Fertiliser advice, please!

[muchty07]

I have recently moved to East Scotland (Fife) and need some help with my veg patch. It was full of perennial plants but I have removed these and planted my veg. However, they are not doing very well at all and I think some good fertiliser is needed. The soil is very sandy with not much substance to it, bit I am wary of using animal manure as I have heard that this can 'burn' the crops. Any advice as to what would be the best fertiliser to use would be most gratefully received. Thank you

[rustylady]

What veg are you growing Muchty? I ask because they all have different needs.

[muchty07]

I've got runner beans, sweetcorn, broad beans, leeks, carrots, potatoes, beetroot and courgettes. They're all just about growing but rather poorly looking I'm afraid - my green fingers do not seem to have travelled up the M6 very well!!

[dave_norm_smith]

Hi and welcome to the site.

You may struggle this late in the day but I suppose anything is better than nothing. Top dress with some blood, fish and bone and try and mulch with compost where you can. If you have access to comfrey as well you could spread leaves around the bed before the compost. This will break down slowly and add nutrients.

Start a compost heap and try and build up a stock of home made compost to dig in next year and improve the soil structure.

Hope it helps

Dave

[muchty07]

Thanks Dave, I'll try the blood fish and bone idea. I don't hold out much hope to improve this year's crops, but I defo want better for next year. Unfortunately, I don't have a place to put a compost bin as the last owners 'landscaped' most of the garden with flags, but luckily left a small bit for me to use for veggies! I don't have any comfrey but I'm hoping to join the local gardening club soon so may get some assistance in that quarter. Thanks again

[dave_norm_smith]

There are a bunch of people on here who successfully produce compost from bins onto flags. Worms will find a way! lol

[Potstubsdustbins]

Both my daleks are on flags and still work well.

If you are not adverse to using produced fertilizers Miracle Grow general purpose is high in nitrogen good for green growth. Whilst tomorite is high in potash good for `fruits` i.e. cougettes, spuds etc.

Colin

[muchty07]

Thank you for the advice Colin and Dave. I'll get a dalek ordered as soon as. I had two at my last house and I really miss one here. This ground of mine sure as heck needs something on it!!

Maggie

[rustylady]

As well as the Blood, fish and bone (which is fairly slow release) you could try a liquid feed of Phostrogen or Miracle Grow for a quick boost. Both can be watered over the leaves as well, whereas Tomorite or similar should be kept off the foliage.

[Snadger]

A sandy soil is a hungry soil and would benefit from lashings of organic matter.(TS may disagree with this) This will help the soil structure but you will still need to feed the soil with either a slow release balanced fertiliser or a quick release applied little and often.
Its up to you whether you use organic or inorganic............as the plants absorb nutrients at colloidal level, they don't care whether the nutrients are organic or inorganic, but you might have your own ideas.

[Two_Sheds]

A sandy soil is a hungry soil and would benefit from lashings of organic matter.(TS may disagree with this)

Not at all ~ what I disagree with is the "need" for farmyard manure. I'm on sandy soil and it's improved with home-made garden compost and green manures.

I was at the school plot today, despairing at the even worse soil there: one bed in particular (has a horse chestnut in the middle) is so bad that even weeds won't grow. I've been up there today chopping up phacelia to mulch it

[PAULW]

My present plot was like talcum powder when I first took it on, the previous tenant had constantly used a rotorvator so beating the soil to death and had never put anything back into the soil, I started by digging trenchs the width of the plot about a spit deep and six foot wide then filling the hole up with leaves manure my own compost, paper any organic material I could get hold of then cover this with the soil I had dug out, I also collect loads of manure and straw that I cover the plot where the spuds are going and leave this to break down over the winter, when the spuds are planted I cover these with a thick mulch of used straw this is then turned into the ground as I dig the spuds, it has taken about six years but the soil is now on the right side of good and holds the moisture, lots of hard work but the results are quite good.