Fertilizer is essential to growing healthy vegetables, yet selecting the appropriate feed can be daunting. Understanding which nutrients your crop requires helps narrow down your options.
Organic fertilizers such as compost, manure and fish emulsion make organic vegetable gardens particularly easy. Their slow release of nutrients ensures plants get exactly the nourishment they require over time – without excess nutrients leaching away into waterways.
Worm Castings
Worm castings are an extremely beneficial soil amendment that offers multiple advantages to both soil and plants alike. Worm castings provide minerals, microbes which unlock nutrients for plants, suppress disease and pests and improve soil structure in order to increase airflow and moisture retention.
As worms digest organic matter, they transform it into a humus-like substance rich in nutrients, microbes and beneficial fungi that is released back into plant roots and soil as they break down their food source. Furthermore, microbes help break down plant material so plants can more readily absorb these essential nutrients.
An intestinal canal of a worm also transforms organic materials into slow-release fertilizer thanks to the protective mucus coating that lines its alimentary canal, unlike chemical fertilizers which tend to be both expensive and harmful to the environment. Worm castings offer both cost savings and environmental benefits over their counterparts.
Note that worm castings differ significantly from compost, and should never be applied full strength to your garden or soil. Too much of this slow-releasing nutrient-rich manure could harm plants or soil through too much nitrogen entering the environment – hence why a proper soil test must always be completed prior to adding any type of manure or compost to it.
If you do use worm castings, it is advisable to add small amounts at each planting, usually 2 cups for every inch of tree caliper (e.g. for large tomato plants this could require 4 or 5 cups). These worm castings can then be mixed in your existing soil or added directly into potting mixes; additionally you could top dress trees and shrubs using this mixture by spreading it across the ground, spreading around their base trunk, up to the drip line of their branch etc.
Blood Meal
Blood meal is an outstanding organic source of nitrogen. It rapidly increases soil levels while simultaneously helping to regulate pH balance in soil conditions. Perfect for heavy feeders like leafy greens, corn, berries squash melons and tomatoes and works great as an additive fertilizer to promote fruiting and flowering of these plants.
Blood meal should be applied early and as needed throughout the growing season, especially with legumes (beans and peas) and brassicas, which act as natural “nitrogen fixers” and do not need extra nitrogen input.
Blood meal’s primary advantage lies in its high nitrogen content; it provides an inexpensive and easy way to provide your garden with quick nutritional boost. In addition, its strong scent may deter rabbits, squirrels and deer.
Blood meal offers another advantage in that it adds essential micronutrients such as phosphorus and calcium to the soil, essential micronutrients for your vegetables. Both blood meal and bone meal are slow-release organic fertilizers which will gradually improve the quality of your vegetable garden over time. Restoring nutrients that have been depleted over time from gardening beds that are used repeatedly is the focus of both of these products, which are available from major garden centers and big box stores. Be sure to follow the nutrient recommendations from your soil test when adding amendments, especially nitrogen fertilizers, as too much can harm vegetables. They can also serve as compost boosters by mixing with hay, straw or alfalfa in your compost pile; just ensure you let manure compost for at least nine months first before using it in your vegetable garden.
Compost
Organic material like manure and compost provide valuable sources of nutrition for vegetable gardens, so when worked into soil prior to planting it can help fertilize vegetables. However, for optimal results supplemental fertilizers should also be added throughout the growing season based on soil tests; recommended rates will depend on which vegetable varieties are being grown and whether too much nitrogen or phosphorus causes chlorosis in plants.
Homemade compost can be easily created from food scraps, yard waste and leaves – it makes an excellent natural fertilizer that improves soil condition while adding valuable microorganisms to a garden. Add it directly into your soil before planting or as a side dressing on deficient vegetable plants. Comfrey tea also makes a fantastic homemade plant fertilizer; steep it with water for 10-20 minutes for optimal fruiting vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers!
Inorganic fertilizers, on the other hand, are made up of nonliving materials mined or synthesized from nonliving sources and then applied directly to plants through water-soluble solutions that quickly reach them; however, their overuse can be dangerous to both soil health and plant life. Organic fertilizers tend to take longer but offer greater long-term benefits.
When applying granular fertilizers, it’s essential to follow the directions on their labels for use. Over-fertilizing can harm plants as well as pollute water bodies. For optimal results, applying the fertilizer either in the evening or early morning before rain may wash it away is recommended; any spilled fertilizer on hard surfaces such as driveways and sidewalks should also be raked up as soon as it comes into contact with hard surfaces such as driveways or sidewalks should also be rake up and any loose particles should also be swept after using liquid fertilizers.
Fish Emulsion
When planting vegetables, your soil must be rich with essential vitamins and minerals to support plant health. Organic manures and fertilizers will ensure your vegetables receive all they require for strong and healthy growth – an excellent organic choice is fish emulsion; an easily applied liquid plant food packed with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that quickly starts feeding them back.
Fish emulsion is a dark brown, highly concentrated liquid produced as a by-product of the fishing industry. Composed from ground up by-catch such as heads, tails, blood and innards that would otherwise be discarded, fish emulsion allows oceanic nutrients to return back into terrestrial ecosystems again.
Organic fertilizers like this one are easy to use, from using it as a soil drench or spray application, all the way through adding it to compost piles. Because it contains high levels of nitrogen, it makes an excellent choice for leafy green vegetables and other fast-growing crops; however, for root vegetables it may be too strong of an application; to start out slowly before increasing dose frequency gradually.
Be sure to adhere to the application instructions on the fertilizer package, as overeager or frequent applications of fertilizer can cause fertilizer burn and harm the plant. Soil testing kits are readily available online and will give a breakdown of N-P-K content of your soil, identifying any deficiencies which need addressing.
Manure
Growing vegetables at home is an enjoyable hobby that offers its devotees numerous advantages: aesthetic pleasure, physical activity and family fun – as well as a sense of pride at seeing their hard work pay off. But to thrive successfully, plants require oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and an ideal soil to support their development – such as one rich with organic matter like compost or manure or fish emulsion for optimal success.
Used properly, manure can provide a significant source of nitrogen and other essential plant nutrients, helping improve soil structure while increasing drainage for greater nutrient availability. Plus it’s easily available and cost-effective making it a smart economical option for gardeners!
For optimal vegetable gardening results, the ideal manure consists of well-rotted animal dung mixed with bedding material such as straw or wood shavings, then aged for at least six months – and ideally more – so its beneficial components such as bacteria and fungi can breakdown into usable form. Never use cat, dog, or pig manure as this may contain parasites that cause foodborne illness.
Organic matter or synthetic fertilizers provide essential soil nutrition, but understanding what each vegetable crop requires from its soil is key to its success. A heavy application of manure may be too rich for leafy greens like lettuce, spinach and kale that require lighter soil with more moisture content. A granular all-purpose feed such as Miracle Gro Shake ‘N Feed Tomato, Fruit & Vegetable Plant Food (10-5-15) provides all of these vital nutrients – perfect for fruiting vegetables!