INCREASE YOUR YIELDS! How to Fertilize Your Vegetable Garden

[@gaprophet]

I am determined that my garden will be better and greater this year!!

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Yay 🙌 Me too!

[@tinal7573]

Love the explantion of all these products. Thank you!

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

My pleasure

[@sonnyamoran7383]

We, my daughter and I, both p in a small bucket when we are out working in the yard instead of tracking in debris from the garden. We use it in our compost more than anything. It helps my compost get hot and stay that way. P is God given, free, and very natural way to fertilize. Some of your fertilizers list it on the ingredients.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Exactly! The plants really love it. Once you can get over the Eww factor, it’s great.

[@oreopaksun2512]

@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a Ewww factor! Not to mention that asking outside the immediate family for "clean" P could get you classified in the cuckoo category.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

🤪 Haha

[@jonfranklin9361]

Thanks for sharing. Tomato tone/Mykos is what I use as well. Had great success.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

It’s my favorite stuff

[@johnnyalegria]

Great video love from San Diego! Subscribed with icons.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@bensutherland6871]

Thank you so much I've been having a horrible time trying to grow a good garden here in central Florida I lived in Tennessee for a few years and had a great garden each year with little work so I need all of the help I can get

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

So glad I can help. Timing is the biggest change from up north to here. The next challenge is our sandy soil. You got this 💪

[@urbanbackyardcontainergardenin]

Fertilizing your plants is important. I use organic fertilizer from Nature’s Safe and liquid fertilizer from Agrothrive. Thank you sharing. Happy Gardening 👨🏿‍🌾💚

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

I’ll definitely check that out. Thank you!

[@urbanbackyardcontainergardenin]

@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a 💚

[@suzannemcglynn8136]

Awesome video! You cleared up so much for me!

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

I'm so glad! 😀

[@oreopaksun2512]

Excellent breakdown of which fertilizer to use when. Have to watch this again and take notes....so much good info. Just to clarify: we know you recommend a good layer of compost for new beds. Do you also add compost yearly in addition to, or instead of slow-release Tomato Tone for your established beds? And how do you decide? Thank you!

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Great questions 💚 if I’m using my own compost, I normally don’t add fertilizer for several months. Plants are always super happy with just compost but if I have to supplement with the bagged compost, I will add fertilizer. It’s just not as rich as the stuff I make at home.

[@oreopaksun2512]

@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a I have such brassica envy from watching your harvests, I'm going to try to copy your layering method of filling a raised bed; duplicate it in a 22" deep container, follow your feeding schedule, and see what happens in the fall. Determined to get a main broccoli head that is different from a broccoli rabe....big brassica ambitions.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

@@oreopaksun2512 I absolutely love broccoli 🥦. My favorite variety is Arcadia or Green Magic. Give one of those a try.

[@KimClark61]

I am loving your channel!

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Thank you so much!

[@janicemoyer854]

I don’t think I’m gonna p in a jar anytime soon 😆 but have been contemplating starting worm composting in a 10 gallon grow bag. Apparently they do well. Also, as floridians most of us can get to the beach for the “kelp” seaweed it just needs to be very well rinsed to remove the salt.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

🤣🤣🤣 peeing in a jar is definitely weird. The worm composting sounds interesting. I might have to try that. Thanks for the tip on the kelp.

[@2021-j2d]

I understand the Amish farmers recommend the highly diluted urine as fertilizer.

[@gidget8717]

This was a good video. I find I'm having to fertilize more than I did in Virginia. I believe it because my soil is still too sandy, therefore leaching out my nutrients. I should have put a thicker (but still decompostable) barrier in the bottom of my raised beds. 🤦‍♀️

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Glad the video was helpful. From my experience, the first couple years are the toughest but the more you add and work on it, the less and less fertilizer will be needed.

[@2021-j2d]

I just planted my beds in May. Would you recommend the liquid fish fertilizer to start as a general, all purpose organic option until I see how my compost tumbler works out? And when applying the liquid fertilizer do you keep it off the leaves or does it not matter?

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

My favorite all purpose is gardentone or tomatotone since it’s granular, it lasts longer but fish fertilizer is good too but you have to apply it every 2 weeks or so. It doesn’t matter if you get it on the leaves or mulch, it should seep down on its own.

[@2021-j2d]

Thanks again

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Always welcome

[@liamthompson9090]

What do you think of foliar feeding? If you are using raised beds with good soil, I would think that it's not really necessary, although it doesn't hurt. However, if you are growing in Florida Myakka soil (is "soil" the right word for it?), I would add whatever compost and amendments I had (like the ones you use), and do regular foliar feeding.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Good question. I did more foliar feeding the first year my beds are in place but not since then with the exception of my lemon tree. It has citrus greening so getting nutrients into it every way I can.

[@2021-j2d]

Newbie question…what is foliar feeding? Bear with me. Thx😊

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

No worries. Foliar feeding means applying liquid fertilizer mixed with water to the leaves, rather than the soil. Some plants can absorb nutrients this way faster. It’s helpful if you have issues below the soil like citrus greening or RNK issues in the soil keeping the plants from absorbing nutrients. Or if your plant isn’t doing well, it feeds it faster to help it get better.

[@jeffnay6502]

I noticed a bag of MyKos when you where transplanting your tomato plant ???

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

I tested it and I never noticed a difference. I tried a new one from Highland last fall and that one was amazing. I’m growing all my tomatoes this spring with it to see if repeats the great results.

[@backyardfarmerpat]

Great video! How long do you age your urine before using in garden?

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

They say you should wait a few months but I honestly only age it for a couple days.

[@backyardfarmerpat]

@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a sounds good. I've used close to undiluted but only on my bananas

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

My husband and I are the only ones that eat what we grow so we are fine with the risk. We are both heathy so we feel like the risk is low.

[@chrisz.9974]

Now i need a “classy” way to collect urine at home and convince the household to follow. Any recommendations? Lol

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

😂 Classy lol. Umm, well for guys it’s a bit easier because you can keep a 5 gallon bucket outside but for us ladies, the best I have come up with is glass bottles. You really don’t need a lot from my experience. 1 person can provide enough for 1 raised bed each day. Since you only need to fertilize with it once a month, you only need to collect a few days a month. Hope that helps

[@chrisz.9974]

@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a maybe I’ll be the only one then lol.

[@jenjenny9968]

I am watching this right after i woke up in the morning, waiting for lowes to open but hadnt peed yet😜😜😜. I better collect my urine before i go😳😅

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

🤣🤣🤣

[@SpecksNplanks]

6:02 hey, plants are not vegan eaters.

[@dianebaker4356]

Is my new best friend

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

💚

[@mateobaysa2055]

In short, fish 💩 💩 💩 and scraps is a critical input for a huge yield, right ?

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

That’s one way of putting it, lol. Organic materials help build your soil and following the instructions are your fertilizer bags will help improve your garden yields.

[@angelolivolsi1492]

red wigglers. not earth warms

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Oh, thank you for the correction

[@joselugo9973]

If you use cardboard and paper for compost, don't the chemicals that are in paper and cardboard hurt your garden? I mean, your garden can not be called organic if you do that.

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

Organic can be defined lots of different ways. Some could say it’s not organic if I compost veggies from the grocery store since they were sprayed with pesticides. My definition of organic comes from the USDA and OMRI definition. Cardboard and paper are acceptable through their standards. But you should definitely set your own standards. That’s the great thing about growing your own garden 🪴

[@floridaglitz]

🫶🏽

[@HomegrownFloridaZ9a]

🫶

[@williamwaters4506]

The amount of fertilizer to use depends on the current chemical/mineral composition of your soil. Unless you have your soil tested there is no way to know how much, is any, fertilizer you need. The recommendation on the bag is meaningless. You may in fact be harming your soil. Is your soil mostly sand, clay, silt and/or compost? What is the pH? Where do you live in the country? How much water is retained by your soil? Synthetic fertilizers get into plant roots quickly, organic fertilizers can might take all summer or longer to decompose. Synthetic fertilizers do nothing to build the microbiome in your soil.