What do I feed my veg???

[chicky]

Hi guys. I am growing roots,brassicas and others, such as toms and lettuce. I have used fertiliser in my plot(and am waiting a week before I plant out) but what do I do once everything is planted? I also have toms in a bucket that are growing very nicely. Is there just one type of feed I can use for everything? Apart from watering them all i am clueless.

[madderbat]

Hi Chicky
As a relative newby myself I hardly fed anything last year, just put manure underneath them, and we got crops off most plants.
This year I hope to do a bit better by watering more often, and feeding tomatoes once in a while.

Other grapes will be along in a bit with more experienced advice.

[Bex]

I bought a bag of GrowOrganic today, it was recommended by the people on my lottie site. Its a general fertilizer that is supposed to be fantastic. It was £4.80 I think for a big bag. You just put a bit in the whole before you plant and sprinkle round the top.

I'm new to this too so I can't comment on the results.

[goddess]

i soaked some of that groworganic in a bottle and made it into manure tea.i have watered some of the pots in the green house(diluted to about 1/10)it looks like they enjoyed it.g

[roitelet]

It's Free!!!!!! How about trying some Nettle or Comfrey stock?

[vegman]

Ive posted this once but dont know where its gone! so Ill do it again and hope for the best.

Try Maxicrop Original Seaweed extract if you grow organic or Maxicrop plus complete garden feed. Both liquid feeds applied by watering can, both can be used evreywhere in the garden and on Toms. Liquid feeding is applied when the plants are growing either to the roots or as a foliar feed to the leaves giving a boost to growth. use especialy on crops that 'come again' once cut or picked. You can give your lawn a blast too if you enjoy mowing!

[Two_Sheds]

Think creation not consumption...grow your own fertiliser. £4.80 for GrowOrganic? What about 150p for a comfrey plant that will provide you with free fertiliser for years? I got mine off eBay, brilliant plant...its got more potassium (for fruit and flowers) than horse muck

[andrewo]

Plant some comfrey in a pot and you'll have enough feed for the season.

[rustylady]

If your soil is in good condition you shouldn't need supplementary fertilisers.

[bramble]

I rake in growmore granuals and chicken pellets at the beginning of the season. I use tomorite and/or nettle feed which I make myself for my toms and peppers.

[chicky]

I have to be honest but before I joined GYO I have never heard of comfrey and still dont know what it is!!!! lol

[Flummery]

Useful plant chicky. Its old name is knitbone. It produces a lot of mucous which dries quite hard so it was used on bandages to hold a limb firmly in place when setting broken bones. (So I'm told - even I'm not that old!) It grows vigorously in the wild, though I suspect it's usually an escape. In any case, you really need the 'tamer' variety so you don't spend your remaining days digging it up and throwing it away!

[Raised Beds]

Nettle brew worked wonders for my pumpkins last year.

The way to prepare it is to fill a bucket with lid with nettle leaves and cover with water. 'Brew' for 2/3 weeks to achieve an aroma. Use 1 to ten to water your vegs.
Some say water first and then feed with nettle water. This is to prevent burning the roots in dry wheather.

[Paulottie]

Mud glorious mud

Rustylady seems to have the answer. An old boy told me when I started that I should "feed the soil not the plant." If you soil is in good song, then it will reward you well.

In your rotation, and preferably in autumn, add muck for one or two years, lime the next(b4 brassicas) and fertilizer/ nothing the fourth(b4 roots). Never lime and manure in the same year. The compost/muck/leafmould adds structure the lime helps plants take up the nutrients. You can get soil testing kits if in doubt.

Comfrey or nettle stew is fab (esp. 4 toms/fruits) but smelly (activate with a little personal liquid fertilizer and dilute to apply) or just line you planting hole with some leaves(esp. 4 spuds). Maxicrop is also fab stuff. spray everything once a month. (good trace elements esp. magnesium) I have also made seaweed stew for this, in a similar way to comfrey/nettle but it smells even worse!!!

Of course container plants will need feeding as the nutrients are leeched out by watering. Winter rains have a similar effect- which is why some grow green manures to tie up the nutrients for the winter while adding structure- hungarian rye or peas are good.

The general principle is Nitrogen( eg. blood/decayed matter) for leaves; Potassium, called potash, for flowers/fruit(eg. woodash); phosporous(eg. bonemeal) for rootgrowth but a balance is necessary. It is unwise to overfeed or try to overcompensate for an inbalance. Blood fish and bone is the slightly more expensive and green and groovy option to growmore (depending on your views) as a general fertilizer. Chicken guano (eg.6X) has higher nitrogen great for cabbages. Tomerite etc. great for any fruits

Hope this helps. its not that easy a subject to explain in a nutshell and without getting too scintific/dull.

[Waffler]

Thanks Paul for the tip about putting nettle leaves in a trench before planting potatoes - I'll give that a go.
Did the whole nettle soup (for the plants) last year - stinks to high heaven!!