Liquid Fertiliser

[Bulldog]

Can anyone recommend a good liquid fertiliser for my veg plants that have just sprouted up from seed, just want to give them a good start?

[Nicos]

I've moved the thread so more peeps will see it!

[Alison]

They shouldn't really need anything if they've only just sprouted. At this time of year I assume you're talking about in compost indoors, if so the compost will keep them going until they need potting on. If you are talking about outside then it's best to ensure sufficient nutrients in your soil and I usually don't start feeding until the plants are a reasonable size / fruiting depending on the plant. When I do feed, I don't really buy in fertiliser and use watered down worm wee (from my wormery), comfrey or nettle tea although occaisionally use tomato feed on the relevant crop but as I say, not at this time of year.

[scarletrunner]

Agree with alison,miracle grow is a good general liquid feed when plants are established.

[Kristen]

Yup. I would be careful not to overfeed them whilst the daylight is still weak & short-days, they will grow too much and won't have enough light to make themselves grow strong.

If you are weeding a plot, ready for them, put the weed roots in a bucket of water and in a few weeks time you can use that as feed - the weeds will have pulled up all sorts of good nutrients into their roots from deep down

When it comes time to feed I tend to use Miracle Grow for the plants I have growing-on (I vacillate for plants in containers - sometimes using Phostrogen - not really given too much thought about which might be more suitable, but I think Miracle Grow is higher on Nitrogen, and thus would suit growing plants more than flowering / fruiting ones.

For Tomatoes and Cucumbers etc. in the greenhouse I use a proprietary liquid feed (high in Potash), but I don't start until the first fruits have set. I buy Brand-X as I did a calculation some years ago and the well known brand names, like Tomarite, worked out a LOT more expensive.

[Two_Sheds]

You don't want to be feeding little baby seedlings.

What compost are you using? A lot of them have about 6 wks of fertiliser in them anyway ... after that, feed if necessary. You need to use high potash (comfrey tea is the homemade version) for flowers & fruit or high nitrogen for leafy veg (nettle feed and/or comfrey)

[Aberdeenplotter]

liquid seaweed is excellent for young seedlings and encourages them to make strong root growth. I use maxicrop original, diluted, one capful per litre and applied after watering well the previous evening.

[chucks]

I've just sown some comfrey seeds.

Does anyone use the comfrey liquid feed and if so is it any good?

[Alison]

I've just sown some comfrey seeds.

Does anyone use the comfrey liquid feed and if so is it any good?

Yes, lots of us have already mentioned it in this thread. I make up tonnes of the stuff for tomatoes and other fruiting plants - stinks but is brilliant stuff. Nettles are good too for the relavent plants

[oldie]

Lots of us use comfrey tea and yes it is good stuff. I use some of the leaves as a mulch and the rest goes in a strong mesh plastic bag suspended in a water filled rubbish bin. Don't keep it to near the shed or house as it smells.

[Two_Sheds]

Does anyone use the comfrey liquid feed and if so is it any good?

Yes and yes. There are 70 plus old threads about comfrey if you want to browse them. Here's one: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ipe_45112.html

[Shadylane]

I've just sown some comfrey seeds.

Be careful if it's from seed because it spreads like wildfire - apparently. You'll be fine as long as you don't let it go to seed, ie keep chopping it back but ideally you want Bocking14 (as it's sterile) which you can get from root cuttings.

[chucks]

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to finding out how bad the smell actually is

[Two_Sheds]

Well you really don't want to spill any down your wellies

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to finding out how bad the smell actually is

Our grandkids used to dare each other to lift the lid