Kitchen Garden Forum

I know this is silly but I went down the society shop the other day to get some fertilisers and came home with a bag of Blood, Fish and Bone. I then realised that I don't really know what to use it on . Please advise on which veg crops it's best for, or doesn't it matter? Dig it in early, or when they're growing? Combined with other fertiliser or on its own? Thanks.

Good morning JohnN, i'ts a fairly balanced fertiliser so, it is fine for most crops. Regarding the timing of application, i would personally use it just prior to planting crops, this stops the worry of it leaching from your soil. I always try and use muck and homemade compost as well, but this goes on, or in the ground over the winter.

Just my way of doing things, of course.

I'll endorse OH on this, I use FBB a lot and apply as a general fertiliser before planting and as a steady boost during the growing season if anything's being a bit slow. A good all rounder.

MW

I use FBB a lot, and rake it into the soil a couple of weeks before planting.

FBB is fairly slow release, so keeps on boosting crops for a few months. I use it as a general top dressing, add a couple of handfuls in the hole when planting shrubs, fruit trees etc., and add a generous sprinkle round all the fruit trees and bushes in March.

I have to make sure FBB is well dug in when I use it in the garden at home around the bases of the raspberry canes, the dogs love eating it but we don't like the result they produce

Fellow allotmenteer had her raised bed totally emptied by a fox after applying fbb, little b***** thought there was a corpse of something in there.

Can well believe it Peter

Yes, Peter, I had to stop using bonemeal years ago, for the same reason.
Regards,
Gerry.

Am I right in thinking that Growmore is virtually the same chemical composition as fish, blood and bone, in other words, it's just the 'artificial' version of the more 'natural' one? I usually use Growmore for quicker results and FBB for more long-term use.

I was going to say the main difference is price then I calculated what I have just paid.

Growmore is 7:7:7 and cost me £17.00 for 25 Kgs
FBB is 5:5:6.5 and cost me £12.75 for 25 Kgs

For the same Nitrogen content the FBB would cost £17.85 so not that much different. I usually use some of each for crops that are in the ground a long time as the FBB is slower release.

I bought a pallet load of stuff from Gro-Well Direct which was expensive to ship at £36.00 but it was worth it (compared to Gordon Rigg in 10% off sale) but it means I have to store it dry for next season and hopefully beyond. I bought Clover Pro Seed & Modular Compost and Clover Multipurpose (for this year only) at the same time and they seem to be excellent quality peat based composts. If a few can get together I would recommend using them (I think their prices have just gone up a little).