Soil amendments & fertilizers

[RodneyS]

People have their favorite sources of soil amendments & fertilizers.

What sources do you use?

[jcaldeira]

My favorite source of soil amendment and fertilizer is compost.  Four reasons:

  1) It contains a very broad range of plant nutrients, including micro-nutrients.

  2) It improves soil texture and drainage when mixed with soil.

  3) Inhibits weed growth when applied as a mulch.

  4) Usually free.

John

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I've been heavy on the espoma brand for macronutrients....and agripro, Turfpro, for all of my chelation and micronutritional needs.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Rabbit poop, cow poop and chicken poop ...they work wonders for them plants...well decomposed of course 

[Finca La Isla]

We are making biochar with a TLUD which is a steel drum fashioned into a charcoal maker.  We mostly use pruned branches and we activate the biochar with a microorganism culture and top dress it on the soil as an amendment. 
This is working really well for us.
Peter

[CTMIAMI]

Do you have instruction on how to set up the drum etc.

[ScottR]

Use mostly composted horse manure with my shredded pruning's s from property. On younger Avocado's and sub-tropical I also use triple 12 w/ minors to help push growth. :)My Orchard is all mulched well most of my 2.4 acres are mulched plus I let purple vetch and Calif. poppies grow after rains every year, then re-apply shredded vetch seed and stubble through out orchard ( shredded when dry).

[Mr. Clean]

The type of soil should play a role in selection of amendments.  I have sandy soil, so I add water crystals to encourage water retention.   A person with clay soils may have different amendment needs.  I previously used free compost as an amendment, but found the compost contained a lot of weeds, so I stopped using it.

[Finca La Isla]

Do you have instruction on how to set up the drum etc.



I have participated in some workshops to do with biochar and have built units which we use here on a daily basis when we have material to convert to char.  A drum full of pruned branches can convert to charcoal at a high temperature in about 2 hours with very little smoke.  Here is a site dedicated to this kind of activity.  http://www.biochar-international.org/technology/opensource  Also there is a video on Youtube called "El Dorado" that is very motivating if you are interested in converting poor soils to highly productive ones.
Peter

[DurianLover]

If you are in US, this website is one stop shop (minus chemicals with various NPK values). Gardener should feel like a kid in a candy store: http://www.groworganic.com/fertilizers.html
Besides traditional ones like manure, compost and vermicompost,  I would consider the following two as fantastic additions. Most importantly you can get them for free in most developing world tropics.
First is coconut coir. Get them from coconut vendors or coconut wholesale buying points. Coconut coir has numerous microelements (although in minimal quantities), encourages beneficial bacteria and stops harmful bacteria, has ideal neutral pH, excellent moisture retainer. Try to avoid coconuts from coconut water vendors as those contain hard shell which takes 20 years to decompose. Also avoid coconuts grown near the ocean as coir will have high sodium content.
Second one in fish emulsion. It has excellent NPK values with significant number of all three 3 elements plus some micronutrients. In most developing countries you can go to your daily or weekly markets and vendors will be happy to give all the unwanted stuff like fish heads, tails and internal organs. Brew a your own emulsion. Recipe here: http://www.farmcurious.com/brew-your-own-fish-emulsion-fertilizer/  I would also add minced moringa leaves. That should make one powerful steroid concoction!

[Mike T]

Mulch of all types in large amounts is probably the most useful amendment on all soil types. Amendments need to be tailored to what the soil needs in particular to make the most difference. Amending nutrient deficiencies, increasing soil biology, improving soil structure and having a more suitable pH are worth addressing with the right amendments.

[fruitlovers]

Fertilizer requirements will depend not only on type of soil and climate that you have, but also on location and size and type of your operation.
Here in far flung islands cost of almost all bagged fertilizers is prohibitive. Meaning that cost of fertilizer + cost of application will be higher than value added of output achieved.
Fertilizing a few potted plants for hobby growers is very different from fertilizing a whole farm.
I use expensive fertilizers, like slow release, only on very young potted plants and also when they are first planted into the ground. After that i move to mostly free materials, or very cheap materials. Free: grass clippings, wood chips, compost. When plants are obviously still hungry will add chicken manure and dolomite.
It's obvious now that only fertilizers that can really be worth applying at all stages of growth are foliar feeds. I still haven't gotten my sprayer or my act together, but know intuitively that it's the only way to go now. Foliars are a lot more efficient than ground application ferts. It's a challenge here to apply foliars with our high rainfall. Just have to get the timing really right.

[Guanabanus]

I fill heavy-duty construction-clean-up bags with dry leaves or fresh prunings, stack, and use after one-and-a-half years.  The bags must be stacked, usually two deep, in deep shade, or they must be well covered with palm fronds or other debris to keep sunlight from breaking the plastic bags into flakes.  The bags are 2/3 to 3/4 full, laid sideways, with mouth turned down but not tied or sealed.

This cool-process compost is excellent.  No turning is necessary, and the total amount of compost produced is more than from open piling, since less is lost to oxidation/evaporation, and none is lost to leaching.

Because of the very different materials that go into the different bags, say dry lychee leaves versus fresh elephant-ear leaves and stems, one empties them out thinly on the ground, with several layers from visibly different batches--- leaf mold compost to mucky compost to sandy loam compost (from pulled weeds)--- with some raking to even and mix, until about 3-4 inches deep, with branches or other border material to maintain the raised bed.  Plant vegetable liners (plugs), with organic fertilizer with bacterial and mycorrhizal inoculants in planting holes.   Topdress with 6-6-6 or 8-3-9  with micronutrients (and every month or two thereafter).  Mulch.  I like bamboo-leaf mulch.  I have very few weeds showing up in these beds.

As the slightly raised beds are over portions of the root zones of fruit trees(sunny area), they also benefit.

The bags can be re-used, two or three times, when well shaded.

[mikesid]

I fill heavy-duty construction-clean-up bags with dry leaves or fresh prunings, stack, and use after one-and-a-half years.  The bags must be stacked, usually two deep, in deep shade, or they must be well covered with palm fronds or other debris to keep sunlight from breaking the plastic bags into flakes.  The bags are 2/3 to 3/4 full, laid sideways, with mouth turned down but not tied or sealed.

This cool-process compost is excellent.  No turning is necessary, and the total amount of compost produced is more than from open piling, since less is lost to oxidation/evaporation, and none is lost to leaching.

Because of the very different materials that go into the different bags, say dry lychee leaves versus fresh elephant-ear leaves and stems, one empties them out thinly on the ground, with several layers from visibly different batches--- leaf mold compost to mucky compost to sandy loam compost (from pulled weeds)--- with some raking to even and mix, until about 3-4 inches deep, with branches or other border material to maintain the raised bed.  Plant vegetable liners (plugs), with organic fertilizer with bacterial and mycorrhizal inoculants in planting holes.   Topdress with 6-6-6 or 8-3-9  with micronutrients (and every month or two thereafter).  Mulch.  I like bamboo-leaf mulch.  I have very few weeds showing up in these beds.

As the slightly raised beds are over portions of the root zones of fruit trees(sunny area), they also benefit.

The bags can be re-used, two or three times, when well shaded.

Har, you use 8-3-9 in your raised vegetable garden? What are you growing?

[Guanabanus]

More often I have used cheap 6-6-6, but on several occasions have used 8-3-9.

Collards are by far the most successful; Lacinato Kale also does very well.  In late fall and winter Swiss Chard, Chinese Cabbage, Indian Mustard, and Arugula do very well.

[Kay]

First is coconut coir. Get them from coconut vendors or coconut wholesale buying points. Coconut coir has numerous microelements (although in minimal quantities), encourages beneficial bacteria and stops harmful bacteria, has ideal neutral pH, excellent moisture retainer. Try to avoid coconuts from coconut water vendors as those contain hard shell which takes 20 years to decompose. Also avoid coconuts grown near the ocean as coir will have high sodium content.

Coco is fantastic but a few notes from our experience.  In potted plants, mostly if it is not cut with much else, coco coir/powder (commercial kinds) is very easy to stay wet and become very anaerobic.  i lost lots of plants last year finding this out in the wet season. 

Coco is also good at cultivating some fungi.  but again the only real issues that arise is when its almost all coco which means container plants.  in ground it is a fantastic addition and using the un refined stuff that is cheap/free as a mulch is great.

Keep in mind though that coconut is host to a few potentially problematic fungus species, such as Ganoderma.  so using mulch around other susceptible tree species may be risky.