Fertilizer recomendations??

Ok, Hops are 3'+ and doing Great, but I've noticed that they aren't as Green leafed as last year, when I had ammendments to the soil (1st year).

So I was thinking I'd buy some fertilizer to add, but came accross other threads discussing Coffee grounds, fire ash, compost, etc to add. So as I have just turned my compost pile (grass, leaves only) last w/e. It got me to thinking, I should add my buckets of Coffee grounds and the wood stove ash buckets to the pile and turn.... let sit for a week or 2 then add to my Hop Mounds...

Granted I just chipped a whole bunch of limbs from winter wood harvesting and covered the Row with 4-6" of wood chips to keep down the weeds...

I'd like to know what others do for fertilizer or compost additions.

Cheers

I use Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes at 1/4 strength.

Compost is good, but it may be too late to add if you are all ready 3'. Plus, the wood chips, as I understand it from horticulturalist friends, will actually steal nitrogen from the soil as they decompose. So you may want to use some version of granulated fertilizer and do so fairly soon. Now is when they really need the nitrogen.

I use Ozmocote,a slow time-release fertilizer that is good for several months. Apply according to the directions on the package for tomatoes. I grow in containers set in the ground, sort of raised beds, they settle in the winter and I added enough potting soil to bring the soil back up to the top of the container. Compost will help a lot.

GVH_Dan said:

Compost is good, but it may be too late to add if you are all ready 3'. Plus, the wood chips, as I understand it from horticulturalist friends, will actually steal nitrogen from the soil as they decompose. So you may want to use some version of granulated fertilizer and do so fairly soon. Now is when they really need the nitrogen.

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Yep, wood chips need to be aged before you should apply them to garden beds. They will suck nitrogen (same as uncomposted leaves) from the soil.

Just go with a fertilizer that is veggie oriented that will be something like 10-15-10 or 18-18-21 (Miracle Grow veggie fert).

You could also augment with blood meal (something like 12-0-0) which has a high N content early in the year.

My neighbor lost his tree last year. The city came by and turned it into mulch which I dumped on my hops. Inside two weeks they were turning yellow and I was on the net scrambling to figure out what happened. The nitrogen deficit they are talking about. I had to amend to compensate for my amendment. Compost is great, but when it's good and done. I've never heard of the tomatoe thing, but it sounds like a good idea. Curious to see what others say.

I would buy a bag of basic all-purpose granular fert like 12-12-12 or 10-10-10. You can find it cheap and put a handful or two around each plant every 2 months or so. A couple waterings or rains later the slow release fert will dissolve into the soil.

I would also wait until the compost is good and ready and toss that on too. Maybe skip the next chem fert application and use the compost instead...

Hops are Nitrogen pigs...... you will always be trying to keep N high.

I use Miracle-grow in the watering system, approx every 2 weeks and use a general 12-12-12 or 10-10-10 at beginning of season. Compost is also added during season to help.

I keep meaning to find a high N fertilizer that I can buy cheaply.

As already said wood chips are NOT a good idea, I made the same mistake first year and am only now recovering 3 years later.

anybody know how long it takes for blood meal to work? some of mine started turning yellow and i tested the soil and it was depleted of nitrogen, so I added blood meal about a week ago and haven't seen any results yet. any ideas?

I was also thinking of planting my peas next to my hops this year since legumes (peas) help to fix nitrogen into soil. what do you guys think about this idea? I'm not the biggest gardener.

Zulu said:

. . . .
I keep meaning to find a high N fertilizer that I can buy cheaply. . . . .

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Straight nitrogen from CO-OP or some other agricultural service.

KevyWevy said:

anybody know how long it takes for blood meal to work? some of mine started turning yellow and i tested the soil and it was depleted of nitrogen, so I added blood meal about a week ago and haven't seen any results yet. any ideas?

I was also thinking of planting my peas next to my hops this year since legumes (peas) help to fix nitrogen into soil. what do you guys think about this idea? I'm not the biggest gardener.

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There is a long thread around here somewhere about companion plantings for both nutrient and beneficial insect attraction.

Peas, legumes, hairy vetch, clover, soy beans, etc etc etc can be used as a fall/winter cover crop, early spring pea crop, etc and that will help with nitrogen fixing.

Here is a whitepaper discussion on nitrogen fixation (in relation to New Mexico growers, but some good basic info if you haven't looked at this stuff before)

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/a-129.pdf

aquariumfertilizers.com has all the same ferts you find in miracle gro. stop paying for water and mix your own.

Franzi said:

aquariumfertilizers.com has all the same ferts you find in miracle gro. stop paying for water and mix your own.

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I buy the granules.

????

Zulu said:

Hops are Nitrogen pigs...... you will always be trying to keep N high.

I use Miracle-grow in the watering system, approx every 2 weeks and use a general 12-12-12 or 10-10-10 at beginning of season. Compost is also added during season to help.

I keep meaning to find a high N fertilizer that I can buy cheaply.

As already said wood chips are NOT a good idea, I made the same mistake first year and am only now recovering 3 years later.

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wood chips, shreded bark, is fine AS LONG as you compensate for them before you lay them down. I lay down compost first for the plants and then "seed" it with 10-10-10 slow release before the mulch. I have never burned a plant this way.

With the High N soluble stuff, might as well take a weed burner to them.

Hops take up nutrients in phases and don;t really utilize much nitrogen until they begin to leaf out prior to cone developement. this relates to June for most but your region may vary.

ALL of the statements about nitrogen are spot-on. In fact, in your composting of lawn grass and leaves, decomposition removes nitrogen, as well. It is a good idea to toss into a compost bin several handfuls of basic garden fertilizer several times over the growing season. The recommendations of 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 are also spot-on. If you increase the nitrogen too much, however, you will "burn" the plant and it will die. Use care and caution, and you and the hops should be good to go.

glenn514

but how long does nitrogen rich fert take to start working?

KevyWevy said:

but how long does nitrogen rich fert take to start working?

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As long as it takes to solubalize (sp) and reach the root system. As for burns, it's not so much about mobility as it is chemical burns.

I have seen plants respond to Nitrogen within 12 hours of application.

Yup, the effects of nitrogen on plants can often be seen quite quickly. Sprinkle a handful of 10-10-10 around the base of each plant, and water well. You should notice a change in 12-24 hours. DON'T, however, think that since some is good, more is better! Reapply a like amount of fertilizer in a couple of weeks, and water well. Various mulches can be applied, as well, to keep the soil temperature more even and help retain moisture. Once a fertilizing program has been set up, apply the material on top of the mulch. When the growing season ends, mix the mulch with the soil.

glenn514

glenn514 said:

When the growing season ends, mix the mulch with the soil.

glenn514

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This I don't do. I fail to see the point. Of course I am in Zone 7b where not only do I have to protect the roots from the heat but also the cold.

Instead, when I lay down the mulch I leave a bare soil ring around the base of most plants and in winter, after the plant has gone dormant and (if needed) been cut back, I then spread the mulch over that spot for a winter blanket. In spring I pull it back again or cultivate the soil and add mulch as needed.

glenn514 said:

Yup, the effects of nitrogen on plants can often be seen quite quickly. Sprinkle a handful of 10-10-10 around the base of each plant, and water well. You should notice a change in 12-24 hours. DON'T, however, think that since some is good, more is better! Reapply a like amount of fertilizer in a couple of weeks, and water well. Various mulches can be applied, as well, to keep the soil temperature more even and help retain moisture. Once a fertilizing program has been set up, apply the material on top of the mulch. When the growing season ends, mix the mulch with the soil.

glenn514

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so, if I put down some 12-0-0 blood meal over a week ago with a bit of rain every few days (Seattle area) and haven't seen any change in the yellowish color of the leaves, should I reapply more 12-0-0?

the plants that are having the yellowing problems are 6-10ft tall already this season with very thick bines. any ideas guys?

Ya, Gila...things are different in northern Illinois! And I don't usually turn the mulch under until spring!

Kevy...you said that you had "...a bit of rain every few days..." Water the soil AND your fertilizer thoroughly, and then check in 24 hours. You should see a change...but then again, things are different in northern Illinois!

Confession is always good for the soul. I did a WONDERFUL job of killing some transplanted raspberry plants...by using too much nitrogen! I did the same thing with a newly-planted privet hedge, but I saved the hedge by using an underground watering device, and literally flooding the nitrogen away from each plant.

glenn514

well the day i put down the blood meal down, it was 70* and i watered a little, then in the late afternoon it rained pretty hard as we had a storm roll through. it seems every other day its raining. so, its gotten plenty of water on all the plants and the fertilizer

so, what do you guys think? is this nitrogen deficiency?

I'm not 100% certain that the yellowing of the leaves is caused by a nitrogen deficiency. It could also be caused by an iron deficiency. You may want to "google"..."cause of yellow plant leaves," which will give you more information than you may want! Such a search may help you to determine exactly the problem and offer cures.

glenn514

my soil test kit didn't have an iron test. but it did say that it was depleted of N. But after adding blood meal about 2 weeks ago, I haven't seen any change. I'll look into the iron.

This is a good test for Miracle grow, which is already in an "immediately consummable" form. Blood meal is very slow release and breaks down over time.

Hit it up with a quick fert of miracle grow or urea-based product and see how it reacts.

Okay. Here's one. Anyone know the concentration of the solution in the MG liguafeed bottles?

I like the easy use of the applicator for the supplemental feeding of flower beds but wonder if it is feasible to re-fill the bottles as opposed to replacing them. Most oif the MD Ligua feed comes in 12-4-9 IIRC and I would like to use a 10-10-10 watere soluable instead. The other water feeder uses way too much product at a time.

Rudamentary looks show that one bottle feeds up to 500 square foot. quite a lot really.But, if I want to use the 10-10-10 singles in this rather than mixing each one up separately does that mean I have to use 50 singles packets and make a solution to fill this bottle?

1 singles packet is good for one gallon and 10 square foot. Such a chore for supplemental feeding when you have as many gardens as I do.

KevyWevy said:

so, what do you guys think? is this nitrogen deficiency?

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I'm starting to see the same yellowing on some of my bines, as well. One of my Cascades sent up 3 shoots. Two are a very nice, dark green. The third is a very pale yellow, and I cannot figure out why. The Cascade next to this one is starting to show the same thing.

I've only fertilized once, and since the other bines seem very healthy, I can't imagine it's from a deficiency.

Okay, so a friend of mine stopped by yesterday, and he's knowledgeable on all things farming (works at the County extension office).

He took one look and said it was a nitrogen deficiency. There were tell-tale brown spots forming along the veins under the leaves. Very odd since I fertilized last month. His recommendation was to skip the "every other month" instructions and go ahead and feed monthly until the soil gets itself straightened out.

The only thing he couldn't figure out is, why only 1 bine (out of 3) showed symptoms when they are all coming from the same rhizome?

I threw down some blood meal for each plant yesterday, and watered it in. Hopefully things will start improving.

Have any idea what the soil pH is. I forget if pH affect Nitrogen uptake or not but, it'd be something else to check.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Have any idea what the soil pH is. I forget if pH affect Nitrogen uptake or not but, it'd be something else to check.

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Well I just did a full panel of tests on the soil around the one showing the most problems.

The pH seemed pretty good at 6.8-7.0. The panel did Potash, and I didn't know if that mattered, but it was off the charts high, so that's good. Phosphate was in the Medium range. Now for the funny part.

Nitrogen was supposed to turn a pinkish hue. After 10-15 minutes of letting the soil slurry settle, the color was 100% clear! So there is almost no Nitrogen in my soil?!??! I'm guessing the mulch took most of it, and the hops may have drained off the rest as they got growing?

I put down blood meal yesterday, but I know that takes awhile. Should I risk some sort of fert-burn by putting something else on? What would you recommend?

MG Shake and Feed or Tomatoe at 1/2 strength. Maybe even the liqua feed stuff, guranteed not to burn. It's 12-4-8 so that fits with the test.