conejov

Wow thank you, For the great input guys, Any of you tried making your own compost tea? is it necessary to use an aquarium bubble machine?

__________________

conejov

Also has anyone used Bat guano. I understand that most of the ones Im mentioning are more of a soil additives.

__________________

ron_mcb

bat guano is just bat droppings..bat guano basically has an n.p.k. value of 10-3-1 very high in nitrogen. n-nitrogen p-phosphorus k-potassium...there you go. you basically use the urine method (45% N) and save money rather than buy the bat guano. if you like the idea of using bat poop on your plants go ahead.

there are a lot of people who will argue about using natural methods and claim that they never use commercial chemicals..they probabaly do. i use both(usually potasium only). using manure is no safer than using commercial chemical fert..there is a possibilty that pathogens can be transmitted to your food from animal waste fertilizers if its not aged well or composted.

__________________
naw mek smaddi ditate fi yuh. naw wan gwan a pawty yuh naggo.

turtile

1 part urea | 1/3 phosphorus (supertriple phosphate) | 1 part potassium sulfate | 2/3 part Magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) | 2/3 part Gypsum

I would guess that your plants a pretty small right now. I would sprinkle some around the plants and incorporate it into the soil. Once they get bigger, add 2 to 3 teaspoons per plant every 1-2 weeks. Lower the urea to 2/3 part at the end of July.

__________________
http://www.unusualplants.net/

NotherNana

Last year Nicci and me did a veggie garden, and every book I could get my hands on mentioned how good compost tea is to use. So we did. It did seem to help. A great publishing company to buy books from that supports the use of 'going organic' is :'RODALES'. their books are very comprehensive, although they basically deal with canning, growing, etc. I have not seen a book they publish dealing with tropical plants such as bananas, but the information they supplies me was useful nonetheless.
Gino

__________________
www.ginodiavonti.com/text/sculpture.html

conejov

Thanks for the suggestion I will look into them I think I have one of their books "the Frugal Gardner" which has lots of useful info.

__________________

organicprojim

I have been growing verything with organics for a number of years now and find that I am getting very high quality fruit with all of the nutrients they are supposed to have. For fertilizer I have ended up using fish hydrolysate made from catfish by MegaGreen. Great stuff. I use it with a complete natural soil amendment called Truf & Garden Pro made by TurfPro USA along with kelp to complete the nutrient package with its high potassium content. Kelp is hard to get but much higher in potasium than the 'Sea Weed' products mostly find on the market. I mix it four parts fertilizer to 1 part soil amendment to 1/4 part kelp.
This fertilizer has amino acids in it bsides the N-P-K where the T & G Pro has many trace elements along with a great asortment of soil biology. Laboratory test have shown that it can inhibit fusarium wilt in the soil along with having nitrogen fixing biology. The kelp besides giving me my potasium adds more of the trace elements required for growth.
Several times a year I use the Turf & Garden Pro with Iron by itself as a foliar spray.
When planting new banana plants I mix in some Turf Pro dry fines to raise the biology count and to further protect against soil pathogens.
I have never had to use any pesticides or fungicides so my soil is very healthy and the bananas grow the way I want them.
Not for everyone but it makes me feel that I am helping to protect my family, the envirnment, my pets and wildlife.

__________________
Organic Jim

NotherNana

Jim,
I grow only organic too, and find it, like you; very important to environment. I have a lot more bug issues than you though...must be because further south in FL than you? So sometimes have to use the 'soap water' trick on them....other times the insects are actually going to become beautiful butterflies or even day moths and I have to sacrifice a few leaves so they can crysallize.
Gino

__________________
www.ginodiavonti.com/text/sculpture.html

supermario

Never used pesticides? You must not have any citrus trees! Other than bananas, what fruit trees do you have?..and what do you do to combat the insects?

I grow my veggies 100% organic. My fruits on the other hand, I resort to a 50/50 mix because it is easier on the wallet. I also spray Liquid Copper Fungicide... don't know if that is considered organic or not..

YAKUZA

i use a chemical fertilizer, sorry.
the n.p.k is 15.15.15
works fine but improvemend is allways welkom. (bananas)
For vedgie i use natural fertilizers (biogrow,biobloom end topmax from biobizz)

__________________




exploring beer brewing

organicprojim

Gino, Yes, I am in the Orlando area. I would try the TurfPro USA products to see if they can naturally reduce your problem with with insects and pathogens. I started using it about four years ago on my bromeliad and orchid collections. I saw a presentation on they products at an orchid meeting and bought some to try to work with the fertilizer for better growth. So I sprayed it on my bromeliad to see if it would give me controlled growth of them.As with most growers I had been fighting scale for a long time. I look at them after about three treatment and found that the scale was gone. I have not had problems with scale since. I am careful of the amount I use on blooming orchids because it does stain them.
I was down your way not long ago and was at a nursey I thing was called Schrivners or something like and they had the Turf & Garden Pro in stock.
It is always great to talk to other organic growers.

Jim

__________________
Organic Jim

supermario

SPAM ALERT!!

No wonder he didn't even bother responding to my question.. Turns out organicJim is actually a representative for TurfPro. Check out his fake review on DavesGarden Watchdog(Im so glad I found this site!)

The scoop on 'TurfPro USA'

I personally doubt anything with the word 'Turf' in it is any good for fruiting plants.

Rmplmnz

I have grown Citrus trees for over 20 years and never used pesticides on them.....no problemo..let the lady bugs eat the aphids or soapy water.

supermario

I've heard of the soapy water trick, but never an exact ratio... How much soap to water should I use?

Rmplmnz

It works great...dish soap....in the range of 5:1 o 10:1,,,

A quick Google search yielded this link:

Insect Control: Soaps and Detergents

botulismo

Now my reply isn't going to be nearly as creative, but there's an organic fertilizer by the brand Kellogg's that's sold at most big box home improvement stores that is a 4-4-4 complete - they have a couple others in different balances - that is a blend of organic fertilizers and soil bacteria.

I've had pretty good luck with it, been using it this year on everything in the yard. It works in a pinch if you're feeling lazy.

I've always said that organic gardening will catch on once it's as easy to go organic as it is to garden normally, and I definitely think products like this have a place and are superior to chemical fertilizers. Now, organic purists may cry out that there are superior ways to do things (and I won't argue that) but this is a good second place alternative that I have found pretty helpful.

supermario

I have heard alot about kellogg's organic fertilizer lately. I have a few questions regarding their products. How much does it cost per lb? How much would you need to apply(and how often) to a full grown fruit tree?

I ask because I have more than 15 fruit trees. So, I usually have to buy 3, 50 lb bags of fertilizer for $20-$30/each. If I need 150lbs of 100% organic fertilizer, I'm scared to think what the cost would be...

bluesky

I have a question about feeding nana trees, would Osmocote (the acidic one, purple label not the pink label) work for them?

conejov

I've tried finding a Organic fertilizer with a High nitrogen & potassium but no luck any suggestions I've read that greensand and Kelp would be good but from what I can see they have usually a low Potassium.

__________________

turtile

There isn't an organic form of potassium. Just about all potassium used as fertilizer is mined. If you purchase "organic" foods, the potassium is the same as any other "non-organic" food. There really is not difference between greensand and any other fertilizer that contains potassium (except for the fact that greensand barely has any potassium).

Urea is a real organic form of nitrogen. It was actually the first organic chemical made synthetically (proved that it could be done).

__________________
http://www.unusualplants.net/