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Blood meal for nitrogen
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boffer
camprn
Odd Duck
purplecobras
8 posters
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Blood meal for nitrogen
Newbie here. I am following the SFG book as much as I can but I was wondering if along with the 5 different types of compost, it would be ok to use the miracle grow organic blood meal. Some of the manure I have contains 5% nitrogen but the blood meal actually contains 12% Nitrogen. Would this be overkill, would it benefit my crops or be useless?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Scott
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Scott
purplecobras- Posts : 1
Join date : 2011-03-18
Location : Fredericksburg
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
Scott, it could potentially be helpful, but you can't use it to excess. You need to add it as a supplement, not in place of one of the composts. Use it only at the rate directed on the bag of blood meal or it can burn your plants. I usually use it lightly when I set up new beds (I don't follow Mel's new rules strictly, kind of a blend between his old rules and his new rules) and I use it very sparingly yearly on the regular beds. I also blend it pretty heavily into my home made compost, especially if it's a little light on greens. Blood meal counts as a "green" for compost.
Odd Duck- Posts : 327
Join date : 2010-03-08
Age : 61
Location : DFW, TX, Zone 7b/8a
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
The other thing about using too much nitrogen amendments in the garden is that nitrogen will produce more foliage than flowers. There is a nutritional/fertility balance you need to achieve in you soiless mix. I offer my advice, make the Mel's mix as close to the recipe as possible, then as the growing season progresses amend as needed.
That being said, I use a bit of dried blood( by the handful) for things like spinach, chard and Brussels sprouts.
That being said, I use a bit of dried blood( by the handful) for things like spinach, chard and Brussels sprouts.
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
purplecobras wrote:Newbie here. I am following the SFG book as much as I can...
Any feedback would be appreciated....
I believe you owe it to yourself to try one pure Mel's Mix box. How else will you know if it works or doesn't? The best test is to have one MM box and one box that you do anything you want with. They MUST be during the same growing season. Try a MM box-you'll like it!
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
Cobra:
The N value you see on commerical fertilizer is the N that is immeadently available to your plants. The N value of compost, while lower, is the N value that will be available for the long term. The differing values are due to gov'ment regs on labeling.
God Bless, Ward and Mary
The N value you see on commerical fertilizer is the N that is immeadently available to your plants. The N value of compost, while lower, is the N value that will be available for the long term. The differing values are due to gov'ment regs on labeling.
God Bless, Ward and Mary
WardinWake
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 935
Join date : 2010-02-26
Age : 74
Location : Wake, VA
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
purplecobras wrote:Newbie here. I am following the SFG book as much as I can but I was wondering if along with the 5 different types of compost, it would be ok to use the miracle grow organic blood meal. Some of the manure I have contains 5% nitrogen but the blood meal actually contains 12% Nitrogen. Would this be overkill, would it benefit my crops or be useless?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Scott
Scott,
As I'm relatively new to SFG, but do a lot of other "gardening disciplines" that require rigid attention to chemistry & NPK balance ...... I did a lot of incremental soil testing on my first SFG box. If you follow the recommended MM blend, you will probably never have a problem with nitrogen. Honestly, I have to shop around to find low-nitrogen fertilizer to use on my SFG boxes (Alaskan Fish Emulsion 5-0-0 is what works best for me).
I have no beef with the folks at Miracle-Grow, but IMHO they have developed a following/customer base from the "immediate gratification nation". People buy their products because the short term results are almost immediate, and very pronounced when used in poor soil conditions ...... and thats primarily due to their high Nitrogen content. Unfortunately, a couple of days later, you usually seen the downside (yellowing, burning, dependency on the product to maintain)
Again ....nothing against Miracle Grow ...... I've been know to drop a little "Bloom Buster" on my flowers when I'm showing off, or to kick-start a transplant. However the high NPK (above 10 on the counts) products are generally a band-aid and often mask nutritional deficiencies in the growing media. there is also a chance you can burn your plants if your adding 10+ products too often, or to growing media that doesn't need it.
Once your sure your chemistry is where it needs to be, use whatever, whenever you want; but I'd recommend getting a soil chemistry kit & pH kit first (roughly $15.00) and finding out what your growing media needs (if anything).
acara- Posts : 1012
Join date : 2010-08-27
Age : 54
Location : Wesley Chapel, Florida (Zone 9)
Using blood meal
I live in a very low pH environment where nutrients are frequently locked up and unavailable to plants. After giving a plant a fair amount of time to get started, if it's sulking, I sprinkle the ground around it very lightly with blood meal, then water it in. This can make all the difference in the world!
Having said that, I would NEVER use blood meal or any other high-nitrogen fertilizer unless my plants had a problem I thought could be fixed by use of same. If your plants don't need additional nitrogen, they won't benefit from it.
Having said that, I would NEVER use blood meal or any other high-nitrogen fertilizer unless my plants had a problem I thought could be fixed by use of same. If your plants don't need additional nitrogen, they won't benefit from it.
junequilt- Posts : 319
Join date : 2010-03-22
Location : Columbia, SC (Zone 8)
Re: Blood meal for nitrogen
junequilt wrote:... if it's sulking, I sprinkle the ground around it very lightly with blood meal, then water it in.
How much do you sprinkle around each plant?
Cincinnati- Posts : 182
Join date : 2011-06-26
Location : Alabama Gulf Coast
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