Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Bone meal or Fish bone and blood??

I have planted some flowering shrubs in my garden. Come early spring what do I sprinkle around them. I read about General fertiliser, Bone meal, Fish and Bone, manure...the list is endless.please help...from one very confused woman! Thank you

«134

Posts

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267

    BFB contains phosphate, good for root growth. Nitrogen, good for top growth and green foliage and potash, good for flower colour,and ripening of fruit and veg.

    Bone contains phosphate and nitrogen, good for bulbs, shrubs, roses and fruits like strawberries.

    Manures improve the soil structure and helps with moisture retention in the soil.  

    BFB is a good all round fertilizer, and my preference, although I'm using bone this year for bulbs to see if there's a difference and was going to sprinkle it round the alpine strawberries I've grown.

    I also use manure but this needs to be well rotted down which means keeping it for a year to rot down before using on your flower beds.

    Hope this hasn't confused you more, I guess it's a case of choosing your poisonimage.

  • I use chicken pellets and BFB. I did'nt realise Growmore was caustic Verdun.

  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    Deplete the soil and caustic Verdun??-sorry but I have to disagree-I feel you are going to have to justify that statement-this is news to me

    Organic based fertilisers do feed the soil, artificial fertiliser do feed the plant but they do not deplete the soil and caustic makes it sound like a bad thing,

    All fertilisers contain NPK in different amounts it just depends on what is needed as to what you should use

    Growmore or National Growmore as it was originally called is a useful and cheap all round fertiliser developed in the 1940's as part of the Dig For Victory campaign and has by used by millions of gardeners gardeners since then with no ill effects.

    Manure/compost etc condition the soil have few nutrients but do encourage worm and mini-organism activity

  • jo4eyesjo4eyes Posts: 2,058

    When I plant things they get BFB sprinkled in hole/on compost.

    Every Spring I use pelleted chicken manure around the borders. Potash around the fruit bushes to encourage fruiting.

    I tend to mulch as I go along, as long as the soil is moist beneath. Borders packed & lots of bulbs, so no ideal time for me.

    If I had a thin sandy soil then adding as much bulky organic matter, eg well rotted manure & homemade compost, would be my choice. J.

  • Matty2Matty2 Posts: 4,817

    Such a useful thread. to a relative novice in these things. I have always just sprinkled growmore, but last year began to plant with bone meal, have also started to use chicken pellets on veggie beds. 

    Reading this I am heading in the right direction but need todo better next spring.

    Just top dressed clematis with bone meal.

    Wood burner will I think provide potash but am unsure what to put it on and when. and how long it will store.

  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657

    Hi Roselady,if this is any help non of us on the allotments buy anything, we use Comfry,nettle juice ,woodash and if coastel seaweed,or a mix of all and all free and they work if you saw Gardeners world a few weeks ago one gardeners veg was almost unbelievable they were so good, he told  Monty who said it was one of the best he had ever seen  "he only ever uses nettle,comfry,woodash ,"as i said all organic and FREE hope it helps,

    Alan4711

  • WOW....bags of knowledge guys thank you! Sounds like Organic fertilizers are pretty well respected, thinking much clealy now, and it really helps to understand what each and every element provides our plants with. I was just so confused the other day when I found myself tearing my hair out in the garden centre. Now I'm happy!!!image

Sign In or Register to comment.