Garden Basics 130 Easier Plant Feeding with Fertigation
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Farmer Fred
Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.
Farmer Fred
How are you fertilizing your plants? Do you go out every month, or every week, with a watering can, fertilizer and a teaspoon? Or, are you tossing granules on the ground around your plants and then raking them gently into the soil, without harming your plants, of course, and then watering in those fertilizer granules? Time consuming! Want some time back to do something else? Then, today’s podcast is for you. It’s all about fertigation. We’ll explain, on episode 130 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots.
And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go!
Andrew in Elk Grove
Hi Fred, this is Andrew from Elk Grove, California, calling with a question for you and Steve Zien. I guess part one of this question is, I'm using a drip system for the garden, that I've been fertilizing through a siphon mixer, I've been mixing all organic fish emulsion and seaweed extract to the right proportions via the siphon mixer, which is a great time saver for the garden. So, question one for you and Steve is: Do you have any product recommendations for the most effective concentration of fertilizer and ascophyllum nodosum seaweed for the garden and a good price point, like the most cost effective products, recommendations or just general tips? And then two: I'm thinking about putting in a fertigation system. Are there any products or recommendations you guys have for concentrations or certain soluble substance or products to look out for that aren't gonna, you know, clog up the emitters or anything like that. Anyway, Fred, keep up the good work. appreciate everything you do. Thank you.
Farmer Fred
I'm gonna wait for the dogs to stop barking. Well, that's certainly beyond garden basics, but it's still important. It's basically an easier way to fertilize your garden, through this thing called fertigation. What's that all about? Let's bring in the legend, Steve Zien. Actually, it's Steve Zien, Sacramento's organic advocate, he has been preaching soil health for I would say probably 45 years or more. Mr. Z, what about all this fertigation stuff now? You've been touting actually, the siphon appliance, if you will, that Andrew talked about.
Steve Zien
Yeah, I've been using, a hose siphon commercially for 45 years. And we're basically what a host siphon is I make it easy using a siphon injector. And that's a little different, but it's the same basic principle. A hose siphon is less expensive and easier to use. But basically, you hook the siphon, or hose siphon to your spigot. It is usually the easiest way to do that, you put a concentration of fertilizer, in a container with all the stuff in it. It's just typically a bucket. And the host siphon or the siphon mixture will tell you the dilution rate. And if it's like six to one, in that bucket or container, you have to make that concentration or fertilizer stronger. Because what happens is you'll put a little, a little hose down into that bucket. And then when you turn on the water on your hose, the water propelling past that siphon, will suck up some of the fertilizer in that container, and then it'll come out the end of the hose. And that can be emitters, that can be a nozzle. I used a nozzle to apply foliar fertilizer. And if you make sure that you get fertilizer that's not gonna clog up your host siphon, or your siphon mixer, or if you're using a drip system, your emitters, it works very, very effectively. You just have to be very careful. The kinds of fertilizers that you use will completely dissolve, or they're going to plug up the system.
Farmer Fred
Alright, let's talk a little bit about that siphon recipe you're talking about there. For people trying to do math in their head and listen too, talk a little bit about the siphon devices. They are fairly inexpensive. They're available at good nurseries. And like I say, one end connects to your hose faucet, and another part goes into the bucket. And then you fill the bucket with the concoction. And you talked about a ratio. So let's say it's a two gallon bucket talking about the particular fertilizer you use. And how much of it you put in, in, say a two gallon bucket if that's what you use.
Steve Zien
I use a five gallon bucket, or I did when I was doing it commercially. Let's just say it's a one gallon bucket, and the directions say a tablespoon per gallon. And the host syphon says a concentration is six to one. So you have to make that fertilizer concoction six times stronger because it's going to be diluted. And so instead of a tablespoon per gallon, you would add six tablespoons per gallon in that container. Be sure to stir it up. One of the things with a hose siphon, the nozzle has to be one that conserves water because it's all based on flow. So you need a fair amount of flow in order for that hose siphon to work. That's the advantage of the the siphon mixers. They don't need as much flow, and they're much more expensive. So you will need to utilize a nozzle. The ones that I like to use, they look like a small fire hose nozzle, they open it up and let that water flow. And you'll see that if the hose siphon is working, the liquid in that container will go down.
Farmer Fred
Okay, well, yeah. And what you're talking about is a very commonly available brass nozzle that you can adjust from completely off and into a cone shape or into a jet shape as far as the flow of the water.
Steve Zien
Right. And you do that by turning the nozzle. Right. Okay.
Farmer Fred
And if you turn it all the way the other way, I think it comes apart. No. And when you turn it, actually it does, yes. Well, if you turn it mostly all the other way, it flows out, but not strongly. It's a big flow, but it's not like pressurized, right? Yeah. And that's where you would set it?
Steve Zien
Well, yeah. I mean, you want to get close to that. You can open it so it's a more of a fine spray, it needs to be open fairly wide. It's hard to say, each nozzle is different. And so when you're trying it out, if you're trying to do a foliar feed, you want to be somewhat of a mist, or a fine spray. So open it up, so it's not quite a fine mist. And I would just use, your trial with water and see what kind of spray, how much you have to turn that nozzle to have it suck the water into in through the hose. Also, you can only use like, in most cases, a 50 or 75 foot hose, I probably suggest a 50 foot hose. Because the longer the hose, the less volume you're going to get, believe it or not, no pressure.
Farmer Fred
Fear not the manufacturer of the siphon devices, because you can use whatever fertilizer you want in that. There is one very popular siphon device that's made by a very popular synthtic commercial fertilizer company, but it's still it's a good device.
Steve Zien
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You. The trick is, it needs to be 100% water soluble.
Farmer Fred
Yeah. So what fertilizer Do you use? You can't be using fish emulsion in there.
Steve Zien
No, you can't use fish emulsion. I was surprised that, if I recall correctly, Andrew was saying he was using fish emulsion. By regulation, it needs to be a large percentage of solids. And typically they're 50% solid. And they will clog up your drip lines, they will clog up your host siphons. And so I use what's called a fish hydrolysate. It's made different. Instead of heating it, they use low heat. It's digested by enzymes, which keeps the product more biologically active and you actually get more more bang for your buck. The brand that I use is from Peaceful Valley. It's their liquid fish fertilizer. And then the seaweed that I use, and I highly recommend, is Maxi Crop seaweed and you want to use the liquid.
Farmer Fred
And let's clear up something that Andrew said that may have people scratching their head. he gave the species name for that particular kelp, that's in Maxicrop. And you pronounce it.
Steve Zien
Ascophylum nodosum. And when you buy a seaweed fertilizer, that's the thing you want to make sure. Somewhere on the label, it will say "materials derived from". And it should say ascophyllum nodosum. And ideally, you don't want it to say anything else. There are some seaweed fertilizers that contain synthetic materials. And as far as I'm concerned, you want to go organic. And so make sure it's an organic product and the one I used for 45 years. And a lot of the research that was done on seaweed fertilizers was done with Maxi crop, and I highly recommend that material.
Farmer Fred
But that's just one component of the fertilizer.
Steve Zien
In the Maxicrop, the only thing that's in there is ascophyllum nodosum. Right?
Farmer Fred
And that's just micronutrients really, isn't it?
Steve Zien
55 trace minerals, vitamins, growth hormones. And the unique thing about the seaweed fertilizers, the ascophyllum nodosum: those things that I just listed you will not find in any other fertilizer, and those are things your plants need there. It's been amazing. Over my 45 years, when I've done a consultation and the plants were looking sick, and I would apply a fresh fertilizer that would be fish hydrolysate along with the kelp, the plants would turn around within 30 days. I'm convinced that every time that it wasn't so much the nitrogen and the fish, but it was the trace minerals. Trace minerals are considered essential nutrients there, you know, not every plant needs it all the time. But there are times, when in that plant's growth cycle, that it needs some of those trace minerals in very, very small amounts. And so when you apply that to the plant, it makes the plant healthy and happy very, very quickly, when you apply it to the foliage. It's much more rapidly integrated into the entire plant from root to leaf, in this case, from leaf to root versus when you apply it to the ground, it can take 30 days to get up to the leaves. While if you apply the fertilizer to the foliage, it'll get throughout that plant within 24 to 48 hours.
Farmer Fred
Let's stress one thing you did say about when you're using that siphon: that it should be a liquid product, not a powdered product. And if you go to grow organic dot com, which is Peaceful Valley Farm Supply's website, you're gonna see a lot of fish fertilizers, and then you got to figure out okay, which ones are going to have some good flow, especially in drip irrigation systems?
Steve Zien
Yeah, well, actually, some of the powders do dilute very, very well, and can be used in drip systems. And using siphon devices, you just have to make sure you get the right one. One of the things you just mentioned the Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, the grow organic dot com website, they also have a what's called a "fertilizer solution chart". And they actually list all of the fertilizers that they sell, and it lists whether they are certified organic, and almost all of them are, and then they've got a column that says "solution grade for fertigation". And so if that fertilizer is checked off in that column, you can use it. And some of those are powdered materials. And so when you're using that powder material, what you need to do is first dilute that. With that powder, or granular or whatever it or dust into a container, mix it with water as recommended. And stir it up really, really good to get it in complete suspension. And dilution. Actually, it goes out of suspension and should totally dissolve.
Farmer Fred
Again, that website he mentioned, the page is the "fertilizer solution chart" that is up on the Peaceful Valley farm supply website. I'll have a link to it in today's show notes. But basically, I found the easiest way to do it, instead of trying to search through the Peaceful Valley website, is just Google "fertilizer solution chart Peaceful Valley" and it pops right up. And there there are a lot of fertilizers listed on this. Yeah, 9,10, 11,12, 13,15, 16,17, 18,19, 20,21, 22,23, 24, 25 different fertilizer combinations that are suitable for fertigation, then that would work on a drip system.
Steve Zien
Yes. And those are just just the ones that they sell. There are others out there as well.
Farmer Fred
All right, obviously, you want to match the fertilizer for whatever crop you're going.
Farmer Fred
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Farmer Fred
Now I think more and more, this is just a little side note, is that when it comes to permanent crops, like fruit trees or bearing shrubs, that sometimes just four inches of mulch may be all you need for a consistent crop. Now when it comes to annual crops, yeah, you probably do want to add fertilizer for a single growing season.
Steve Zien
When we're faced with those kinds of recommendations, I think that's fine once you get your soil in shape and your soil, you know, is happy and healthy with those microbes. And so I think some fertilizer as per a soil test is very helpful in the beginning and then put down good quality compost and my favorite, earthworm castings. You know what can happen is that, for example, we have numerous days of over 100 degree temperatures and maybe throw in a little bit of smoke, I mean that those two things happen so rarely here in California.
Farmer Fred
He's being facetious, folks.
Steve Zien
And so it stresses the plant. When the plant is stressed, even though you have a happy healthy soil, the plants aren't capable of absorbing the nutrients like they normally would. And so applying a liquid fertilizer to the leaves like a liquid fish mixed with seaweed, the plants gonna get everything it needs. So it'll help your plant get through those stressful times. Even if you have a healthy soil, where you got the biology all working, happy and healthy, getting the nutrients to the plants. When the plants aren't happy, due to stress, the foliar fertilizer can make a big difference over that stressful time.
Farmer Fred
Now without starting a foliar feeding argument here, I will say that one benefit of foliar feeding is, in smoky situations, it washes the ash off the leaves, which will improve photosynthesis, and just rinsing your leaves off is going to minimize pest problems, too.
Steve Zien
Very much so. Especially things like mites. Another thing that I really like about foliar feeding, is it gets you out in the garden and landscape. And so you're looking at your plants. And if you do this once a month, which is what I did commercially for my clients, I looked at the plants very carefully as I was spraying them. And if they didn't look quite right, I put my sprayer down. And I went over there and looked at the leaves and examined the stems and looked for pest problems, looked for symptoms of disease. And that way you can, you know, often catch the problem before it gets to be a serious issue. And you can deal with it as necessary.
Farmer Fred
And that's a very good piece of advice for summertime vegetable gardening, because if you do inspect your plants carefully, you're sure to find a baseball bat-sized zucchini. For the cows or whatever.
Steve Zien
Now, the big ones are nice. I used to take the big ones, slice them up crosswise. So they were like little tree circles. And if you're put them on a cookie sheet and put a little bit of cheese on them, heat them up so that cheese just melts, they're pretty yummy that way.
Farmer Fred
You mentioned worm castings, and a lot of people are into vermicomposting, of having a worm bin. And that's another great use for those oversized zucchinis, is to chop them up in little pieces and feed them to the worms.
Steve Zien
I've got worms sitting behind me right now,
Farmer Fred
I don't doubt that in the least. When it comes to fertigation. A lot of people may not realize, but if they have a drip system already installed, they may have a y-filter on that drip system. It's like a little container that sort of comes down at a 45 degree angle at the valve where that dripline is attached to. And you may notice that there's a little cap on it that you can undo. And you can actually undo the whole thing too. But you can undo that bottom cap to drain the system and, and clean the filter out or unscrew the whole thing. And you could put fertilizer inside that.
Steve Zien
Yep. Again, you need to read the the manufacturer's directions so that you know how to dilute it. And don't think just because we're Americans, that adding a little is good, a lot would be better. And that true, follow label directions on the product and then you look at the device that you're using as a siphon, and multiply it appropriately
Farmer Fred
As one who has worked with drip irritation for 30 years or more, the big lesson I learned about using that y-filter for fertilizing is make sure that it is compatible with a drip irrigation system. Otherwise, you run a big risk of clogging up the emitters. And with any fertilizer you use in that Y-filter on a drip system, I would at least once a month if not every other week, undo the end caps on all your drip lines and flush out the system.
Steve Zien
Yeah that's really important. You should. When you're adding fertilizer through your drip system or any kind of equipment, even your siphons, when you are done adding the fertilizer, run water through the entire system. Peaceful Valley Farm Supply has a material called Therm X 70 Yucca Extract, it is organic, and they actually recommend using that and running that through your system to clean out the system, the siphons as well as the emitters, after you've fertilized.
Farmer Fred
Now we should point out that you are not a paid spokesman for Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. You just like putting money into Patti's pocket?
Steve Zien
Well, they have, I will admit, they have been good to me. But they do their research. They're one of the best suppliers of organic type products and products for the garden and farm. And the stuff that they sell, they make sure that it works and it does a really good job.
Farmer Fred
We'll have a link to grow organic dot com as well, on today's show notes too, if you want to look that up. Well, we've learned a lot about fertigation. And fertilizing is part of garden basics and fertigation just eases that process and cuts down the amount of time you have to spend fertilizing. Because if if you're in the habit of taking your one gallon or two gallon watering can and putting a couple of tablespoons of fertilizer in water and running around and doing each plant and doing that over and over again, that takes up a lot of time. But with a siphon system or a fertigation system, that certainly eases the fertilizer process. But again, let's point out one very important thing you said: And that is, spend time with your plants. Get out there, observe, touch your plants, feel your plants, smell your plants, look at them, check them out,
Steve Zien
Talk to them. Yeah, there is research now that says that they, the plants, hear you and that they respond to you. Yeah, you don't believe me? There's not a lot of research, but I think it will grow. And I think, five, 600 years down the line, hopefully less, I think we will learn to communicate with plants. We now know that plants communicate with each other.
Farmer Fred
Oh, yeah, we saw that movie. Yes. Yes. What's her face? There's a big movie. (Avatar) There's a whole bunch of them out there. Yeah, it was starring that woman who had aliens in another movie (Sigourney Weaver). Never mind, I don't know.
Steve Zien
But also, Andrew wanted to know about cost effectiveness. And I do know, I did want to say something about that. A lot of people go for the cheapest stuff. There's going to be five, six, fish fertilizers. And you want to save money. The inexpensive stuff is, it's typically inexpensive, because it's not very good. The more expensive stuff does not necessarily mean that it's better. So, you know, before you go to the store, do some research and find out which ones are good.
Farmer Fred
And what should you look for on the label that would indicate it's a quality product? What would be in it that would ease the fertigation process?
Steve Zien
The sad thing is fertigation is relatively, I won't say new, but it hasn't been adapted very much. And so you're not going to be able to find on the labels that it's suitable for fertigation in most cases. But just the quality of the fertilizer itself, the best way to tell is look where it says "nutrients derived from". For example, there are some fish fertilizers that you would think fish is organic, but they'll contain things like urea, and phosphoric acid. And so they're adding things to the fish emulsion. And really, that's not what you want. In most cases, those additives or in many cases, they're not organic, and can do damage to your soil biology and the biology that's living on your on the plant leaves.
Farmer Fred
There we go. Anything more we shouldn't mention?
Steve Zien
Just know to do your research. When you're buying a fish fertilizer, I don't want to get don't get the emulsion. And when you buy seaweed product, it needs to contain ascophylum nodosum. And that should be the only thing that's in there.
Farmer Fred
He's been doing this for a long, long, long, long time. He is the John the Baptist of Northern California's Organic Gardening community. Talking about the (soil) savior that's coming. And finally the world's caught up to you.
Steve Zien
Yeah, it's kind of exciting. I mean, even Farmer Fred has changed his ways, from the first few times that we were on the air together.
Farmer Fred
That was many decades ago.
Steve Zien
Yes, it was.
Farmer Fred
Yes, it was, Alright, fine. Steve Zien is with Living Resources Company. Good advice on fertilizing your plants. Steve, thanks so much.
Steve Zien
It's been fun Fred, as always. Thanks.
Farmer Fred
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Farmer Fred
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