Not too much done today but I did trim most of the grass in the back yard. Need to drag the outdoor electric cord from the front into the back yard and combine the cords to reach the far side of the yard. Looks better, though.
Fixed the fertilizer injector this evening. It came a apart a few days ago and got some new parts yesterday. Ran a mix of fertilizer, ammonia and acid through the lines (which I had mixed last week and was trying to run when the parts failed).
I really need more phosphorous for the garden. One of the biggest reasons for the fertilizer. I have nitrogen via the well water and ammonia. The soil tests high for potassium and that remains in the soil for a long, long time.
I could obtain manure but my concern is salt content. For that reason and not having a way to transport manure, I think it better to buy rock phosphate.
This does bring acidity back as an issue. Availability of phosphates to plants is pH dependent. Most sources say 6.0 to 7.0. However, I suspect the main key is that it remains unavailable if the environment is too alkaline. There may be phosphates present in the soil which have been unlocked by the acid treatments I've done. The more acid I have applied, the better the results I have seen. Mixing acid and ammonia has had amazing results. More flowers, more fruit.
I'm really hoping for some extreme results from the tomatoes this year. If they ever get really growing. Really starting late this year because of the temperature swings. But so is everything else. I'm just now seeing lettuce forming into small heads truly identifiable as lettuce.
In any case, I am looking at buying some super phosphate for the garden to increase yield.
Fixed the fertilizer injector this evening. It came a apart a few days ago and got some new parts yesterday. Ran a mix of fertilizer, ammonia and acid through the lines (which I had mixed last week and was trying to run when the parts failed).
I really need more phosphorous for the garden. One of the biggest reasons for the fertilizer. I have nitrogen via the well water and ammonia. The soil tests high for potassium and that remains in the soil for a long, long time.
I could obtain manure but my concern is salt content. For that reason and not having a way to transport manure, I think it better to buy rock phosphate.
This does bring acidity back as an issue. Availability of phosphates to plants is pH dependent. Most sources say 6.0 to 7.0. However, I suspect the main key is that it remains unavailable if the environment is too alkaline. There may be phosphates present in the soil which have been unlocked by the acid treatments I've done. The more acid I have applied, the better the results I have seen. Mixing acid and ammonia has had amazing results. More flowers, more fruit.
I'm really hoping for some extreme results from the tomatoes this year. If they ever get really growing. Really starting late this year because of the temperature swings. But so is everything else. I'm just now seeing lettuce forming into small heads truly identifiable as lettuce.
In any case, I am looking at buying some super phosphate for the garden to increase yield.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment