kelp fertilizer recommendation

[greenthumbomaha]

Well we are in the same boat. I'll end up storing one along with my other "bargains". After 59 posts we need to go with something. I hate to put money into a hole if it is of no benefit. I thought it was panacea for seedlings. The foliar spray sounds good if no other suggestions come along.

- Lisa

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Let me know when you figure out what to do with the kelp. I still have no idea. Maybe I will foliar feed the family melon crop.

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Well we are in the same boat. I'll end up storing one along with my other "bargains". After 59 posts we need to go with something. I hate to put money into a hole if it is of no benefit. I thought it was panacea for seedlings. The foliar spray sounds good if no other suggestions come along.

- Lisa

So this was Espoma Kelp Meal that you bought?
Kelp Meal is used as a soil conditioner, good food source for beneficial microbes in the soil, not useful for foliar application since it is not soluble.

Kelp Extracts, either liquid extracts or soluble powder can be used for foliar or drench. Can be used in combination with other liquid fertilizers. They have been shown in a number of studies to increase uptake of certain micronutrients as well as other benefits.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile...4edbad00a7.pdf

[Cole_Robbie]

Yes, it's Espoma. Thanks for the help, Ray. I will take your advice.

[bower]

We used a commercial kelp meal at the farm, for potassium. That's the element that makes your tomatoes sweet.
Personally I think kelp in the soil also helps with the stress tolerance, but the data supports foliar for that, I don't think root absorption has been looked into much.

Menhaden is a fish we don't have here, they don't come this far north. Capelin is our big fertilizer fish and they are not oily at all. Breaks down incredibly fast in the soil. Traditionally applied around potato plants before hilling them (trenching we call it, or make a trench to heap soil over the capelin and around the plants). Two months later you're digging potatoes and there isn't a shred of fish or bones to be found, which is saying something in a cool climate.

I have buried oilier fish (mackerel) and found them still whole six months later! (in a shady spot). But many salmon heads and guts also buried deep in the garden for long term feed of perennials.
bjbebs is spot on that the guts are the fastest thing to go back to the soil. I never gut fish without a plan to bury that waste in the garden.
I have used fish guts in containers late winter, where I replanted juvenile leeks on top being overwintered for seed. They surely loved it.

[greenthumbomaha]

Great tips, thank-you. Who doesn't want good soil and sweet tomatoes Now I regret not having bought more!

- Lisa

[OzoneNY]

so, from the "For what its worth" column...
The method for 2017 is the Alaska fish fert off the shelf at big box Depot and the Alaska kelp liquid I got from some other local garden center.
This is the stuff I used
https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Pennin...elp+plant+food
NO miracle grow. Only fertilizer I used was some Tomato tone that was mixed in with the soil at the time I transplanted.
I used the kelp and fish fert every 10 days or so at one TBS per gallon. So... The first pic is the day after plant out day on March 19th 2017
The following pics were taken almost exactly 5 weeks later.
IMG_0037.jpg

Not bad for 5 weeks growth
IMG_0158.jpg
IMG_0162.jpg
IMG_0163.jpg

[Cole_Robbie]

Nice setup. Is it squirrels that you are screening out?

[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Nice setup. Is it squirrels that you are screening out?

Birds
No squirrels in my neighborhood, but we do have rats.

[tnkrer]

So update on fish/kelp fertilizer

I used gs plant foods fish and kelp blend for two years.

After the fertlizer was used, (not foliar, I only used while watering the plants) Usually I noticed that the plants looked greener and healthier (perkier?) after they received the fertilizer. So it seems to work well. I could not tell if it worked better than other fertilizers I had used, (Texas Tomato Food or Foliage Pro). In terms of yields, I do not have any control experiment to report bigger/better yields

One con was, this particular fertilizer keeps releasing foul smelling gas. (rotten eggs smell) And not diluted fertilizer, the gallon of concentrate. I had reported earlier that the jug was highly pressurized when it came to me from shipping and injured my finger when I opened the jug. So it seems that it continues to release this gas all the time. And it smells awful. After I have watered the plants with the fert, If I am not careful, (work without gloves, get it on my shirt etc) I stink for a day or two. If I am very careful, I only stink for couple of hours. So I will not buy this again due to this foul odor that it generates.

Neptune harvest fish/kelp users, do you experience such smell issues with your fertilizer? In the second year of the concentrate bottle's life?

[RayR]

Originally Posted by tnkrer

So update on fish/kelp fertilizer

I used gs plant foods fish and kelp blend for two years.

After the fertlizer was used, (not foliar, I only used while watering the plants) Usually I noticed that the plants looked greener and healthier (perkier?) after they received the fertilizer. So it seems to work well. I could not tell if it worked better than other fertilizers I had used, (Texas Tomato Food or Foliage Pro). In terms of yields, I do not have any control experiment to report bigger/better yields

One con was, this particular fertilizer keeps releasing foul smelling gas. (rotten eggs smell) And not diluted fertilizer, the gallon of concentrate. I had reported earlier that the jug was highly pressurized when it came to me from shipping and injured my finger when I opened the jug. So it seems that it continues to release this gas all the time. And it smells awful. After I have watered the plants with the fert, If I am not careful, (work without gloves, get it on my shirt etc) I stink for a day or two. If I am very careful, I only stink for couple of hours. So I will not buy this again due to this foul odor that it generates.

Neptune harvest fish/kelp users, do you experience such smell issues with your fertilizer? In the second year of the concentrate bottle's life?

No, liquid fish hydrolysates, fish emulsions or kelp should not produce any gases in the bottle. To prevent bacterial or fungal growth in the bottle that would cause gases to form they are stabilized with a sufficient amount of Phosphoric Acid. I would report that problem to GS Plant Foods.

[bower]

If you throw kelp into a bucket and let it rot that's the smell you get. Liquifies and yow rotten eggs. Not a pleasant way to use kelp. And fish guts is even worse The smell you can't get rid of. Better to bury it and let it rot sweetly in the ground.
Here are some pics of the kelp I got this spring and the coarse kelp meal I made for my container tomatoes as I do every year. The seaweed was a mix of stuff what happened to be on the beach. It was a bit dry and on a sunny day I spread it out to get really crispy. Then I put a good pair of gloves on and crush it up with my hands. This seems to be the easiest way for me to deal with raw kelp. I have chopped it when fresh which is a lot of work. It is even worse to try chopping or breaking when it is half dried.. you have to get it really crispy dry and crush it in the moment. High humidity or a bit of fog and it will absorb the moisture and gets leathery and impossible to break again.
The other option is to bag and let it rot for a full year and then use the powder as a semi-soluble fert. This doesn't smell much at all either.

[tnkrer]

Thanks bower and RayR. I did let GS plant Foods know about this problem. Hopefully they can fix it in their product. I will move on to the Neptune Harvest fertilizer which seems to be very highly regarded.

So about half gallon that is left, I am thinking that I will dump it in my garden plot (dig 6 inch deep holes spread over the garden plot, and dump couple of ounces, cover with dirt ) at the end of this garden season.
1. Will this help/hurt?
2. If it helps, is spring just before planting better time to do it ?

[bower]

You can put it in the ground any time and afaik shouldn't harm anything. To get rid of any lingering smell just water it a few times and that will sink away into the ground.
The bad smell is from anaerobic decomposition in most cases, so for most things getting it into an aerated situation is going to cause that to dissipate anyway, although I find watering makes the biggest difference. I had a bucket of shrimp meal "stinky present" left over from last year and this is what i did this spring, spread it on two beds in need of conditioning, added a layer of horse manure and then some soil to cover all that a few inches. Watered thoroughly two or three times, smell gone. Beans and beets growing on it now.

I always pick a cool day to do those smelly things because in the heat it smells worse and drives the flies nuts as well. Preferably a day before it's going to rain, then your smell will be well washed away with the least personal effort. So you might want to wait until autumn (or spring).

[KarenO]

Is there a lot of salt in it?
KarenO

[RayR]

I would just dilute it down as normal and let it get some oxygen and spread it around. The rotten egg smell is Hydrogen Sulfide which is a volatile gas that dissipates quickly.