Lets talk Artificial Fertilizers

[moonraker]

Now i am really talking to those new to gardening rather than the old hands "But" maybe one or two things i am about to talk about may just be to the older hands advantage,

We talked about not planting anything until the soil is able to feed your bought plants/Shrubs etc yesterday,
And i hope the message got home it is not gardening to just plant a healthy plant into the soil and wonder why it died,

There are no such thing as green finger gardeners, (Anyone with green fingers needs to seek medical advice)
Gardening is not that much different to human's when it comes to what we need to live a healthy life,
Lets look at what we need, (1) air (2) light (3) water (4) warmth (5) food, Plants need all these things just like we do,
We talked about how the insects helped fertilize the soil, Humus and what it did, Lime for improving the PH Scale of the soil
And we talked about Animal manure (Cow/horse/ Pig /sheep / chicken & bird manure,
But did not go a little further ref these manures,
It is not as easy as it once was to get farm manure / Or stable manure as it once was, And a new fact ref cow manure is that the Laws have changed and cows can no longer be kept in the same fields year in year out with out the field being empty of the cows for one year, It was found the grass & ground was becoming infected due to the being there so often without the land being able to recover,
Plus modern day winter feeding of the cows was the cause of mad cow, So it is no wonder the manure is not as available as it once was and the modern hobby gardener would not have the space to store manure, plus cow manure must be covered to keep it's strength , this if store near housing has be considered a health hazard,
All this brings us to home made compost (we talked about this yesterday) But Artificial Fertilizers are needed to give the plant what they need to grow healthy and give the best results,
Lets look at the three most used,
Now for what we call the leaf plants such as Lettuce /cabbage, etc we need Nitrate of Soda, the (N) on the bags of compost is Nitrate
and the leaf plants need this Artificial fertilizer "but the plant feeds from the root system" So water this feed around the base of the plant so the feed soaks into the earth, if you water the leaf area you can cause the watered area to yellow the plant
Sulphate of Ammonia
The time to use this (as per the instructions on the Pkt) is the spring time, Now this ARTIFICIAL Fertilizer can be mixed with other fertilizers and spread over the soil or watered into the soil, it can be mixed with Superphosphate & Sulphate of potash,

Potash again can be bought in pkt and is yet another Artificial Fertilizer that is good for Rose's and again can be added to the sulphate's
What we are doing here is making are own manures, Manures we can buy from the garden centers /Supermarkets and your feeding you plants with what they need, Without the concern of trying to get bulk farm yard manure delivered and stored,

We have the likes of Bone meal powdered for the slow feeding of shrubs/roses that are to be planted, the bone meal is spread around the root system and acts as a slow feed,
The point is know what your planting and what the plant needs and by using the Artificial feeds your giving the plant what it needs,
When buying bags of compost you should see the letters on the bag telling you what the compost is made up of, N/P/S ETC
Well a little bit more regarding the soil/feeding the plant/ And what each fertilizer is about,

 

[Meadowlark]

So many things I strongly disagree with in the above post directed at "new gardeners."

... And a new fact ref cow manure is that the Laws have changed and cows can no longer be kept in the same fields year in year out with out the field being empty of the cows for one year...

That is completely bogus info as related to the USA and the World's leading cattle producing country. I am not aware of any such law in Texas and in fact cannot even imagine it seriously considered.

...
Plus modern day winter feeding of the cows was the cause of mad cow,

Again, bogus information. The disease is believed to be due to an infection by a misfolded protein, known as a prion. Cattle are believed to have been infected by being fed meat-and-bone meal that contained either the remains of cattle who spontaneously developed the disease or scrapie-infected sheep products. Since protections/restrictions on feed have been put in place, the disease is considered virtually eradicated. For example, four cases were reported worldwide in 2017.

... Artificial Fertilizers are needed to give the plant what they need to grow healthy and give the best results,

I haven't used artificial fertilizers in decades to grow garden veggies. I submit my produce is far superior in taste and nutrition to any grown with artificial fertilizer. My soil consistently tests out "No N-P-K required" with nutrient density scores above 94%...all without artificial fertilizers.

... this(composted manure) if store near housing has be considered a health hazard,

I beg to differ. If the animal manure is properly composted, there is no hazard to health!

...The point is know what your planting and what the plant needs and by using the Artificial feeds your giving the plant what it needs, ...

Concentrating on plant needs rather than on healthy soil is completely 180 deg opposite from my successful gardening technique and I might add to millions and millions of others who practice organic gardening and associated spin-off gardening techniques which do NOT rely on artificial fertilizers, and which DO concentrate on healthy soil.

 

[moonraker]

First the mad cow, was because of feed given to the cow"s 'you've just said that,
The reason we rotate crops is because some crops take more out of the ground than others hence you need to put crops that take less from the ground but to keep the soil fertile & not go back to when you first in proved the soil from Un worked soil to the now improved condition of the "this soil needs to be topped up and depending on the new rotated crop depends on what fertilizer you use, your giving the soil some of what you have taken out for the lesser hungry plants,
Its like taking cash out of the bank "if you just take and put nothing back you become poor" So will the soil if you keep taking and putting nothing back,
I took the effort to say the moving of animals from field to field is because both it was found the land was suffering due to the grass etc not being able to reach the correct grade to give the animal the correct feed and in fact the ground was suffering because what was being taken out and nothing going back into the ground,
You say sheep suffered from scapie and since restricted protections & restrictions have taken place this disease has been eradicated !!!!
What do you think they powers to be are doing by using Artificial added fertilizer to the soil?
The changes in Law ref not keeping cattle in the same fields year after year may not be in TEXAS i do not live in the USA
But here in France Ireland & the UK It is the changed law and after the mad cow deaths people in the farming world decided what was good and what was not,

 

[Tetters]

@moonraker It really didn't take very long for you to start causing trouble again, did it. Although you think you ''know it all'' even I recognise that you most certainly have a very restricted understanding of the subject of gardening.
If you are seemingly intent on this awful attitude I imagine your time on here will be as cut short as it has been on other forums. It might be a good idea to try and curb your comments a bit and give well informed and proved experienced gardeners here a bit more respect. You are asking for yet another ban if you are not careful.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Generally I would agree with what Meadowlark says.
Regarding manure, it is worth being careful with your sourcing, some modern weedkillers used on grass go straight through the animals eating it, we have heard from more than one gardener who has had their garden destroyed for two or three years until it finally breaks down.

 

[big rockpile]

I've been reading about Natural Teas. For years I've used synthetic Fertilizer without realizing what it was doing.

Right now I'm using Organic Fertilizer and have Compost and Cover Crops.

We have Chickens and Rabbits for Manuer.

big rockpile

 

[Tetters]

I've been reading about Natural Teas. For years I've used synthetic Fertilizer without realizing what it was doing.

Right now I'm using Organic Fertilizer and have Compost and Cover Crops.

We have Chickens and Rabbits for Manuer.

big rockpile

I think that chicken poo needs to be left for at least a year before putting that on the cabbages. You don't want them overcooked before they've even seen a saucepan.

 

[roadrunner]

Now i am really talking to those new to gardening rather than the old hands "But" maybe one or two things i am about to talk about may just be to the older hands advantage,

We talked about not planting anything until the soil is able to feed your bought plants/Shrubs etc yesterday,
And i hope the message got home it is not gardening to just plant a healthy plant into the soil and wonder why it died,

There are no such thing as green finger gardeners, (Anyone with green fingers needs to seek medical advice)
Gardening is not that much different to human's when it comes to what we need to live a healthy life,
Lets look at what we need, (1) air (2) light (3) water (4) warmth (5) food, Plants need all these things just like we do,
We talked about how the insects helped fertilize the soil, Humus and what it did, Lime for improving the PH Scale of the soil
And we talked about Animal manure (Cow/horse/ Pig /sheep / chicken & bird manure,
But did not go a little further ref these manures,
It is not as easy as it once was to get farm manure / Or stable manure as it once was, And a new fact ref cow manure is that the Laws have changed and cows can no longer be kept in the same fields year in year out with out the field being empty of the cows for one year, It was found the grass & ground was becoming infected due to the being there so often without the land being able to recover,
Plus modern day winter feeding of the cows was the cause of mad cow, So it is no wonder the manure is not as available as it once was and the modern hobby gardener would not have the space to store manure, plus cow manure must be covered to keep it's strength , this if store near housing has be considered a health hazard,
All this brings us to home made compost (we talked about this yesterday) But Artificial Fertilizers are needed to give the plant what they need to grow healthy and give the best results,
Lets look at the three most used,
Now for what we call the leaf plants such as Lettuce /cabbage, etc we need Nitrate of Soda, the (N) on the bags of compost is Nitrate
and the leaf plants need this Artificial fertilizer "but the plant feeds from the root system" So water this feed around the base of the plant so the feed soaks into the earth, if you water the leaf area you can cause the watered area to yellow the plant
Sulphate of Ammonia
The time to use this (as per the instructions on the Pkt) is the spring time, Now this ARTIFICIAL Fertilizer can be mixed with other fertilizers and spread over the soil or watered into the soil, it can be mixed with Superphosphate & Sulphate of potash,

Potash again can be bought in pkt and is yet another Artificial Fertilizer that is good for Rose's and again can be added to the sulphate's
What we are doing here is making are own manures, Manures we can buy from the garden centers /Supermarkets and your feeding you plants with what they need, Without the concern of trying to get bulk farm yard manure delivered and stored,

We have the likes of Bone meal powdered for the slow feeding of shrubs/roses that are to be planted, the bone meal is spread around the root system and acts as a slow feed,
The point is know what your planting and what the plant needs and by using the Artificial feeds your giving the plant what it needs,
When buying bags of compost you should see the letters on the bag telling you what the compost is made up of, N/P/S ETC
Well a little bit more regarding the soil/feeding the plant/ And what each fertilizer is about,

If your intent was to give some new gardeners some helpful advice, I recommend giving it another try. I don't understand your point around the title of this thread, Artificial Fertilizers.

Also, most of what you're saying is too generalized.

 

[Tetters]

If your intent was to give some new gardeners some helpful advice, I recommend giving it another try. I don't understand your point around the title of this thread, Artificial Fertilizers.

Also, most of what you're saying is too generalized.

Or maybe wait a bit to see if a new gardener is that thick, and try to give a suitable answer if they ask

 

[big rockpile]

I think that chicken poo needs to be left for at least a year before putting that on the cabbages. You don't want them overcooked before they've even seen a saucepan.

Well have a bunch Composted down and one Bin Composting.

big rockpile

 

[moonraker]

If your intent was to give some new gardeners some helpful advice, I recommend giving it another try. I don't understand your point around the title of this thread, Artificial Fertilizers.

Also, most of what you're saying is too generalized.

To put it in a simple way,
Once your soil is being used to grow anything flowers/veg you are using up the soils goodness and this needs topping up by using what is called Artificial fertilizers ,These are tested and are to be used to give the best results for root & / Leaf plants, As i said the use of farm manure is not in every small gardeners good, both the storage for a start of any large manure delivery, (if you can get it) and i pointed out (For those new to gardening the problems farm manure has come to the notice of the more experienced gardener's I feel the novice would not know about these problems and so I explained to them and the new Laws in the UK/IRELAND/ FRANCE ETC Regarding the movement of cow's and why,
I went on to explain the Artificial Fertilizers do the job in a lot cleaner way and to some extent safer way,

If you can not understand my explanation & why i spent the time putting the new to the gardening world then perhaps you did not know half of what I said yourself ?
Every packet of food you buy has a break down of what the food contains "Why" because a lot of people are allergic to some food and the make up of food (Nut's for example) Nothing new these days in knowing what the Chemical content in the food packet,
When it comes to animal manure and the problems we have experienced "No matter who was to blame" surly it is good to know you have a safer choice of how you grow your food ? And what your about to eat ?

America is the leading country for over weight young people, And this is because of what they eat and the contents in the food, (True or not true? )
The amount of obesity people in America is far greater than that in most countries , Only in later life when the results of not taking care of themselves will they suffer from the effects of not taking the warning,
To put it in a way I am sure everyone will understand "You are what you eat" And when the warnings are given by those who's job it is to make sure we are eating safe food's and make Laws regarding how long any Animal that is used for the food chain (Including the Animals manure) can use a field, Then that is enough for me,

I'll say one more thing regarding the use of Artificial Fertilizer's, How many people buy TOMATO FEED from the store's /Garden centers for greenhouse use ? OR do they have cow manure piled up in the greenhouse !!!!! Fly's and all ??

Do not shoot the whistle blower, This Information was intended for those new to gardening, And hoping they will enjoy gardening & live to tell the tale.

 

[Meadowlark]

...The reason we rotate crops is because some crops take more out of the ground than others hence you need to put crops that take less from the ground but to keep the soil fertile & not go back to when you first in proved the soil from Un worked soil to the now improved condition of the "this soil needs to be topped up and depending on the new rotated crop depends on what fertilizer you use, your giving the soil some of what you have taken out for the lesser hungry plants,
Its like taking cash out of the bank "if you just take and put nothing back you become poor" So will the soil if you keep taking and putting nothing back,

Perhaps the longest compound run-on sentence I've ever attempted to read.

You might find these experiments of interest, both without artificial fertilizers:

Soil Replenishment in drought and high heat and high humidity | Gardening Forums (gardening-forums.com)

Small scale demonstration of biodynamic farming, soil replenishment, cover cropping, crop rotation, permaculture, polyculture, and organic gardening | Gardening Forums (gardening-forums.com)

...
The changes in Law ref not keeping cattle in the same fields year after year may not be in TEXAS i do not live in the USA
But here in France Ireland & the UK It is the changed law ...

I used AI to search for this law in France, Ireland, and UK. AI could NOT find any such law in existence in any of those countries.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to provide a reference link to this "law". As a lifelong cattle rancher, it is of interest to me. Also, just how do those countries enforce such a law? Fines, prison??

... after the mad cow deaths people in the farming world decided what was good and what was not,

What does all your mad cow references have to do with Artificial fertilizers, the subject of your thread? What are you trying to imply here?

 

[moonraker]

Or maybe wait a bit to see if a new gardener is that thick, and try to give a suitable answer if they ask

To call any body "THICK" really takes the cake, They did ask, read the past comments,
You seem set on being nasty and offering nothing of any good advice to anyone new or of a longer gardening standard
Anyone new to gardening can fall by the way side the first time all fails due to not knowing what they are doing,
After over 40 years gardening I know i have something to offer and i will offer only good and tested advice,
If you do not like what i have to say then do not comment.

 

[moonraker]

Perhaps the longest compound run-on sentence I've ever attempted to read.

You might find these experiments of interest, both without artificial fertilizers:

Soil Replenishment in drought and high heat and high humidity | Gardening Forums (gardening-forums.com)

Small scale demonstration of biodynamic farming, soil replenishment, cover cropping, crop rotation, permaculture, polyculture, and organic gardening | Gardening Forums (gardening-forums.com)





I used AI to search for this law in France, Ireland, and UK. AI could NOT find any such law in existence in any of those countries.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to provide a reference link to this "law". As a lifelong cattle rancher, it is of interest to me. Also, just how do those countries enforce such a law? Fines, prison??



What does all your mad cow references have to do with Artificial fertilizers, the subject of your thread? What are you trying to imply here?

If you use google you will see all the Info ref why cows have to be moved,
And ask google who was it that decided this was to be,

 

[Meadowlark]

Where is the "LAW" you claimed apparently as some kind of anti-manure compost foolishness.

My search engine cannot find any such "LAW" anywhere, in any country...but surely you can provide a link?