It has been another amazing week of the plants growing. I have been watching as the Fruity Freak leaves become progressively more fern-like, and ornamental as a result!
Based on my Banizzle grows, I knew I needed to understand plant nutrients in a more meaningful way if I wanted these plants to thrive. So, I decided to get a soil test (see Ref. 1 below on how to perform a test) to understand what nutrients my plants needed. The report I received advised that I needed to add 200 lbs/acre of nitrogen, 150 lbs/acre of phosphorus, and 190 lbs/acre of potassium (see picture labeled Pic.1 (FYI you can't see these images unless you login to growdiaries)).
I then researched what to do with my results (Ref. 2 helped), and I figured out that my nutrient needs of 200-150-190 fall close to a 2-1-2 ratio. I then looked at different types of organic fertilizers (see Ref. 3 and Ref. 4) and considered that I already had a 3-10-5 fertilizer (Vermibloom) on hand. I discovered Dr Earth’s Alfalfa Meal is 2-1-2 and includes beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae (to promote healthy plant growth and disease resistance). However, I knew I would be low on nitrogen if I only used those two fertilizers. Therefore, I decided to buy some blood meal (12-0-0). I also liked that blood meal is more fast acting while the other two are more moderate.
I hunted around for a solid fertilizer calculator and found an amazing tool from the University of Georgia Extension (Ref. 5). I entered all three fertilizers into the calculator, and it kicked out the exact amount of each fertilizer I needed to apply to 1 square foot (see Pic. 2). As I am using 10-gallon fabric pots (that can hold 1.5 cubic feet, but I put stone on the bottom and there’s space left at the top) I decided to use the one square foot application rate as I can always add more later, but I can’t take it away.
Not only did I want to understand the nutrients I needed, but I also wanted to understand the structure of the soil (as it was not included in my test results). North Dakota State University has a nice page that discusses this (Ref. 6), and I performed a soil ribbon test (see Video 1) based on this information. I determined my soil to be medium textured (which is great), but I have seen occasional water pooling on the surface, suggesting that it may be more of a medium-fine. This means adding peat moss, coco coir, or other amendments might improve drainage (and plant hydration) and allow for roots to grow more easily. In the long run, I plan to use compost to enhance the soil structure and nutrients.
I filled the bottom of my 10-gallon fabric pots with a ½” of pea stone to allow for drainage (Pic. 3). I then partially filled two 5-gallon buckets with topsoil from near where I will plant (but not in an area the roots will reach). I used a digital scale to measure the amount of fertilizers recommended by the calculator (Pic. 4, 5, and 6) and added it to one of the 5-gallon buckets (see Pic. 7). I mixed the fertilizers into the soil as evenly as possible (Pic. 8 and 9). I then poured a two-inch layer of non-fertilized soil, then peat moss, and then fertilized soil (in a roughly 2:1:1 ratio) and blended them together. I repeated this until the pot was full (getting additional soil as needed), and then I repeated the process for the other three pots.
I set the filled fabric pots in my garage (Pic. 10) for two days to allow any upset bugs to flee into my garage instead of my house. I then moved the pots (wrapping them in a contractor garbage bag to prevent making a mess) into the room with the grow light. I placed a board on top of the fabric pots to insulate the plants (in their smaller pots) from the cold soil (Pic. 11). Once the soil in the fabric pots reaches room temperature, I will transplant.
(Ref. 1) This video shows the method I used to take a soil sample. I didn’t have a field to test, so I took four samples from the area where I will eventually plant outdoors and blended them together. I then mailed my soil sample off to the lab, and about a week later, I received an email with a PDF of my results (included with my pictures this week).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9AwxmFxBwg&t=8s
(Ref. 2) This video from the University of Minnesota Extension (many universities have agriculture extensions that can assist you with soil testing and growing information for your area) discusses what to do with your soil testing results:
https://youtu.be/HYrkcfE62Pg
(Ref. 3) This is a nice article that discusses organic fertilizer solutions:
https://www.grow-it-organically.com/npk-fertilizer.html
(Ref. 4) This article lists the NPK values of many organic fertilizer solutions:
https://www.epicgardening.com/organic-fertilizers/
(Ref. 5) Many websites tout a fertilizer calculator…but this one is hands down the best I have found. If you scroll down to the bottom, you can enter any fertilizer type you want (and the cost, if you want). It will give you the exact blend of multiple fertilizers to solve your nutrient deficiencies (I included a snapshot of the solution I used in my pictures).
https://aesl.ces.uga.edu/soil/fertcalc/
(Ref. 6) This is an excellent article that discusses how to evaluate your soil:
https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/evaluating-preparing-and-amending-lawn-and-garden-soil