About Constant Feed Programs:
I am so often asked about soil mixes and fertilizer that I thought it might be helpful to prepare a document relating to this. In general today in the greenhouse business soil is prepared in the form of soil less mixes usually comprised of peat, pearlite, vermiculite, and sometimes stone. Since these mixes provide no nutrition for plants the nutrition must be supplied from an external source.
The standard method used by virtually all greenhouse operations today is what is known as constant feed nutriculture. Most greenhouse operations posses a fertilizer injector which dispenses the fertilizer through their watering system. These injectors cost many hundreds of dollars and therefore are not appropriate for home gardeners. For the home gardener I suggest a simple alternative. It is called a “Hozon” injector which dispenses fertilizer through a normal garden hose and faucet.
http://www.growerssolution.com/page/GS/PROD/siphon/siphon-mixer
The fertilizer that I use and most greenhouses use is Peters 20-20-20 which is a high solubility fertilizer which has been prepared specifically for constant feed programs. I use a five gallon bucket for my concentrate solution which is 16 times the concentration I desire for application. The Hozon injects one part concentrate to 16 part of water. It is important to note that when watering pots and flower boxes using constant feed that you must flood the container with sufficient new solution so that the old fertilizer is flushed from the container as otherwise there will be a constant build up of fertilizer salts which can become toxic.
I buy my Petters 20-20-20 from Griffin Greenhouse Supply which has numerous outlets on the east coast of the USA.
One of the most important aspects of gardening is the creation of soil. Very seldom can someone just plow and plant without consideration of what crop is to be grown and the characteristics of the natural soil.
Almost always some soil improvement is necessary. In my Gilboa location our soil is a fine silt that has washed off the surrounding mountains. It is composed of clay and fine sand that causes water to puddle on the surface rather than sink in. It contains very little organic matter and is slightly acidic. Since I grow a lot of perennials my main problem is the poor drainage properties. Perennials that do not have good drainage do not winter over well since water collects around the roots freezing and thawing during the course of the winter. This is the number one cause of the death of perennials.
PH is the most difficult consideration because different plants require different PH values. I have planting areas that are acidic for acid loving plants, normal, and areas where I have added copious amounts of limestone. So it is a matter of understanding what plants require what PH. I have less than 1/10th of an acre under cultivation and I use over 500lbs of lime per year.
Organic matter is an important consideration. If I am starting to garden at a new location the first thing I do is import a large quantity of organic matter. What kind of organic matter is largely a matter of cost and availability. Even a small garden can utilize large amounts of organic matter and a pickup truck load is insignificant. When I moved to my present location I imported 15T cow manure, 10T rabbit manure, 40 bales of straw, and 5T chicken manure. I hired a local excavator to do the trucking and he brought a backhoe with him which we used to assemble an initial compost pile. Using the backhoe we mixed the materials and piled them as high as possible in a semi shady area. These were left unused for the first year and in the following spring I brought in the backhoe again to turn the pile. Since I had to pay for a truck again I brought in 10 T of limestone crusher dust, and 10T of #1 stream wash gravel. This might seem expensive but the total cost was less than $500 and it is now 8 years later and during the course of my gardening activities I am constantly creating more compost so I have never had to import any more. It is easier and less expensive to do this activity once - big!
As I am doing my gardening activities I place any weeds and refuse at one side of this compost heap. I also add kitchen garbage like food, peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds etc. to the fresh organic matter. As I add new organic matter to the pile I cover the fresh ingredients with several inches of already digested compost which introduces fungi that speeds up the composting process. In this manner I can use compost from one side of the pile while creating new compost on the other side of the pile.
Drainage material is another important soil ingredient and for perennials. I like my mix to contain at least one half-drainage material. For example when I make potting mix I use 1/4 Peat, 1/4 compost, and 1/2 drainage material. If I am using the mix for lime loving plants I use limestone crusher dust and if I am unsure of what plants I am going to plant I use stream wash gravel to produce an acidic soil to which I can add lime tocorrect the PH for a particular crop.
Fertilizer is almost always necessary for successful gardening. For vegetable gardens my first choice is well rotted horse manure which I prefer to cow as it has fewer weed seeds. Chicken manure is also good but it must be used sparingly as it is very high in nitrate. One year after using chicken manure I had the most gigantic tomato plants. they were seven feet tall with huge leaves and did not produce a single tomato. So always remember plants bloom and fruit better when slightly starved.
For perennial and annual gardens I prefer chemical fertilizer. When I prepare a bed the first time I usually include 5-10-5 fertilizer. Fertilizers with lower numbers are less potent and have a longer duration of release. This is why I use 5-10-5 or 10-10-10 for new garden prep as these will last for the whole season. In later years I use 15-15-15 as it gets released more quickly and has a shorter duration.
For potted crops I use Peters 20-20-20 which is the standard of the greenhouse industry. for house plants I use teaspoon/gal and feed every time I water. For potted vegetables, annuals, and perennials I use a table spoon/gal and fertilize every 3rd or 4th time I water. A “Hose On” applicator is a device that screws onto a faucet it has a small hose that drops into a stock solution and allows you to screw a garden hose unto the output. This device mixes the solution from the stock bucket with the hose output at a rate of 16:1. The stock solution in the bucket should therefore be 16 times the amount you want to apply. This is very good way to give plants a quick shot of fertilizer which will have a duration of a few weeks.
The Caterpillar Problem
We are having a major caterpillar problem in our area:
2007.05.15 Caterpillars are back again with a vengeance. These critters are not too happy as they have been sprayed with Sevin.
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Thanks to Aubyn Gwinn for these informative links
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/privland/forprot/health/caterpillar/compchart.html
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/privland/forprot/health/nyfo/ftc.pdf
2006.06.01
Just got off the phone with Cornell Coop. Ext. agent. We concur that the caterpillar (cp) problem is nearing its end and spraying with insecticide is probably a waste of time. Using a pressure washer to knock down the remaining cp’s is probably the best solution and of course this would in part clean up some of the mess. In the future the maple trees could be sprayed with Vlock Dormant Oil spray in the spring before leaf growth to deter the hatching of the eggs which are laid on the small branches and twigs and almost invisible. After the eggs hatch and when the damage first starts to occur an application of BT would also possibly be effective although this is not as effective on the adults. The cocoon is the larvae to adult mothe stage and since they fly long distances are difficult to control at a specific location. These problems usually go through cycle of their own and after a real bad year they usually subside.