I need advise on fertilizing. I garden organic and lately my plants just don't look all that great. I have mulched with manure and compost, applied bonemeal and blood meal. I have some fish fertilizer that I actually made from some fish that I put in buckets of water and let rot, how much of this should I use? Is there any thing else that I should be using? I am growing antique roses and perrenials. And some herbs and veggies. I recently took over as the community garden coordinator so I will be coming back for lots of advise!!! Thanks
Choosing the right fertilizer to use is a complicated issue ( particularly if you want to adhere to organic gardening methods) and depends upon soil conditions, climate, time of year, crop choice, and application choice. A number of Internet sites may be useful to you in making these decisions. For example, a google search using the the phrase "organic gardening" brings up a number of commercial and non-commercial sites that discuss fertilizers and fertilizing. The phrase "extension organic fertilizer" brings up a number of pages on organic fertilizers by American cooperative extension services (these are affiliated with agricultural colleges), and the insertion of the English spelling of "fertiliser" will bring up Australian and European (primarily British) sites. There are vast numbers of books on organic gardening methods. British books are often more applicable than eastern North American publications to gardening in the Vancouver area. The RHS Encyclopedia of Practical gardening series "Organic Gardening" is a good basic guide, for example. Good luck!
