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North Of The Border

Is fertilizing with nitrogen inhrently bad, for a younger plant, that you want to grow bigger? I know it has to be moderated by the time you want to have flowers, or they wont be as good, but is it bad to use a high nitrogen fertilizer on small plants, early in the year?

5/27/2020 7:04:39 AM

Bethlehem CT

Many growers do use fertilizers that have good amounts of Nitrogen, to get there plants off and running. Nitrogen is a nutrient that is always in demand and is not available organically until the soil is nice and warm. Therefore Miracle grow or some other form of fertilizer like it can be useful to help get your plant growing in cooler spring weather. That being said a grower should be careful not to overdo it with the Nitrogen. If they do put down too much they will have problems with "split" and curling vine tips. It can be a real pain in the butt to have to retrain your main because it keeps "blowing up".

5/27/2020 8:03:20 AM

Western Washington

Or, with too much nitrogen, all your vine ends are doing their imitation of a cobra, ready to strike, and then the grower is left hoping a windstorm doesn't come along and blow them over, lol! Ah yes, my first year, good times! lol

Nitrogen flushes out with weather and watering and is the most mobile of the plant nutrients. Some people have problems with not enough nitrogen and/or it washing away too soon, so yet another thing to look out for.

Matt D. has mentioned that too much Miracle Grow can lead to ammonium buildup in the soil, so you might want to take it easy on that. There are plenty of soil additives to assist with nitrogen including urea, fish meal, worm casing, fertilizers of various types, etc. etc. that do not lead to excessive ammonium.

OK, that's enough outta me, I need some more coffee, lol!

Good luck to you!

5/27/2020 2:27:38 PM

Western Washington

How much nitrogen is in your soil now, Grower?

5/27/2020 2:34:31 PM

Colorado

Your likely to be low in avail nitrogen til youve had lows in the mid 50's or warmer. Beni Meyer said he used a 20-5-20 ish water soluble fert. in the first half of the season. Give your plant a light feeding and see how it responds-

5/27/2020 4:32:47 PM

Grittyville, WA

Its bad to overfertilize but according to the 2255 guy mr Iceman they do want to eat. . . Some bone meals contain nitrogen. Might work nice because they also provide calcium at the same time.

5/27/2020 5:31:02 PM

Grittyville, WA

...That would be about the most mild / understimulating source I can think of .

5/27/2020 5:34:00 PM

North Of The Border

I have really low levels of nitrogen, dont remember number, but i jave been fertilizing qith som 30 0 3 lawn fertilizer and some 24 8 16 moracle grow, and was wondering if i should stop, or if it was a good idea.

5/28/2020 8:26:51 AM

Bethlehem CT

I would be really careful with the fertilizer. It is hard to say if it is a good idea or bad idea, it comes down to how much your plant needs and how much you put down. I would rather someone go a little light on the Nitrogen than a little heavy. You can. always add more, but it is hard to get it out, once it is there. You either have to read the plant by how it looks and the color of it's leaves or get a soil test, better yet a tissue test. For most of us on here, we learn to gauge by how the plant looks and grows. A mentor in your area would really help with this , if you don't have a lot of previous gardening experience.

5/28/2020 6:51:58 PM

Central NY

I think Grower is mostly shooting from the hip this year. I vote lay off the lawn fert. If you applied and didn’t see a boost in green then you don’t need nitrogen and now you have excess. You won’t notice until the soil warms up and the plant finally gets past the excess and starts to hook up. Then all that food starts getting sucked up wierd and vines crack, leaves can bloat, you’ll be fighting cobras until it gets used up..a whole bunch of wierd stuff that can leave you guessing. Those that test don’t have to worry about that stuff. Once a week with that miracle grow would be ok until about 5-8 ft long. Then Email me and I can give you what I think an “easy” way to get you north of 500 lbs. good luck..good questions

5/29/2020 11:19:38 AM

North Of The Border

Okay, so no more lawn fertilizer, but I'll still use the miracle grow, until I run out. I am pretty sure that the plant has grown significantly more, over the last week than any week leading up till now, so may have helped or may have bee the heat that helped. From what I have read, it isn't really easy to get above 500 pounds, but I've never tried before, so I'll take it from you. Currently plants are about 2 6 to 3 feet long, so 5 to and 8 is a little way off.

5/30/2020 8:23:14 AM

Syracuse, NY

keep using what is working until you hit the recommended 5-8 ft long, but i would not STOP using the 24-8-16 because of running out of it - i think it is the default formulation now, off the counter and easy to get - one tablespoon per gallon. i would not use BOTH fertilizers @ the same time, because, why?, unless one had something the other did not, and per this post, i'll re-think my own idea that is EXACTLY like yours (great minds think alike, eh?) and throw the 30-?-? onto one plant and see how that goes, in a couple of weeks.
i always use 15-30-15 exclusively until my plants are outgrowing their 8' X 8' floating row cover greenhouses, and
thence, now that their ROOTS are developed enough to take on rapid growth, THEN i hit them with the 24-8-16. then, it's WOW time. that's 'WOW', the expression, lol---eg

5/30/2020 10:00:17 AM