Fertiliser-waste of money.

[Esther Knapicius]

Been saying this for years. LOL. found a study that agrees.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/garden-fertiliser-waste-of-money-1071847.html

 

[Chuck]

If this is true why do universities conduct expensive research into which fertilizer and application rates produce the most product per acre? Why do commercial growers literally use tons of expensive fertilizers if they could grow the same amount for free? I have found in my little 1/4 acre vegetable garden that if I don't continually feed the soil my production drops dramatically. I fertilize my plants with 1/2 cup processed chicken manure with minerals added to it every 2 weeks. Granted my soil is not the best in the world but after 20 years of continual adding of organic matter it isn't bad. I could not fertilize and still be able to have a decent crop but not nearly as much as if I did. I also use compost tea which is also a (fertilizer). So, IMHO if you want to produce as much as possible, use fertilizer. If you don't care then don't.

 

[Becky]

Only 6 gardens in the study...

From personal experience I have found fertiliser to be of benefit, but like so many things it all depends on the various factors involved - types of plant, soil conditions, aspect, amount of rainfall etc

 

[Beth_B]

Maybe for lawns and native plants, fertilizer is a waste of money if you have decent soil. But for vegetables, I wonder ( and the study cited gives scant details and only involved six gardens - of what they didn't even say.) So I can't give that "study" any credence, really.

When I planted my asparagus crowns four years ago, I ran out of space in my planned beds. Twelve crowns went into my bed, and the other six I put in a sunny spot in my side yard. I have very good soil. The ones in the asparagus bed that I top dress with compost and mulch, and fertilize 2-3 times a year, give me loads of asparagus spears and ferns over six feet tall by late summer. The ones I let go feral in the side yard with no compost or feeding? Maybe a few edible spears, and puny little ferns about two feet tall.

Same with container annuals - if I fertilize them, they flower all growing season and get much bigger. If I don't, they're sparse and spindly. I've done side by side experiments.

As the article you posted says quite clearly, for lawns, containers and some other plants, fertilizer is valuable and certainly not a "waste of money."

I don't spend much time fertilizing my lawn or native perrenials, but from experience, fertilizing annuals, vegetables and container plants makes a huge difference.

 

[Beth_B]

Unfertilized feral bed of six asparagus plants: one lonely skinny little spear. I had to get close up to find it!

Fertilized bed with six crowns: harvesting daily for the past two weeks.
Purchased and planted at the same time. Just took these photos.

 

[zigs]

My Rhubarb says it don't believe that trial

 

[Esther Knapicius]

It is a post to see alternate thoughts on the issue. It would drive me to further research the subject. And wonder if its even needed, how often, which one, for which plants, soil etc. For me my gardens explode without fertiliser.

 

[Beth_B]

It is a post to see alternate thoughts on the issue. It would drive me to further research the subject. And wonder if its even needed, how often, which one, for which plants, soil etc. For me my gardens explode without fertiliser.

Your garden is gorgeous, Esther! But going by your photos and videos, your plants are mainly in the ground, native/perennials, and I bet you don't need to fertilize. But for veggies and container plants, growing often in "unnatural" conditions, well I think they need extra help.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2057141/organic-fertilizer

 

[Esther Knapicius]

container plants,

and I do not with my container plants, have you seen a few?

 

[Esther Knapicius]

and the pink flowering plant above, it needs splinting every 3 years, I give away hunks to friends.

don;t have a lot of house plants, choice of my work load.

 

[marlingardener]

We fertilize with steer manure and very well composted chicken manure. We don't move our vegetable gardens, and although we try to rotate crops as much as possible, we still fear depleting the soil. The same with the flower beds. The herb bed we don't fertilize because herbs like "lean" soil and lose some of their flavor if over-stimulated.

Fertilizer used carefully and when needed has certainly helped our vegetable gardens--they produce well and we always have extra to give away. I think that after 9 years, if we didn't fertilize, I couldn't say the gardens are prolific.

 

[johnny canoe]

From personal experience and from attending horticultural college, I know the benefits to using fertilizers. However I also learned on the farm, from my dad, the importance of knowing your soil and keeping it healthy so you don't have to use ever more fertilizer to produce a bumper crop.
In my yard I was flabbergasted at the result of pouring my old fish tank water on my perennials. That's what I use on them for the most part now. My Colorado Blue Spruce gets fertilizer stakes every spring that have the iron in them. The iron is a must to keep the blue colour. My annual pots and baskets get a slow release and a weekly dose of 20-20-20 because of our short season, I push them for all I can get. My Tomatoes, all in pots, get an organic fert. with calcium mixed in the soil, calcium pills mixed in top of soil and as a foliar spray and about twice a week, 20-20-20 at a 1/4 strength.
I believe if your soil and plants don't need it then don't use it. If you want to use no fertilizer of any sort, you better be prepared to rest your land or have a pathetic result.

It would be interesting to see under what conditions exactly this test was done. Three yrs isn't long enough for a flower bed or veggie plot trial in my opinion. What I would trust more is if this test was done on a hundred acres of land divided. Half fertilized and wheat sown, and half not fertilized. Trust me, we didn't waste hundreds of thousands of dollars putting fertilizer into our soil on the farm. Canola especially is hard on the soil. We not only had to rotate the crop to prevent disease but we also would leave the land to rest a few years or put it into pasture for 5yrs, just so the soil can rebuild. But people want canola and it brings a good price so we grew a lot of it.

My point is that in a persons flower bed or veggie plot, it will take some time for the soil to be drained of nutrients. When I pull up all my annuals in the fall I chop all the foliage and it's dug into the soil. This is a fertilizer and nobody can tell me my soil and plants don't benefit from it.

Balance is what I learned in Hort college.