"Dwayne" wrote in message
...

I used to live in Arkansas, zone 7. The local TV station had a master
gardner come on once a week and answer questions from the viewers. He
said
to put down a super phosphate to make flowers bloom and fruit trees to put
onf fruit.

The super phosphate was in the bag that read 0 - 56 - 0, or at least had a
high middle number. I bought it wt the co-op for around $8.00 for a large
bag (40 to 50 lbs??). The first number is the one that make everything
nice
and green and makes big leaves.

stuff that is a high reading. I used some blood and bone (6% nitrogen (N)
and 6% phosphorous (P) under a hedge of mine alone with some horse poop.
Last spring the hedge had good leaf growth (nitrogen) but few flowers. This
spring the leaf growth is even better than last year whilst the blossom
growth is several hundred times better. Thats the phosphorous doing its work
and that is only at 6%. The horse poop helped a little as well though it is
low in P, about 0.5%.

rob

OK, I am very pleased with the size of my garden plants ( except the
beans / peas which are mini plants ! ) The greenery is HUGE! There are
many tomatoes, but other veggies are producing but lacking huge yields
- again the plants look WONDERFUL! I add rabbit manure from my rabbits
which includes some hay, coffee grounds and water when dry, not every
day.

I add leaves every fall and till the soil before planting, it looks
great.

I have not had the soil tested for PH, our local soil tends to be
alkaline, which is what I started with, I did add 2 years ago a bunch
of pine needles from under out trees to the soil to help with that..

What to do for next year - is it worth the $80 bucks to have the soil
tested?
This year, I am not sure I got 80 bucks out of the garden!
Thanks -
BG , Zone 6

In article .com,
"BG" wrote:

OK, I am very pleased with the size of my garden plants ( except the
beans / peas which are mini plants ! ) The greenery is HUGE! There are
many tomatoes, but other veggies are producing but lacking huge yields
- again the plants look WONDERFUL! I add rabbit manure from my rabbits
which includes some hay, coffee grounds and water when dry, not every
day.

I add leaves every fall and till the soil before planting, it looks
great.

I have not had the soil tested for PH, our local soil tends to be
alkaline, which is what I started with, I did add 2 years ago a bunch
of pine needles from under out trees to the soil to help with that..

What to do for next year - is it worth the $80 bucks to have the soil
tested?
This year, I am not sure I got 80 bucks out of the garden!
Thanks -
BG , Zone 6

Adding some phosphorous (bone meal is cheap) to the soil should increase
your blooms and yield if I remember correctly??????
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

I used to live in Arkansas, zone 7. The local TV station had a master
gardner come on once a week and answer questions from the viewers. He said
to put down a super phosphate to make flowers bloom and fruit trees to put
onf fruit.

The super phosphate was in the bag that read 0 - 56 - 0, or at least had a
high middle number. I bought it wt the co-op for around $8.00 for a large
bag (40 to 50 lbs??). The first number is the one that make everything nice
and green and makes big leaves.

Do you have a local county extension office? They should do a soil test for
$10.00 or less, some do it free.

Good luck.

Dwayne