In article ,
"Paul M. Cook" wrote:

Got me a tub of 5-5-5 pure organic fertilizer. Bone meal, blood meal,
gypsum, potash, cottonseed meal and grape pomace. For my plants by height
it says to use 1/4 cup per foot. Seems like a lot but it is pure organic.
So I just work a 1/4 cup measure into the soil in each pot? How often do I
do this?

The product is Nurseryman's Bumper Crop Booster. It was recommended by a
little old Japanese guy so I figure it has to be right.

Paul

I would let the plant go 2 weeks without a feeding before applying
Bumper Crop Booster. Then add Bumper Crop Booster as a mulch.

Another web site I came up with is
http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/en...tables/peppers.
html
When should you fertilize your peppers? Take your choice -- either
before planting or throughout the growing season. Little or no
difference in yield was seen in a study that compared the effects of
slow-release fertilizer applied before planting to soluble nitrogen
fertilizer applied several times throughout the season.

Note, several means three or more times.

The nice thing about organic fertilizers is that besides feeding the
plant they feed soil organisms. The community of soil organisms in turn
feed your plant because when they die, or poop, they feed your plants.
Chemical fertilizers will feed your plants but kill the soil organisms,
so the plant goes through feast and famine. Even with time release, you
are still killing the microbes that feed you plant at a steady rate. The
chemical fertilizers are water soluble and are leached out quickly when
you water, organics aren't.

When you get a chance, check out "Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's
Guide to the Soil Food Web"
Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microb.../dp/0881927775
/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206815176&sr= 1-1
from the library. If you get the first edition, there is a big screw up
in the description of pH, otherwise it is just like the second edition.
It will explain, very clearly, with charts and diagrams, why supporting
microbial life is so important to your plants.

Last thought, you may want to invest in mycorrhizal fungi for your pots.
They complement the feeding of your plants making more nutrients
available to them (up to ten times more in the case of phosphates). They
aren't needed in garden soil, but in potting mix, it can be very
beneficial, according to Jeff Lowenfels. Google him and check him out or
write to him at .
--

- Billy

There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who
learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and
find out for themselves.
Will Rogers

http://green-house.tv/video/the-spring-garden-tour
http://www.tomdispatch.com/p/zinn