Does using the 10-10-10 for everything get inferior results? If you
have a small plot it's not practical to stock many different
fomulations. Does it really matter if you just use the general stuff.
I know it might be a waste of fertilizer but does it hurt yields?

Not unless you overdo it. It has more nitrogen than some plants need
and can burn if you use too much. But unless you have a serious
deficiency of P or K it works fine in moderation. Folks use to use 5
-10-10 and sidedress nitrogen loving plants like corn and brasssicas
with nitrate of soda. Most folks today use 10-10-10 which why its so
readily available.

They will give you inferior results with peas, beans (more leaves, less
pods), parsnip and carrots (forked, hairy roots), if you overdo it.
Typically, as long as you have decent soil you give zero N to these
four. Tomatoes, peppers, potato and squash will also have inferior
yields if given too much N, though I never noticed a difference myself
(I have sandy soil so the excess N probably washes off quickly).

i now use foliar fed fertilizer like miracle grow on my spuds now. on
the 'farm' we would side dress 800 pounds of N per acre at the time of
hilling the potatoes. They received 600 pounds of 6-32-24 at planting.
I have found through research that the potato plant uses very little
food until about 55 days after planting. By that time most of the N is
washed out and the rest is now unsoluble.

The 10-10-10 is great for lawns. It sure beats the products sold for that
purpose with huge amounts of Nitrogen.

For vegetables, have you considered something like composted manure? It is slow

release and low on Nitrogen, usually something like 5-5-5.

Sherwin D.

James wrote:

Does using the 10-10-10 for everything get inferior results? If you
have a small plot it's not practical to stock many different
fomulations. Does it really matter if you just use the general stuff.
I know it might be a waste of fertilizer but does it hurt yields?

spud wrote:
i now use foliar fed fertilizer like miracle grow on my spuds now.

Do you just wet the leaves or do you drench the soil as well?

the 'farm' we would side dress 800 pounds of N per acre at the time of
hilling the potatoes. They received 600 pounds of 6-32-24 at planting.
I have found through research that the potato plant uses very little
food until about 55 days after planting. By that time most of the N is
washed out and the rest is now unsoluble.

Actually, composted cow manure ( Black Cow) is 0.5-0.5-0.5, same
proportions as 10-10-10. It just takes 20 times as much for the same
kick. Added advantage as a soil conditioner.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Actually, composted cow manure ( Black Cow) is 0.5-0.5-0.5, same
proportions as 10-10-10. It just takes 20 times as much for the same
kick. Added advantage as a soil conditioner.

and a further advantage is that it brings worms in to your garden like
buggery which synthetic fertilisers won't.

rob

wrote in message
oups.com...
Actually, composted cow manure ( Black Cow) is 0.5-0.5-0.5, same
proportions as 10-10-10. It just takes 20 times as much for the same
kick. Added advantage as a soil conditioner.

plus you can tramp it all through the house on your shoes and get shouted at
by your wife. Something you can't achieve as easily with synthetic
fertiliser.

rob