Changing to organic feed via drip feed system

[Workslave]

Hi all
I have used a self watering system for 4 years or so with chemical fertiliser
Now that I have an allotment I d really like to start using organic fertilisers
Im not sure the best way to go about this with a drip feed watering system

Do I just top mulch chicken manure pellets or mix it into the compost?
What works for you that you'd recommend?

Thanks
Steve

[toomanytommytoes]

In pots I blend chicken pellets or fish/blood/bone in with the compost so it's throughout the mixture. In raised beds I scratch the pellets/meal into the top inch or so of the soil and water it in.

[Small pumpkin]

I do the same as toomanytommytoes.

[Workslave]

Ok thanks for replies
I should have said this is mostly fruits in the polytunnel so I assume the advice would be more FBB for those?

I grow in ~2 gallon pots, roughly how much of each would you put into a pot that size? and how long would it last until it needs feeding?
Thanks
Steve

[Bluenowhere]

You can use seaweed which is an organic fertiliser, comes as liquid or pellets. You can add the pellets to compost or add the liquid to a drip watering system or watering can.

[rary]

Hello Steve, you could make your own liquid feed by making what is called adle, put some manure and an old rusty nail into a sack or an old pair of tights (sheep's dropping actually makes the best adle) then let it steep in a tub of water for three or four weeks, then Start adding the liquid into a bucket of water, you want to have a mix that has the coupler of weak tea, they s can then be fed to your plants

[toomanytommytoes]

Ok thanks for replies
I should have said this is mostly fruits in the polytunnel so I assume the advice would be more FBB for those?

I grow in ~2 gallon pots, roughly how much of each would you put into a pot that size? and how long would it last until it needs feeding?
Thanks
Steve

They're both pretty similar in terms of NPK values, chicken pellets perhaps a little higher in nitrogen and FBB in phosphorous. For amounts I take the recommended value per square metre from the instructions then divide it by 25 to get a number of grams per litre. For fruiting plants I don't feed again until fruit set and instead use comfrey liquid or generic tomato fertiliser.

[MyWifesBrassicas]

I once made a drip feeder using a soaker hose.
I filled a "fine" sack full of comfrey and nettles and dunked it into a barrel full of water, left it for a couple of weeks.
when i initially turned on the soaker hose, it worked beautifully, then after a couple of days,it stopped working. I discovered the nutritional brew had grown bacteria, (probably good bacteria) and clogged the soaker hose preventing it from soaking.
If your using a drip system with "larger holes" then they shouldnt clog

[rary]

Should have said that the adle can increase in strength as it sits, that is why you go with the colour rather than a measured amount being added to the water, and to avoid any blockage in drip pipes that MyWifesBrassicas had, filter the adle through a couple of layers of tights

[Snoop Puss]

If you've got solid feed, what I'd do is mix it in and then use hay or some such as a mulch over the top to stop your irrigation water evaporating.