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Garden Gate:  Fertilizer for Container Garden & Houseplants  |
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mandi
Farmgirl in Training
21 Posts
Amanda
Nashville
Tennessee
USA
21 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 11 2008 : 08:24:08 AM
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I have a rather black-thumb when it comes to gardening, but I decided I'd give it another shot this year...
I live in an apartment, but I have a nice patio so I thought I could do a small container herb-garden. So far I have a small sweet basil plant, a large lavender plant, and a kit that came with seeds for parsley, sweet basil, and chives.
I was wondering, aside from watering regularly and not over-watering, is there any natural/organic fertilizer that I could use to help my plants along? Or, for that matter, is there any that I could use on my house plants (I have a spider-plant that is rather small and sad-looking, and I just got an aloe plant)?
My Farmgirl Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com/farmgirl
My Knitting Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2008 : 09:39:11 AM
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| Hey, Mandi! NEVER say die about gardening! Success is right around the corner, don't you worry! Herbs need lots of sunshine so the patio is a great place for them; when you see your basil plant begin to put up its flower stalks (looks like coleus flower stalks) pinch them off as the leaf production will slow way down. But if you cook with it regularly you won't have that problem. I like to use fish emulsion as fertilizer. It smells a little fishy at first (ha, could not resist!) but it is a good gentle basic plant food. Herbs don't like alot of feeding, so if you have good potting soil, maybe once per month or every two weeks diluted more than the bottle says. Maybe the spider plant needs a little more light and perhaps fresh potting soil. Aloes are great for minor kitchen burns, and don't need much water so let them dry out a bit in between waterings. Good indirect sunshine is great for them, too. Happy planting! Nance |
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mandi
Farmgirl in Training
21 Posts
Amanda
Nashville
Tennessee
USA
21 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2008 : 10:09:22 AM
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Wow, Nancy. Thanks for all the fantastic advice!
I will try moving the spider plant -- I bet you're spot-on about it needing more light, because it only gets indirect light where it's at right now. Hopefully it will perk up!
I'm going to look into the fish emulsion stuff. Is that something you make yourself, or you buy? I know when I was at the store I saw some kind of liquid fertilizer that was "fish-based" but I'm not sure if that was it or not...?
My Farmgirl Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com/farmgirl
My Knitting Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2008 : 04:54:55 AM
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| Hey again, Mandi! Nope, I don't make the fish emulsion fertilizer and usually can find it at "big box" Home Depot or Lowe's type stores, also department stores like K Mart in their garden section. I buy it in a bottle and you pour a coupla capfuls in your watering can and then give your green babies a good drink. Yep, if your spider plant has very pale color green in its leaves, it certainly would benefit from more light. Hope you have a fun summer playing with your plants! Hugs, Nance |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2008 : 04:58:29 AM
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| P.S. I peeked at your knitting blog; you are so talented! I LOVE the "jonquil" colored Nanner socks!!!! Beautiful work. |
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country lawyer
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
1022 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2008 : 05:08:58 AM
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Amanda, I used "worm castings." They are available are garden centers and even at our local Ingles. You'll see them called worm casings as well. This year, I'm using the brand Terracycle with good results. It's my first year of container gardening and I'm very pleased.
By the way, there is a Farmgirl on the Connection who has worms and uses the castings from them. If you are intersted, do a search on the Forum. Very interesting stuff. |
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mandi
Farmgirl in Training
21 Posts
Amanda
Nashville
Tennessee
USA
21 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 09:01:17 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Nance in France
P.S. I peeked at your knitting blog; you are so talented! I LOVE the "jonquil" colored Nanner socks!!!! Beautiful work.
Aw thanks  You're too sweet :)
My Farmgirl Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com/farmgirl
My Knitting Blog - http://www.mandiknits.com |
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Garden Gate: Fertilizer for Container Garden & Houseplants |
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Fertilizer for Container Garden & Houseplants
