[rowlandwells]

I was talking to a fellow gardener the other day and he mentioned using a phosphorus based fertilizer that go me thinking about trying a phosphorus bayed fertilizer but still I'm still unsure about buying as a bag of Q4N Vitax 25kg would set me back £51.70 =VAT +delivery around £70 quid

so as usual I thought don't buy until I get some advise from our friends on this site according to my catalogue its there best seller so any advise most welcome 

[John]

Bonemeal is high in phosphorus - I think the NPK is 3.5 18 8 and you can get a 25Kg bag delivered for just over £20.00 from ebay
Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles, Coupons and More | eBay

Would that not do it and save you £30?

Or you can get superphosphate which is just 0 18 0 but I can only find a wholesale only supplier doing a 25Kg bag - maybe worth asking your supplier. I think bonemeal is slightly cheaper.

[snowdrops]

Do your plants need it? Bung on some manure, a few chicken pellets & some bonemeal is all I use, never felt the need for anything more. Feed the soil not the plants 😊

[rowlandwells]

thanks John there does seem quite a saving buying on line and I take your point about buying  bonemeal as a substitute the Vitax I was looking at was 10-7.5-10.2+TE if that makes sense but I think I may give that a miss

I manure every second year with horse manure Snowdrops and use growmore and a nitrogen based fert for my brassicas but your absolutely rite feed the ground first priority  I will also be sowing  some green manure very shortly as trial

the only reson i was asking about phosphorus fertilizer was  it seemed worth tying  having spoken to a fellow gardener but on reflection as said  i am going to give this one a miss

anyway thanks for those comments RW

[John]

You can get some fairly good test kits and see how the NPK levels are and pH for less than £20. Using manure & compost you're unlikely to be short on trace elements. If you lime with dolomite lime rather than standard you add magnesium which may be short. Or you can use a small quantity of epsom salts.

Our base soil here is very depleted so I'm using more fertiliser than I used to but eventually it will have more heart. The results of mulching with grass clippings have exceeded expectations, big improvement on humus levels and worm population after 2 years. Helps a lot with water absorption, retention and resilience to both drought and downpour.