Blood Fish & Bone v Growmore

Hi there folks. Can someone please explain what the pros and cons are of each of these fertilisers. From what I know Growmore is a man-made general purpose fertiliser, right ? BF&B is an organic general purpose fertiliser, right ? What I'd like to know is what to use and when to use it. Cheers...freddy.

 

Both are general fertilisers. As you say, Growmore is manmade, F,B and B is natural. The difference is, Growmore lasts in the soil for 7 to 10 days whereas F,B and B lasts in the soil for 4 to 6 weeks. As general feeds they can be used on any crop.

 

Ok Dai, thanks for the reply. Does it follow then that you would or should feed again after these intervals ?

 

When I plant out my cabbage for the experiment I will use Growmore every 10 to 14 days. I would use F, B and B every 4 weeks or so.

 

Great, thanks Dai. :thumb:

 

You`re welcome.:D

 

Hmmm ... I use Sulphate eof Ammonia on my Cabbages, rather than something balanced like Growmore.

My view is that Bonemeal, or B F & B tends to release its Nitrogen quickly, but the rest of it nutrients slower (which is fine) but that makes re-applications during the season a lot more tricky to calculate.

So I give a good dose of Bonemeal to all my Shrubs and Perennials in the spring, and tend to knida leave them to it thereafter.

 

Hi there Kristen. It's interesting that 'one' can ask two people the same question and get conflicting opinions, and yet they both sound perfectly feasable and reasonable Out of interest, what has led you to "My view"? Cheers...freddy.

 

Bonemeal is only one constituent of Fish, Blood and Bonemeal. Also bonemeal is high in phosphates rather than nitrogen. That is why it is used when planting shrubs. It helps encourage new root growth not new top growth.:gnthb:

 

I've had a read of both my preferred gardening books. Joy Larkham devotes 7 pages to Cabbage ... not a single mention of fertilizer in either book :(

The only mention is "Has high nitrogen requirements; an excellent crop to follow Nitrogen-fixing green manure"

 

Kristen, you and I both know EVERYTHING needs feeding. Don`t believe everything the so called experts write. There are lots of people on here with just as much knowledge as these " gardeners ", yourself included.:gnthb:

 

Hi fellas. Last year (my big learning year ) I followed some of the advice given by Dr Hessayon . One of the things that was mentioned was to apply growmore prior to planting cabbage. Obviously, I can't say for sure if it was necessary, BUT, I DID have what were to me, very good cabbages. Cheers...freddy.

 

"you and I both know EVERYTHING needs feeding"

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that they didn't need feeding AT ALL!

I'm just astonished that the books I have are silent on the matter. 7 pages just about Cabbages and NOTHING about what feed they like to eat?

If I sent a 7 page letter to a friend who was going to entertain one of my kids for THE WHOLE SEASON you can bet your bottom dollar that I would include detailed feeding instructions (although, to be fair, more about what they WON'T eat rather than that what they WILL!)

"One of the things that was mentioned was to apply growmore prior to planting cabbage"

I would go with that advice for pretty much anything. Incorporating some growmore (general fertiliser) a week or two before planting means that the soil has a nice balanced set of ingredients "prepared and ready" the moment the plants go in ...

My view is that Cabbages are Nitrogen hungry, and I would give then a high-Nitrogen feed, rather than a completely balanced feed. But I am sure that there are a score of schools of thought ... and we are probably splitting hairs. If you gave yours only balanced fertilizer, and I gave mine a High-Nitrogen feed, there would probably be only a modest difference at the end of the test - assuming my soil was reasonably hearty to start with, and didn't have zero micro nutrients

Now ... if a third person gave their Cabbages NOTHING then you would definitely notice the difference, and you wouldn't want to go to Sunday Lunch at there's and eat their pathetic yellowed cabbage leaves :D

 

As a newbie to veg growing-well vegetable I expect to eat I went with what I know and trust, fish blood and bone.


We'll have to wait and see what becomes of it.

 

The growmore thing with me and cabbage started in the 70`s when I first started growing veg. I bought the plants and someone gave me some growmore, so I used it. If you read the original cabbage thread you will find out what happened. Nowadays I would feed with S of A.:thumb: