Fertilizer

OK...what and how much? I always hear 10-10-10 (all I could find was 12-12-12 at the nursery, no biggie) So mine are in 25 gal pots this year (first year) and I fed them one handful of the 12-12-12 tonight. My biggest question is how often do I do that? It's raining for the next day at least so I thought it was a good time. I've read you need to feed them until summer basically...right? Do I do this once a week or is that too much? Once every other week?

I feed one full handfull every 4 weeks just before rain typically.

12:12:12 just means 12% of each N:K , 10:10:10 means 10% of each.......

I sometimes get 17:17:17, I just buy a balanced fertiliser , based on my soil report.

The stuff I got for my hops (Miracle Grow for plants, vegetables, and trees 24-8-10) said I could do it once a week, but I am going to start with once or twice a month and then build up if I start to see a deficiency. I have been using an organic 10-2-8 but I dont want my hops to be deficient this year. The organic one is slow release over 3 months.

do some internet research on trace chemicals that have been found in hops as a result of using chemical fertilizer and then go buy some compost.

anderj said:

do some internet research on trace chemicals that have been found in hops as a result of using chemical fertilizer and then go buy some compost.

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Or make your own. I'm going to build a compost bin this spring.

I use "organic fertilizer" on my garden and beds from the lot where we feed our cattle all winter. Yummy!

Boodlemania said:

Or make your own. I'm going to build a compost bin this spring.

I use "organic fertilizer" on my garden and beds from the lot where we feed our cattle all winter. Yummy!

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How bout you ship some of that!

anderj said:

do some internet research on trace chemicals that have been found in hops as a result of using chemical fertilizer and then go buy some compost.

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+1

Heck yeah, I only use compost on everything, even on my grass. But especially something I will be drinking.

I do not ever use chems in my garden....compost is free if you work for it:fro:

yeah I just emptied my compost bin onto my fruit trees and garden, stuff is so rich and smells amazing.

Do you guys just have a bin/pile and turn it with a fork, or have some sort of barrel system? My simple "pile" system isn't working too well, and the barrel system is working but much slower than I thought it should. Also the leaves I'm trying to compost sometimes just clump up and don't compost in the barrels as I roll them.

conpewter said:

Do you guys just have a bin/pile and turn it with a fork, or have some sort of barrel system? My simple "pile" system isn't working too well, and the barrel system is working but much slower than I thought it should. Also the leaves I'm trying to compost sometimes just clump up and don't compost in the barrels as I roll them.

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I use a barrel style batch composter for most of my grass, leaves and vegetable waste. It does take a while to get started and depending on if your moving it (mine turns and rolls everything around), its kept damp, and the heat in your area can affect how fast or slow the composting goes.

Any direct links Anderj? Most of the stuff I found was in regards to the use of chemicals to kill pests on hops, which I do not use. Two of my hop plants are fed from the composter, but the last one is not.

Zulu said:

I feed one full handfull every 4 weeks just before rain typically.

12:12:12 just means 12% of each N:K , 10:10:10 means 10% of each.......

I sometimes get 17:17:17, I just buy a balanced fertiliser , based on my soil report.

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Thanks for the reply. Since I haven't heard anything else I'll go with the handful every four weeks or so. Do you do this all Summer or just spring time? I would be afraid of burning the plant when applying in the Summer.

SOB said:

Thanks for the reply. Since I haven't heard anything else I'll go with the handful every four weeks or so. Do you do this all Summer or just spring time? I would be afraid of burning the plant when applying in the Summer.

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I fertilized all year last year and didnt experience any bad effects. However, I was doing container growing and was a little nitrogen deficient during the growing process, so that might of been what leveled things out.

I fed 3 times before hop cone production, and then fed them after picking last year. And yes be aware of burning them, I tried to always feed before a summer storm/ rain, and once the rain missed us and I Had to hand water them to wash off the foliage, but still had a few light burn places

As for the organic comments, if you are truly that worried, I hope all your vegetables you eat are organic as I would be MUCH more worried about the 35 lbs or more veggies I eat yearly , than 2lbs of hops in my beer.

We practice a mixed method on our co-op, last year the pre season we applied well rotted mulch and compost, we also used horse manure , but it was so full of grass seeds we chose not to use it this year. We tried to get chicken poop , but the contact fell through. . As a group we agreed to use a balanced commercial fertiliser instead , and I used miracle grow once as well last year (will do same this year). We did use compost this year again pre season , and will apply more again this weekend . So it is a mixed policy , and as we will have around 110 bines now , not as easy as someone growing 4-6 in their back yard.

We have one vegan and another vegetarian in the co-op , so are aware of this, but have to be realistic on our very low cost operation. (Total investment is still under $2,000 with 16 members, with expected return of that capital by next year)

Zulu said:

I fed 3 times before hop cone production, and then fed them after picking last year.

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What's the reason to feed after picking?

Zulu said:

I
As for the organic comments, if you are truly that worried, I hope all your vegetables you eat are organic as I would be MUCH more worried about the 35 lbs or more veggies I eat yearly , than 2lbs of hops in my beer.

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+20, but some foods are more important than others (Avocados VS Strawberries)

Also, I have my own chickens so the contact never seems to fall through although sometimes I wish it would. For small scale commercial production (5-10 acre) of organic hops with no chemical fertilizer check out this PDF:
http://www.crannogales.com/HopsManual.pdf
it is a bit of a read but is a really cool production up in BC

-Ander

I use one handful for a week, and waits for the rain. Well, Ive got some idea running in my mind, I m thinking of making compost bin, this summer.