We’ve wrapped up another one of our deep dives for this season! This one goes deep into fertilizers. How plants eat, why we need to fertilize, what those numbers mean, your general choices and why one might choose certain types over others. Link down in the comments.
A lot of you look to successful northern growers and want to know what fertilizer they’re using. From our perch, what makes that northern grower successful is not the fertilizer brand that they use. Rather, the fact that they’re using a fertilizer correctly and sufficiently.
We’ve talked several times about the far northern organic process. The gist is that it operates at a snail’s pace compared to lower latitudes. While one can exclusively practice organic strategy based on compost and teas, latitude will very much determine the relative performance of organics.
We take a “blended” approach in our strategy. High feeders need serious NPK, so we utilize “high power” synthetic fertilizers. Low feeders, like root veggies and greens, are much more compatible with slower northern organic cycles.
The astute among you will know we’re huge proponents of water soluble fertilizers. But, we also use granular fertilizers, too. This article aims to get into the decision making process behind why we’re making distinctions like these.
Our aim here, especially now that we’re diverging into more advanced commercial fertilizers, is to illustrate the foundations of this understanding. What we do and what you do can, and probably should, be different things. Again, the brand is not what makes the difference. It’s the strategy, usage, application frequency and the “why” that really matters.
Anyway, this one’s a long one. But, I don’t think one can approach a comprehensive fertilizer article in less than a few pages! Enjoy another early season deep dive!
