Andy Petro said:


I grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers but I am at a loss as to the
type of fertilizer to use and how much.
Every one sold in the gardening centers has a different ratio and they
all claim to be the best.

I would recommend first that you get a soil test. That will tell you which
plant nutrients your soil has plenty of, and which might be in critically
short supply. And I would encourage the use of organic fertilizers and
compost, especially if your soil is poorly textured and low in humus.

For instance, my soil has a lot of phosphorus and is critically short of
potassium. It's very sandy, and potassium is a nutrient that is prone to
leaching, while phophorous is not. My main requirement each season
is to supply nitrogen, potassium, and additional organic material.
(I made a heavy application of greensand a number of years ago; it is a
*very* slow release source of potassium and micronutrients.)

My typical fertilization scheme is to sift alfalfa pellets and compost
into the top of the soil (a week or so before planting), and to use
kelp spray occasionally during the growing season. Alfalfa supplies
nitrogen and some potassium, and the kelp spray potassium and
micronutrients.

This suffices for everything I plant, with a couple of exceptions:
--Tomatoes, eggplants and peppers get a handful of Tomato Tone when I
plant.
--Corn will get a side dressing of blood meal or some other source of
nitrogen before it begins to tassle.


You can build up your soil bank of phosphorus (if that's a problem
nutrient for you) with rock phoshate or bone meal.

Calcium is another important nutrient. The soil testing service should
give recommendations for calcium ammendment based on soil pH and
other micronutrients. They might recommend gypsum or calcitic
limestone, depending on your soil pH. (Dolomitic limestone might
be recommended if your soil is also low in magnesium.)

You've already got one good link from another responder.

Here's another link (it is a commercial site, but the info appears to be
good, and well organized):

http://www.extremelygreen.com/fertilizerguide.cfm

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"So, it was all a dream."
"No dear, this is the dream, you're still in the cell."

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