[JayG]

The need for artificial fertilisers varies a lot depending on what sort of soil you have - despite adding all the home-made compost I can make my results would be very poor without adding additional fertilisers at least twice for anything other than very quick-growing crops because my soil is very sandy (even the compost washes through if added too early!)

Needless to say I learned this lesson the hard way - clay soils are naturally more fertile and can be turned into good loams over time using compost/manure and possibly sand as well, but a very sandy soil will never turn into a good loam unless you can boost its clay content (easier said than done, although I'm always on the lookout for nice sticky lumps of the stuff!) 

[Goldfinger]

What about seaweed? Not the 'extract' stuff, that's mega £££'s! 

It's a shame we couldn't go and 'harvest' some each year for ourselves (only if it's been washed up), mainly during the rough winter weather.

I remember my dad getting some years ago after a huge storm, the following crops were unbeliveable! 

[shokkyy]

Needless to say I learned this lesson the hard way - clay soils are naturally more fertile and can be turned into good loams over time using compost/manure and possibly sand as well, but a very sandy soil will never turn into a good loam unless you can boost its clay content (easier said than done, although I'm always on the lookout for nice sticky lumps of the stuff!) 

You're very welcome to some of mine

[JayG]

Thanks Shokky - can you do free delivery to Sheffield by any chance?! 

[gavinjconway]

Salmo - thanks for the list of N - P - K percentages.. very helpful

[mumofstig]

there are some very useful pages on fertilisers here
http://www.allotment-garden.org/fertilizer/npk-fertilizer.php

more pages available by clicking the list at the bottom of the page 

[gavinjconway]

Thanks Mum - hadn't seen this on the site..

[Salmo]

Most soils will grow perfectly good crops without anything else. Maybe a little lime occasionally.

Only for so long though, not indeffinately.

And chicken manure pellets don't give the broad range of the other 2 fertilisers!

I disagree with the first statement. If the soil has got in poor heart it is time to sow a long term green manure to give it a rest and build up humus.

I do not understand the second statement. Chicken manure contains N,Pand K. Where is it lacking?

[mumofstig]

On today's small plots we just don't have the luxury of setting aside space for

a long term green manure to give it a rest and build up humus.

The soil has to be manured and/or fertilised to carry on growing the veg we want to grow.
these plus short term green manures, means the soil stays in good heart.

[stompy]

I do not understand the second statement. Chicken manure contains N,Pand K. Where is it lacking?

Yes it does, but not in balanced amounts, you would end up with a nitrogen rich and phosphorus/potasium depleted soil.

BFB Growmore are both balanced!

[DD.]

Stompy - when quoting, could you please leave in the username you are quoting. When there's multiple quotes, it's difficult to see who said what.

If you look at the post from Salmo a few up, it looks like you posted all that, whereas he's quoting what you quoted, having left off the name of the OP.

[Salmo]

Salmo - thanks for the list of N - P - K percentages.. very helpful

Easy. Cut and paste from "Growing Help". You could do that.

[DD.]

You mean that there's life on this site outside the forum? 

[Salmo]

I do not understand the second statement. Chicken manure contains N,Pand K. Where is it lacking?

Yes it does, but not in balanced amounts, you would end up with a nitrogen rich and phosphorus/potasium depleted soil.

BFB Growmore are both balanced!

Balanced meaning equal amounts of each NPK they may be. Balanced to suit the requirements of individual crops they are not.

For example, potatoes require high potash and brassicas require high nitrogen. The latter being perfectly suited by chicken manure.

All this will of course depend on what soil you have. By and large heavy soils are low in phosphate and high in potash and light soils are phosphate rich and potash defficient.

One of the most difficult things to supply organically is potash. Manure is one source, some say comfrey leaves do the job.

All of this can of course be found in "Growing help"

[aelf]

My fertiliser usage is dictated by the veg rotations: I use home made compost with some added well-rotted horse muck on my spud rotation (about 1.5  ton altogether on a 16' x 16' square) so each rotation gets a ton or so of good compost n muck every 4 years.  The other 3 rotations get a chicken pellet top-up once a year in the spring. Then, during the season, I feed with comfrey liquid as needed. That is about it