Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Stevens706 on August 10, 2006, 13:02

Title: Fertiliser
Post by: Stevens706 on August 10, 2006, 13:02
Hi everyone, I would like to say hello as I am new to both allotment growing and this forum.

I have a question about fertiliser, there seems to be a lot of advice in books about using blood, fish and bone meal. Can anyone give me any practical advice, should I get some? when and where to use it?

And is there a good place to buy it in bulk or just go to the local garden centre?

I’ve tried hard this year, the plot has not been grown on for about 6 years, so keeping on top of the weeds seems to be a full time job, especially the couch grass and thistles, but I keep telling myself that it will easier next year, honest, well that’s what I tell the wife who already classes herself as an allotment widow.

 Thanks. :?
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: hermon on August 10, 2006, 13:59
can't help with the fertilizer but the weed should be less next year this is also my 1st year on a barron plot it was a struggle but i'm nearly in control of weeds now! (until next spring :lol: )
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: noshed on August 10, 2006, 14:16
You can get blood, fish and bone in places like B&Q and woolies. They also sell pelleted chicken manure as well, which is quite good, and cheap.
I assume you're making a big compost heap of all the weeds you're digging up and you could enquire whether the site gets manure deliveries - if you got some soon it could be rotting down for the spring.
Comfrey is good too - see John's articles on this site.
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: Stevens706 on August 10, 2006, 14:45
Thanks for that hermon, one thing I noticed yesterday when I was lifting the early potatoes was that some had small holes in them (wire worm infestation maybe?) later on I found one that still had the couch grass root still stuck in it, so it was that causing the problems.
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: mum of 3 on August 11, 2006, 20:26
just got a ton bag of manure delivered,i cant beleive im getting excited over a pile of s**t :lol:
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: jgsmuzzy on August 11, 2006, 21:35
we have a huge bonus there, we have a farm very close with a huge nicely rotted down manure heap that we can help ourselves to!  should be useful in the coming year.
Title: Fertiliser
Post by: philsmith1967 on August 12, 2006, 18:58
We have a farmer with the 12 plots along one edge of our allotments. He keeps 2 shire horses and 2 normal sized horses - that's like a production line of manure! You can help yourself from the heap he makes outside his gate and he also drops a big pile of it to the sites he can access with his tractor.
Manure and compost are by far the best thing you can feed your plot with. Fertilizers are mainly used to give the plants a quick boost at certain stages of their life but they have no real benefial properties to improve your soil.
Keep adding the organic matter a pay attention to crop rotation (roots like carrots,parsnips etc..don't like ffresh manure) and within a few years you'll have beautiful soil.
Good luck :D