Lime, Blood and bone

janibrown

Hi was wondering what do you do with lime and blood and bone
Sorry to be a bit thick I got them to improve the tilth in my soil and enrich the soil but unsure on how and when to apply it no plants in raised beds as yet wont be until at least march any help please :):)

alanobrien

I use fish blood and bone and mix it in with compost as a longer term feed.

I would expect lime blood and bone to be a product targeted at lime loving plants such as Clematis, Hydrangea etc and used in the same way as above.

A._Badger

janibrown wrote: »

Hi was wondering what do you do with lime and blood and bone
Sorry to be a bit thick I got them to improve the tilth in my soil and enrich the soil but unsure on how and when to apply it no plants in raised beds as yet wont be until at least march any help please :):)

I think you must have got the name confused. You'd shouldn't apply lime and a fertiliser at the same time. It's almost certainly blood, fish and bone, in which case it's a general purpose fertiliser.

If you can check and get back to us, I'm sure we'll be able to help.

janibrown

Sorry its two seperate things, Lime then Blood and Bone, sorry for the confusion

A._Badger

janibrown wrote: »

Sorry its two seperate things, Lime then Blood and Bone, sorry for the confusion

Thank you for the clarification.

Lime is used to raise the ph of soil - in other words to make it less acid. You need to check, before you apply it, whether your soil actually is too acid and you do this using a cheap kit you can buy from a garden centre,

It is unlikely that you have seen blood and bone. more likely it was blood, fish and bone. This is a sort-of 'organic' general purpose fertiliiser - I say 'sort of' as the potash component is often from non-organic sources.

It is the 'natural' equivalent of a manmade fertiliser like Growmore, having a blend of the three main plant nurtients - Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus.

These fertilisers are used to augment naturally occurring levels of these three main chemicals - generally they are applied at a rate of around 2-3 ounces per sq yard either a few weeks before planting, or around established subjects.

Neither of these products affect on the tilth of your soil, however. That is dependent on its underlying structure, determined by how it was formed in your area, past treatment and whatever you do improve it . And the best thing you can do is add compost and other bulky organic matter, such as well rotted manure.

Most gardens needs both - fertiliser (in quite small quantities) and bulky matter (in quite large ones)., Neither on its own is sufficient in most cases.

There's not room for a primer here, but I strongly recommend you get a book on the basics of gardening and learn even just a little about this subject. It will stand you in very good stead throughout your gardening life.

Hope that's some help.

cootambear

Hi Badger

I grow many strawberries so use tomato feed, but is there anything I can dig in or top spread that will be more slow release?

A._Badger

cootambear wrote: »

Hi Badger

I grow many strawberries so use tomato feed, but is there anything I can dig in or top spread that will be more slow release?

If it's a liquid tomato feed (like Tomorite or Chempak) then most 'organic' solid fertilisers would be slower to release. Blood, fish and bone would be my choice as although the N component (the blood) is pretty fast, the K isn't and that's the important one for strawberries.

OOI, why would you want a slower release? One of the useful things about liquid types is you can adjust the dose depending on the weather - particularly useful with fruit. So, for example, if you had a tub or growing bag of strawberries you could adjust the rate and nutrient balance of feed depending on the way the season is going.

I admit that's a bit geeky, but it can be very useful if you a forcing an early crop under glass (as I do).

In the ground, as I say, I personally find BF&B takes a lot of beating - but be cautious if you have foxes around. They love the stuff. If that's a problem an 'inorganic' like the excellent Vitax Q4 might be better.

cootambear

I guess slower release to allow the plant to absorb the nutrients when it needs them ie avoiding lows and highs. but maybe i`m overcomplicating it.

so say with liquid feed you would up the dose in a sunny spell because the plant gets more greedy?

A._Badger

cootambear wrote: »

I guess slower release to allow the plant to absorb the nutrients when it needs them ie avoiding lows and highs. but maybe i`m overcomplicating it.

so say with liquid feed you would up the dose in a sunny spell because the plant gets more greedy?

Yes - because you would be matching nutrient availability to the plant's requirements. Think of the way hydroponics/NFT allows growers to make quite precise adjustments.

With strawberries, a potash boost would assist ripening - coupled, of course, with the right temperature and light levels.

It's not dissimilar to the application of a high N feed (ammonium sulphate, or an 'organic' equivalent') to give brassicas a quick boost
as winter turns to spring.

All that said, there are so many variables that, in my experience, the correct application of a good, balanced fertiliser at the right time is really all that is needed under amateur conditions.

It'd be different if you were required to get X tons of fruit ripened on week Y for supermarket Z, though!

NeverInDebt

If you use lime I think to lower ph then you need to apply it annually as I believe it washes away