all kinds of fruits grown and certified organically grown. While it's certainly true that some soils tend themselves more to growing fruits than others it's also true that any place can produce organic fruits. Some fruits will be a lot easier to grow than others in difficult soils.
Oscar

Oscar, it would be nice to have your soil here in Florida.  We could do alot of organic "fruiting". 

Adiel

Oh, you will be very surprised when you get my soil in the moil. It is 99% hard lava rock!
Oscar

[Saltcayman]

I agree with Oscar. I happen to be growing on a small island with depleted laterite soil over limestone and very low rainfall. Organic permaculture techniques like lasagna mulching and grey water irrigation have really worked well. Water and resources are scarce so I use seagrass, ironwood needles and wood chips made from cats claw acacia to mulch everything and I have started adding minerals and sulphur to the soil. Have been able to get a long list of drought tolerant varieties started. Now I have to learn how to get them to fruit:)