Food vs Fertilizer ?

[PaulZone8b]

Maybe this is a dumb question....but what is the difference in plant food and fertilizer ?
I am doing my own compost, using Agrothrive Organic liquid general purpose fertilizer 5-4-5 but wondering if I am giving my veggies enough "food". Sometimes I just dont see the plants responding well and about to give up .... and go to the MirGrw steroids to make them take off. Frustrating. I know I am only a couple years into this, so trying to keep learning.

 

[cpp gardener]

The words are interchangeable, although technically fertilizer is more correct. Plants “feed” themselves with sugar they make with CO2, H2O, and sunlight.

 

[redback]

Maybe this is a dumb question....but what is the difference in plant food and fertilizer ?

They are approx. the same. Much depends on how the plant accesses the soil's nutrients.

Scientific research indicates that a 'living soil' is far better at converting the soil's minerals into plant nutrients than dead soil. To improve the soil life, you need to improve the soil 'texture' by incorporating as much carbon as you can. Carbon in the soil gives it a granular structure that is good at holding moisture, draining excess water and aeration.

At this stage you could apply liquid seaweed and liquid fish emulsion to give the instant boost but buy in lucerne chaff and aged manure mulches to start the decomposition and incorporation of carbon into the soil.

There is danger in applying anything non-organic to the soil because it often destroys soil life.

 

[PaulZone8b]

Thanks for the replies. I know its too late to do much soil amending after the plant is in the ground (should have done that a month or months prior) so liquid is faster now...which is why I give everything AgroThrive Organic Liquid every 2 weeks or so but not sure that is enough since they dont look as healthy as I would like. I am adding a handful of compost in the hole when I transplant to ground and a small amount of Bone, Blood, and rabbit poo. So its frustrating when the plants don't look like they are super happy and not taking off. I want to be a good parent to my kiddos and give them what they need to thrive !! I will try to be patient

 

[redback]

It's definitely not too late to add a 'top dressing'. In fact you can lop and drop the weeds and then mulch the ground heavily with 2-3 inches of compost.
Plants like corn and tomatoes produce above-ground roots specifically meant to utilize a heavy top dressing.
What crops are you growing?

 

[PaulZone8b]

Little bit of everything. Carrots, corn, bell pepper, squash, tomatoes, sweet potato, white and red potato, lettuce, ground cherries, beans, peas, onions, garlic, lots of herbs too.

 

[cpp gardener]

It is better to add organic matter on the surface than to mix it into the soil when planting. Mixing destroys soil structure and kills a lot of fungal hyphae. A 2” layer of compost covered by arborist chips or other raw organic matter is better for soil building. As the organic matter breaks down it releases nutrients to the soil microbiome. It takes time, but is better in the long run.

 

[redback]

Little bit of everything. Carrots, corn, bell pepper, squash, tomatoes, sweet potato, white and red potato, lettuce, ground cherries, beans, peas, onions, garlic, lots of herbs too.

Obviously, you have discovered the taste of homegrown vegetables. Good work.

You can top dress the corn, bell pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peas, onions, garlic and herbs. If the squash, sweet potato and ground cherries have already spread pelletized organic fertilizer around the original plant will be easiest. The lettuce needs nitrogen inputs so top dress if you can and use diluted liquid compost tea or fish emulsion or any high nitrogen input fortnightly.