If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Introducing Bone Meal Fertilizer 1:21 Why Bone Meal Boosts Blooming 3:24 Phosphorous Supplementation Myths 5:52 How To Apply Bone Meal Fertilizer 9:16 Bone Meal Application Schedule 12:02 Adventures With Dale
🤣More edgy jokes please 👍 Oh and thanks for introducing me to the dwarf tomato project. I live on the Mississippi coast and the climate down here is horrible for tomatoes.
I kind of discovered how to make a homemade version by accident. I save up all our bones, mostly poultry, in the freezer until there is enough to fill up a large stock pot. I then put all of them in a pot and put just enough water in to cover them, with about a quarter cup of ACV. I bring the whole thing up to a boil, covered, and then lower it to a simmer, where it will stay for the next 48 hours, keeping the water level just above the bones. If you have nothing but small thin bones, then you can get away with just 24 hours, but any large bones needs 48. Strain the bone broth for personal consumption. At this point, all bones will be very soft and flimsy. Even if they are allowed to dry, I dry mine in the Sun or in a low oven, even the large ones will still crumble and powder easily, even with just a mortar and pestil.
I didn't enjoy the 80s joke. I do believe you're preaching degeneracy to the wrong crowd. Jokes are certainly welcome now & again, but I'm following this channel for gardening reasons. I wonder how many junkies grow gardens! Anyway, thumbs down for promoting degeneracy like it's nothing. 👎👎👎
@@TheMillennialGardener I got the dwarf green giant, dwarf awesome and rosella purple this year. Thick sturdy stalks, loaded with blooms already. Great channel. Thanks for reply
Straight to the point. No slow-playing the punchline, no messing around with long-winded introductions (I'm looking at you MIGardener). This is my favorite gardening channel.
@@karenguth8529 I'm more talking about his long-winded introductions having nothing to do with the topic. He may have improved on that over the years. I stopped watching.
Haha, yes I do love MIGardener's info, but that dragging-it-out style drives me nuts. I say we all take a vote and restrict MIGardener to only RUclips shorts for awhile until he learns to get to the point a lot faster.
I love the way that you don’t waste time or words and just get right down to your message! I just recently discovered you, and you are becoming my fave!
Thank you! I really appreciate it. I storyboard my videos before I film them so I can try and stay on track. Having a bulleted list to keep everything in order helps.
Yep!…I stopped watching all channels where as the creator just loves to hear themselves speak ….information only please! And that’s what we get here information!! 👍
Somehow, I knew you were a dog dad. That of course coming from a very proud dog mom. Thoroughly. Enjoy your videos and I’ve learned a great deal. Thank you so much. Only wish I had as much of a backyard as you do. Keep the videos coming, please.
Dude!! I watch and follow many gardeners, farmers, etc.... I just learned more in 5 min then I have in 5 months from hundreds of others! Thank you ❤️ Lofetime subscriber here ✌️
I put bone meal in the dirt of 8 bell pepper plants after watching this video. I was out of state and when I returned, one of little plants was laying down. I picked it up and one side was covered in little peppers. 26 peppers on a 12 inch plant. I checked my other ones, and all had a combination of peppers and flowers exceeding 25. It was one week from the time I fed til I returned. I wished I could attach photos. I texted them to all my veggie buddies and they've already ordered the bone meal.
You can tell by listening to you that you are WELL versed in gardening! I enjoyed it! My father passed away in 2006 and for many years prior, he had a tomato garden every single year that I think he grew just so he could share them with all of our neighbors, friends and church members. The first year after he passed, my mother and I wanted to honor him by growing his crop of tomatoes, so we went to our nursery and asked how we should prepare the soil and we were told to begin 3 months prior to planting. We followed their directions of digging up the garden well and loosening up the soil, removing old roots etc. and put down bone meal along with fertilizer and something else that I cant remember, mixing it well and deep into the soil. When planting time arrived we added a bit more and holy cow the garden was HUGE! The plants were giant and strong and the tomatoes were huge, beautiful and tasted wonderful! We had never seen a more beautiful sight and honestly wondered what in the world we were going to do with so many tomatoes!! I finally bought white bags and with the help of my computer printed off a picture of my father and nephew in the garden holding some of his prize tomatoes from the previous years and printed "With Love from John's tomato garden" on the tags. We loaded up the bags with tomatoes, stapled them closed and added the tags and delivered them to all the neighbors, friends and church members. This was a wonderful way for us to remember our father/husband and taught us about the use of bone meal, which we had not previously used but is now used regularly. A side bonus was working in his garden, where we found so many rocks in the shapes of hearts that it made and still makes us feel that he is watching over us and approves of what we continue to do.
What a beautiful message....very therapeutic for you and your mom....very satisfying too!!!! The recipients were thrilled I'm sure.....love your bag creation!!!!!
That's just awesome, and big hearted generous family. I'm sure there are lots of other people around the world just like your family we just don't know their stories yet.
@@TheMillennialGardener I just use a blender. I store them in freezer til I have enough and then I cook them down for quite awhile, use that water in my garden....let them dry out til I can break by hand and then put the pieces in a blender and powder is the result. Shells I just dry and crunch up and then throw in blender and coffee grounds I just let dry.
@@TheMillennialGardener I don't even grind mine up. We often cook our meals on a charcoal (wood char) not coal. After the meal is cooked I remove the excess ash from the catcher and add in my bones. Put on an old cast iron pan or pot. Next day. Collect the ash. Potash and phosphorus booster. Viturally no work on my part except for sifting it out. 99 percent of it falls through the sift. Note. I live in Thailand and many meats are sold with bone. We cook 80 percent of our own meals. But the PH you say! Everything, everything in moderation. I don't ever buy external nutrients for my large garden. JLM, Korean natural farming and manures. Devote your winters to making these additions. Bonus. It helps with the winter garden blues. Not a suggestion, just my experience. Buy if can't make it.
I listen to a variety of garden channels, and by far, I like yours the best. You give such detail explanations of EVERYTHING and how it all affects the life of your garden. This is my first year of attempting a garden and your information has proven to be invaluable. THANK YOU!
Thank you so much! I’m really glad to know it is helping. I wish you the best of luck this year. Take it slow, savor the successes, and don’t worry about the failures, because they’re the best way to learn! It’s a fun and rewarding journey.
HAVE FUN! You're gonna kill shit, grow too much of some, too little of another, get all kinds of weird bugs and problems, and it's ALL OKAY! Keep a garden journal, it's THAT important and so helpful! When you started seeds, what soil you used, what fertilizers, any problems you notice, etc. Date everything.
I have an approx 40 yr old glass & alum greenhouse, south-facing. Last yr I tried to use it. After cleaning & disinfecting i used 15 bags of Miracle Gro Organic($250.) soil"for raised beds" at recom of local Extension center. So disappointed. Zuc, yellow squash & cukes had lots of foilage & big blooms which promtly wilted and fell off= not 1 friut. Peppers poor. Tomatoes had bottom end rot until I added diluted milk. Wasting this $$, time and hard work has me not wanting to even try this yr but I want to. Any advice is welcome.
Hi great video. Thanks for your helpfulness ! My question: does your planting and feeding bone meal to tomato plants work similarly for tomato grown in “VegTrug” like elevated garden planters? …thanks in advance for your reply
I used bone meal for the first time in my garden last year and WOW. It was the most successful garden I've ever grown. I wondered about repeat applications, which I didn't do, but now I will. I'm also zone 8a living in coastal VA. Off topic but....I'm hoping to order my orange and lemon trees this week. You convinced me to invest it those, so I'm going to try it. Give Dale a skritch behind the ears for me! He's such a good boy!
It is amazing stuff. I swear by it. The results are incredible. If you haven’t ordered your trees yet, I HIGHLY recommend Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. All my grafted citrus trees are for him. He is a great person, and he will ship phone orders. Tell him I sent you 😆 Please be sure to protect them in winter like I do. Citrus won’t survive longterm in our zone unprotected. They take a little work in winter, but they’re maintenance free mostly the rest of the year except for leaf miner and spider mites occasionally, and pruning. Dale says hello!
We can plant citrus trees in NC, or is it a greenhouse thing?? ... I truly miss the orange trees, Lemon, and lime. We used to get them from our daughter's house.
I got my citrus trees from Stan too. I only live just over an hour from him and visited on Tuesday. He is great. He comes to speak to my homesteading group occasionally which is how I learned about this channel. He always says @The Millennial Gardener put him on the map. ;)
I love how in depth this video was. Most videos just tell you how to fertilize when planting and then never go any further. I found out last year I was fertilizing my tomatoes all wrong. I got lots of green leaves but little fruit. Thank you!
The man isn’t kidding. On his recommendation, I started adding bone meal to my garden this season. It’s mid November, and I’m still harvesting tomatoes in Delaware (zone 7). There were times this year that I had to give fruit away from a measly five tomato, one bell pepper, and one eggplant. With the exception of a several week period of scorching temps, I was harvesting nearly daily. Crazy.
My grandpa was a commercial fisherman here in ARKANSAS.. He told me many years ago to throw a fish carcass into the hole before putting the plant in… I can attest that it works like crazy! I’m guessing the bones and micro nutrients are the key? A natural fertilizer that breaks down over time… love your channel. Thanks.
You are my favorite garden video on YT. I had only grown flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, & squash in the past. Retired now, so I am trying to plant other veggies this growing season. Therefore, I am so appreciative of your help! You have been blessed with the teaching gift!
Thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear the videos are helpful. Gardening is so rewarding. It teaches patience and investment, and it's so rewarding when you get that harvest.
I've used bone meal on my indeterminant tomato plants but hadn't realized it's also good for any plant with blooms which turn into fruit, thanks for that tip🙂.
There is a gardening show here in Australia called Gardening Australia. In the early 2000 one of the presenters, Colin Blundell, always swore by and used blood and bone for the vegies and fruit. As I am new to vegie gardening and have been thinking about it and you have now confirmed it for me. Thank you for the way you present and share your knowledge.
You're welcome! Blood meal is fantastic for leafy growth, and bone meal is fantastic for root development and flowering/fruit set. When you combine the two properly, it's quite powerful.
I just discovered the magic of bone and blood meal this year. Thanks for the tip on how to continue fertilizing through the season. Love seeing Dale at the end of your videos.
Love the step by step way you give directions. So helpful for a new gardener. You helped me so much last season, when I did my first ever garden. I'm excited for this season.
I like happy frog, perlite,worn castings in the beginning, water with recharge, molasses , and bone meal at the start of flower, can't get my lazy ass to water consistently😢
Having been a late teenager in the early 80's I got quite a chuckle out of your little demonstration with the straw! lol Great information. Going to implement this in my garden more this year.
Ok. Urging the seedling to sniff that gator back was the best skit on the channel so far. Also dale is super spoiled, love it . Keep up the good work. 🎉
Glad you enjoyed it 😆 Dale spoils us every day with his presence, so he deserves to be treated every now and again. He doesn't know how good he has it...
Love that you get right to it!Always great content, always get right to the point and always very detailed!!! Love that you don’t “generalize”, very detailed!!! Thank you!
Almost fell off my chair with your bone meal/straw demo. Just about snorted out my tea, lmao. Thanks for the information. I've put bone meal in my potato pots, per your instructions. Now I'll add it to all of my other seedlings that fit the criteria. Thought they'd all be in their pots by now, but today is raining with mid 40's daytime temp and low of low 30's tonight. It was 86 two days ago. Sigh... crazy spring in north GA.
Glad you enjoyed it 😆 What terrible weather we had this weekend. 2 inches of rain and we were in the 40's all day. It was colder than January. Now, we have a potential for upper 30's tomorrow. Winter always comes back for a last bite of the apple.
At 6:20 when you put it on plate and cut out lines straight faced made me laugh. It also lightened up the serious tomato facts and then producing , and sharing your knowledge which RUclips is great for Company.
New sub from Northern Minnesota. Thanks for the videos. I don't post often but I always leave some imogis to help the algorithm. Please take this as a sign of my respect and appreciation for the work.
I amend my fruit trees with bone meal, kelp meal, home made compost and sea soil every year at least two times a year, even very established trees! They generally produce pretty well
Bone meal is fantastic for most fruit trees. Figs go absolutely nuts for them. The difference in production when regularly applying it is stark. It's like night and day, as they say.
Great info!! I mix powdered milk to pig directions and pour around my tomato plants once a week. No blossom end rot Learned it from an old farmer, these are heavy calcium feeders. I grew Hungarian oxhearts,,German pinks and Amish paste. They had tomatoes past the second frost !!! Hugh stems and
For the record, blossom end rot is usually a condition caused by uneven watering. All the calcium supplementation in the world won't matter if you allow your soil to dry out, then over-soak it, then allow it to dry out again, etc. Even moisture is key for calcium uptake. Providing you are watering deeply and mulching your soil, something like that should provide usable calcium, but I'd be careful with pH because tomatoes actually prefer a mildly acidic pH, and milk is alkaline.
I'm in the DIY camp also. We raise our own grass-fed beef and lamb (and venison). We also have chickens. I pressure cook the bones. The chicken bones turn to mush pretty quickly. The beef bones take longer but also do eventually get brittle enough to break into small pieces. I use the first cooking for broth/stock, then use the bone broth for other purposes. Mostly I just toss the bone pieces into the compost, but now I'm thinking of being more purposeful with it's use :)
@@my_flippin_journey simple version for broth is to pressure cook the roasted bones with whatever herbs/vegetables that you want for flavor. Strain out the bones, herbs, vegetables for use as broth or stock. For bone broth, put the bones back in and pressure them with a bit of vinegar (I typically use apple cider vinegar). The vinegar helps get out the minerals I've been told. Bone broth isn't all that tasty (it's bland compared to stock) but it has the minerals. I pressure them for bone broth for a couple of hours if it is for me to use, or even longer if it is for animals or as a soil amendment.
If you take those bones after you've pressure cooked them for 3 hours at 15 lbs they will easily turn into a mush. I take this mush of meat marrow and bone and add oatmeal. The I use a small scoop and portion them into pink pong ball sized portions and bake till dry, cool, and place in gallon zip locks or something similar and keep frozen. These are the best dog treats ever!
@@zephyrwinkle6552 Great idea. But I would make them into a different shape. Balls can get lodged in a dogs mouth and choke them to death. I would make them in a long shape, like a dog bone.
Thanks. I'll be planting tomatoes next week and will be sure to use some bone meal I have from last year. I've never used it correctly- thanks for pointing out how one should. (The "it's the 80s" bit with the straw was hilarious too btw.)
It's dangerous to feed Dale without one. Deep-chested dogs like Dale can literally die from eating by developing bloat. He will gulp his food so quickly it's dangerous for his health. When we first got him, he used to eat so quickly he'd vomit. These puzzle bowls have been, literally, a lifesaver. The key is to press the food into the grooves so they struggle to eat.
Omg. I literally spit out the water I was drinking I laughed so hard at the “pretend it’s the 80’s” and the look that you gave. You are hilarious and super knowledgeable. Love you videos
It's rough, especially on the rainy coast! Bone meal is essential in my garden. The results are dramatic. I was born and raised in NJ. Tell the place I said hi!
Small world…. I was born and raised in MD but have deep roots in NC….. NJ isnt bad but I live away from the NY hustle and bustle… I’m in South Jersey so actually have a nice place to have a garden…..
ever since i watched this video last year, ive been applying it and it works like a charm! thank u, u are one of d best. i always love your video and how u go to d topic straight. kisses to Dale
Thanks MG for another informative video. I didn’t know this is how you apply bone meal, down around the roots and above layer. Learning more about how the bone meal needs to get mixed in and slowly broken down first before the plant can take them up great advice. I also learned to optimally, fertilize several weeks before planting during the break down period, if possible so the soil is ready. All good stuff to know.🌱 From CA🏖️take care.
You’re the best! After watching what others had to say about blood meal and bone meal and when and how to use each, I didn’t get much out of them. Went to yours and it was (as you always are) full of good, clear and consiste content. You get right to the point and don’t talk about things that are irrelevant and you show us HOW you do things in your garden. I so appreciate that! EXCELLENT VIDEO!
Great video. On my end, my golden globe turnips are about ready for picking after over-wintering. My leeks, carrots and brussels sprouts did well too and a little batch of parsnips and I'm in Canada. Let's grow throughout the year! 🙂
Yes I was very impressed with the harvest of tomatoes this year and I didn't even keep applying bone meal through the season just at planting time I'll be sure to do this with the rest of my crops that you mentioned. Thank you for the tip.
Dude! You are hilarious and informative. You had me going there for a second with the bone meal on the plate 😂 Ha ha ha! Thank you so much for all of your work. I’m becoming a better gardener because of you.
Very good job with this video! I am a UF graduate in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and apply fertilizer for a living. You put together a nice cohesive guide for beginners to understand. We all have out tricks to what works in our given environment. Phosphorus is a missing link for most soils and a few more products would jump start your garden even further. Keep up the good work! I enjoy your channel. P.S Leelanau Sweetglo is an amazing watermelon, that is how I found your channel !
Totally unrelated but I love how you put your rain barrels. We were wondering how to raise them up high so gravity could be used to water our outdoor plants and that’s a great cheap way to do it and still looks nice. We are installing 2 rain barrels this year. Our water bill is insane where we live! This will help. Just ordered some bone meal, thanks for the video!
This was the cheapest way I could find to raise them up while also having a sturdy base. You can't beat concrete blocks. Best of luck with the bone meal! It's great stuff.
I have found using high amounts of K over P to make the biggest difference. Master blend ratio is 4-18-38 and is water soluble (so one must be very very careful) I got about what farmer Dre gets 30 lbs of tomatoes per plant. Best year I’ve ever had in the garden using that last year.
I haven't experimented with high levels of potassium for tomatoes, but I do have some 0-0-60. That bag has lasted me probably 5 years. Maybe I'll try some. Tomatoes struggle badly where I live come June due to the rain and humidity.
Don't use the 0-0-60 , if your going to try using potassium use only the 0-0-50,but you better be careful what you do because potassium and calcium don't get along they hinder each other from being taken up by the plant.
I’ve been using bone meal for years. I mix1/3 cup into the planting hole along with 1/4 cup of organic veggie fertilizer and 1/8 cup of Azomite, but after watching your brilliant video I’m going to start dusting bone meal on the root ball as well when planting. Thanks for including fish emulsion in your video I’m a big believer in it as well. And with that one you can use a straw. 😅
I think if your tomato leaves get any purple color on them that it is usually a sign of phosphorus deficiency. It's happened to a few of my plants in the past. Bone meal always brought out the healthy green color.
Bone meal made a huge difference in last year's garden, but didn't realize the re-application possibilities. Thanks for the info! Picked up some grafted Purple Cherokees and German Johnson's from Lewis Farms in Ogden and hope they do as well as before. Cheers!
It's awesome stuff! If your plants are still blooming, reapplications can help keep the party going! We have 2 cold nights coming up, so be vigilant. I think it's going to frost tomorrow night in low, cold spots.
Anything tomato related I like because im just trying to learn how to grow tomatoes and other vegetables like Eggplants okra basil & other vegetables! I love how you explain it too how to use it!!!!
I love this video! I can't thank you enough. It was soooo easy to follow and helpful. God bless you and I appreciate all you are doing to help us with our gardens!!!
If you don't have access to bone meal,pelletized guano is also good. 0-22-0. I use it especially when transplanting seedlings to encourage root growth and for citrus trees. Going to try it on sweet potatoes next.
@@TheMillennialGardener I've had good success using guano with citrus trees, ornamentals, and tomatoes. I do container gardening. But I've also read that high P is good for root crops such as alliums and sweet potatoes, so I'll try it out. Bone meal is hard to find in the tropics, and prohibitively expensive.
@@TheMillennialGardener I just used up the 4 lbs bag that I bought on my figs and tomato. Can’t wait to see the results. Will be in the lookout for Bone meal sales from now on. Thanks again for the great tip! I have a lot to learn from you!
alot of ppl tend to forget how important iron and magnesium are to the soil! I add a small amount of epsom salt( magnesium), and I rust iron nails in a bowl to get iron water, put small amounts of those in a watering container, fill and add to each plant, just a little soaking around the plant stem in the ground! It makes the shiniest, healthiest bearing of tomatoes and bell peppers for sure! Thanks for talking about the phosphorus... i may add some this year, because our rain has shit off. We got the first rain in over two weeks yesterday! The plants were growing but needed watering, and as soon as I watered them.... an hour later it rained!!!! A good soaking... mich needed! I tend to not add anything and ise Diatenaciois earth to protect plants from aphids and potato bugs as well as japanese beetles ( especially for my dads 100+ year old family grapevine! ) they destroy leaves on anything green!
I’ve researched at least a dozen or more “expert” gardeners / farmers” on RUclips.. I’ve watched dozens and dozens of videos… Probably hundreds… Now I have it narrowed down to 2… Thanks for saving me the efforts of testing my soil, as well as a test kit I trust I don’t need… Also, I’m going to take your view on adding bonemeal for phosphorus..
I have become such a huge fan of this channel since stumbling upon it a while back. Always an overwhelming amount of information and straight to the point. Great work! And who doesn’t like a solid 80’s joke¿ “6:35”
Soil tests are FREE and easy. County extension agents can help you get them. I do 5 every other year. I also put bone meal until frost. The bone meal will be available next spring
I really like using bonemeal. I even save my bones and process it all into bonemeal when I have some spare time. Surprisingly you can make quite a lot bonemeal even from a small household that doesn't really eat much meat.
How do you grind it? Getting that fine grind appears to require special equipment. Powdering it is important to help it break down, because bone shards can take forever to break down.
@@abdelrhmanoubied9624 WOW, thanks so much for mentioning that technique. The ash including the bone meal would be a super duper plant food. For my tomatoes I personal use fish, topped with lots of powdered eggs shells, some coffee grounds, then cover with a handful of lime. Keeps the critters away and the plants love it. Happy gardening.
@wellspring2life Boil the bones to make stock/broth. Save the broth, then boil the bones again with 1 cup of vinegar per gallon of water for 4-6 hours. Strain the liquid, which when cool, can be applied directly to the soil. Dry the bones in the sun for 4 weeks. Break the bones into chunks with a hammer. Grind the bones in a thrift-shop blender, or (ideally) a ball mill. Beef and pork bones are much harder to process than chicken bones.
Howdy MG and Dale.👋 Great info. I usually do an application of bone meal at planting and an extra application for some flowering plants, but not all. I'm going to use it regularly now. Thanks for the knowledge!👍 Breakfast with your fur baby....how sweet!😃 Happy Resurrection Day!
It's dynamite stuff. Really fantastic. Happy Easter! I hope you're doing something special. Dale and I are having both sides of the family over and making brisket 🙂
@TheMillennialGardener Brisket...I'm a Tejas girl...love our brisket. 😋 If you make brisket like you do pizza, I know it goooood!👍 We are also having family over.😃 Our main course is a steak and potato pie my hubby love.😃 I know Dale's going to be so excited with family all around him! Tell him howdy!🐕 💕
@@valoriegriego5212 it's actually corned beef brisket. I am going to smoke it. Corned beef is a little too salty for me, but when you smoke it, it takes the saltiness out of it and it makes fantastic tacos. It's not traditional, but we wanted something different than the same old Easter ham we have every year. Steak and potatoes are always a winner. Sounds sort of like shepherd's pie? Or maybe more like a chicken pot pie but with steak? Either way, sounds good. Dale would like a slice.
@@TheMillennialGardener soak your corned beef in a container of water for 24 hours before you smoke it . That will take the excess salt out and your smoked corned beef will be amazing!!
We always fertilize our tomatoes up to the frost date. When we know a freeze is coming we cut the branches with fruit and set it in the garage to ripen on the vine. They aren't as good this way, but you will still often get ripe tomatoes using this approach.
Great demonstration on how to use bonemeal. I have never used it before, but will definitely get some now as I have a few cherry tomatoes started indoors. Many thanks 🙏🏻
@@TheMillennialGardener I've only used it for flowering bulbs. I had no idea to use it any other way. Calcium. It makes sense. My tomatoes will definetly be getting bone meal this year. Thank you.
I have grown over 150 varieties over 20 years. My best tip is to plant your tomatoes in the ground and do not feed nor water them. Only water if they start to drop fruits or flowers. Remove all sideshoots from indeterminate varieties and remove all leaves below any fruits. If you have never grown tomatoes before and want an easy variety, I can highly recommend a determinate dwarf variety called Balconi Red. There is no need to remove any sideshoots and you can get three in a window box as the plant will get no bigger than your head. The fruits are small and tasty. If you grow them in a container, you will need to feed them.
Youre amazing! 3q’s: how do you find out if your tomato plant is determinate or not? What if you’re planting in a elevated bed, do you need the same amount of bone meal? I see that some tomatoes need staking and others hang. How do you know which is which?
The supplier of the seed or plant should specify whether it is a vine or bush (indeterminate or determinate) variety. Vine tomatoes need support, bush tomatoes can often benefit from support. Vine vs bush also have different pruning requirements.
.....might add: check the soil ph. Minerals are plant available at various ph levels. Hence a 6.0 to 7.0 is an optimal range for almost all fruit & vegetable crops.....blueberries being an exception. Think a ph range of 4 to 5 for them.
A great video. I always use bone meal even if I can't afford to buy any other type of fertilizer. I don't usually side dress my tomatoes but always side dress my peppers. One problem I have had is when adding bone meal to a planting hole is racoons will dig the seedlings up, therefore I have taken to broadcasting it and raking in a few days before planting.
Have you looked into agricultural molasses? I started using it with my fish fertilizer and I've noticed a big difference in the grow and health of my plants.
I have heard of adding this to tomato plants but have never tried it. When I redo my potting soil each year I typically add bone meal, blood meal, azomite and a slow release granular fertilizer. When planting I also add fish fertilizer to the water at about quarter strength each time I water for about two weeks. This year I am going to try molasses for tomatoes and peppers.
I have not. Is it costly? I'm pretty careful with the organic fertilizers I use in my garden, because they're often pricey and add up fast. I find fish fertilizer and bone meal to be worth the cost since you get more in return by investing in them, but I've also tried some other products and have been less than impressed.
While I agree with your point about soil testing for phosphorus being unnecessary, one thing that should be tested before using bone meal is the PH. Bone meal will increase the soil's PH, and if your soil already has a very high PH, increasing it further could make other nutrients unavailable to the plant. If you have a high PH soil, you may want to also use a soil acidifier in addition to the bone meal.
Thank you for all your tips! I never harvest as many vegetables( tomatoes, even the big flesh tomatoes they were insane big, courgettes, patissons, paprika's, red spanish hot pepper, eggplants, pumpkins) this year in our season from mai till september in Holland in two simple plastic greenhouses and in pots and some outside in pots.
When you broke out the credit card I just about died hahaha! And yes on the bone meal and put into the hole and stir around. I think that's a vital ingredient to success. Good stuff!
I have already planted my tomatoes, can I now put in Bone meal on my plants? Last year I had tomato worms bad, what can I do? Love your show . I live in northwest GA
"how to apply it? Cut with credit card and get your straw." OMgosh! You had me hysterically laughing out loud!!! SO glad I found your channel recently. Will order the bone meal through your link tonight! Thank you!
Our local TSC had Dr. Earth bone meal on sale for 5.99 at the end of last season, and since they had a TSC credit card new sign up promotion, they ended up being about $2.99 each. I caught an awesome fertilizer clearance at Walmart in 2021 10lb,8lb,4lb bags of fertilizer just $1 each, but 2022 was a bust. They have been changing their Expert Gardener brand lately, new designs on the bag, reformulations to cheapen them up a bit (4-4-4 now instead of 5-4-4 NPK on the all purpose, etc). They've also made all their 3.5lb bags 4lb and their 10lb bags 8lb.
I do the same thing except I will be applying directly to roots as well. In addition I put water in the hole as well as watering when I fill in. Helps reduce shock I believe.
Just found your channel and absolutely LOVE it! ❤️ I saw you mentioned in another comment thread that bone meal is good for fig trees. We have a HUGE fig tree at th home we recently bought. Do I have to mix the bone meal into the soil or... How should I apply it? The tree is well established and we've harvested 2 very productive years.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Introducing Bone Meal Fertilizer
1:21 Why Bone Meal Boosts Blooming
3:24 Phosphorous Supplementation Myths
5:52 How To Apply Bone Meal Fertilizer
9:16 Bone Meal Application Schedule
12:02 Adventures With Dale
🤣More edgy jokes please 👍
Oh and thanks for introducing me to the dwarf tomato project. I live on the Mississippi coast and the climate down here is horrible for tomatoes.
I kind of discovered how to make a homemade version by accident. I save up all our bones, mostly poultry, in the freezer until there is enough to fill up a large stock pot. I then put all of them in a pot and put just enough water in to cover them, with about a quarter cup of ACV. I bring the whole thing up to a boil, covered, and then lower it to a simmer, where it will stay for the next 48 hours, keeping the water level just above the bones. If you have nothing but small thin bones, then you can get away with just 24 hours, but any large bones needs 48.
Strain the bone broth for personal consumption. At this point, all bones will be very soft and flimsy. Even if they are allowed to dry, I dry mine in the Sun or in a low oven, even the large ones will still crumble and powder easily, even with just a mortar and pestil.
I didn't enjoy the 80s joke. I do believe you're preaching degeneracy to the wrong crowd. Jokes are certainly welcome now & again, but I'm following this channel for gardening reasons. I wonder how many junkies grow gardens! Anyway, thumbs down for promoting degeneracy like it's nothing. 👎👎👎
@@hermestrismagistos3145 Noted. The Dwarf Tomato Project is awesome. It makes it possible to grow some really amazing fruit in a tiny space.
@@TheMillennialGardener I got the dwarf green giant, dwarf awesome and rosella purple this year. Thick sturdy stalks, loaded with blooms already. Great channel. Thanks for reply
Straight to the point. No slow-playing the punchline, no messing around with long-winded introductions (I'm looking at you MIGardener). This is my favorite gardening channel.
LOL!!!! I totally agree with ur message to MIGardener. 😂
I always fast forward the MI Gardener beginning, lol.
I love all the information MIGARDNER gives me. I love the rational of everything.
@@karenguth8529 I'm more talking about his long-winded introductions having nothing to do with the topic. He may have improved on that over the years. I stopped watching.
Haha, yes I do love MIGardener's info, but that dragging-it-out style drives me nuts. I say we all take a vote and restrict MIGardener to only RUclips shorts for awhile until he learns to get to the point a lot faster.
I love the way that you don’t waste time or words and just get right down to your message! I just recently discovered you, and you are becoming my fave!
Thank you! I really appreciate it. I storyboard my videos before I film them so I can try and stay on track. Having a bulleted list to keep everything in order helps.
@@TheMillennialGardener it’s great! Easy to understand
Hear hear!
Yep!…I stopped watching all channels where as the creator just loves to hear themselves speak ….information only please!
And that’s what we get here information!! 👍
Totally agree!!! Love the great content, always gets to the point and very detailed!!! Love that he doesn’t “generalize”, he is very detailed!!!
The 80’s “cut a line” joke…hysterical. Your silent stare was what sent me over the edge!!
Somehow, I knew you were a dog dad. That of course coming from a very proud dog mom. Thoroughly. Enjoy your videos and I’ve learned a great deal. Thank you so much. Only wish I had as much of a backyard as you do. Keep the videos coming, please.
Love the straw!!! 😂😂
🤨 Hmmm!🤔 The tomato plant was probably expecting a rolled up hundred dollar bill instead of a cheap straw.
That was great!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dude!! I watch and follow many gardeners, farmers, etc.... I just learned more in 5 min then I have in 5 months from hundreds of others!
Thank you ❤️ Lofetime subscriber here ✌️
100%
Time to reroll your algorithm.
I put bone meal in the dirt of 8 bell pepper plants after watching this video. I was out of state and when I returned, one of little plants was laying down. I picked it up and one side was covered in little peppers. 26 peppers on a 12 inch plant. I checked my other ones, and all had a combination of peppers and flowers exceeding 25. It was one week from the time I fed til I returned. I wished I could attach photos. I texted them to all my veggie buddies and they've already ordered the bone meal.
When I clean my aquarium, I use the water on my plants
@@kizziah7777I don't have an aquarium so I use fish emulsion. Which is stinky fish poo in a bottle
It really does work, and quickly. It's no joke on your annuals.
You can tell by listening to you that you are WELL versed in gardening! I enjoyed it! My father passed away in 2006 and for many years prior, he had a tomato garden every single year that I think he grew just so he could share them with all of our neighbors, friends and church members. The first year after he passed, my mother and I wanted to honor him by growing his crop of tomatoes, so we went to our nursery and asked how we should prepare the soil and we were told to begin 3 months prior to planting. We followed their directions of digging up the garden well and loosening up the soil, removing old roots etc. and put down bone meal along with fertilizer and something else that I cant remember, mixing it well and deep into the soil. When planting time arrived we added a bit more and holy cow the garden was HUGE! The plants were giant and strong and the tomatoes were huge, beautiful and tasted wonderful! We had never seen a more beautiful sight and honestly wondered what in the world we were going to do with so many tomatoes!!
I finally bought white bags and with the help of my computer printed off a picture of my father and nephew in the garden holding some of his prize tomatoes from the previous years and printed "With Love from John's tomato garden" on the tags. We loaded up the bags with tomatoes, stapled them closed and added the tags and delivered them to all the neighbors, friends and church members.
This was a wonderful way for us to remember our father/husband and taught us about the use of bone meal, which we had not previously used but is now used regularly. A side bonus was working in his garden, where we found so many rocks in the shapes of hearts that it made and still makes us feel that he is watching over us and approves of what we continue to do.
What a beautiful message....very therapeutic for you and your mom....very satisfying too!!!! The recipients were thrilled I'm sure.....love your bag creation!!!!!
Thank you for sharing that experience with us.
I love love your story. Brought tears of happiness. Thank you for sharing with us.
This is a great story and a wonderful way to honor his memory. I hope you continue growing for as long as time allows.
That's just awesome, and big hearted generous family.
I'm sure there are lots of other people around the world just like your family we just don't know their stories yet.
I'm an old 61 yo gardener and really enjoy your videos. Straight to the point' informative and good cadence. You earned a sub!
Thanks so much for subscribing! I appreciate it. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
You're not that old. Oh, to be 61 again! Lol.
I am 60 almost 61. And I feel like I am still 40. It's just a number. Remember that everyone.
@@sandrajohnson9926 Yup, I'm 79 and would love to be 61 again except for the heart attack!!!LOL!!
I make my own bone meal and add egg shells and coffee grounds in it. My plants love it!
Thanks for the informative video!
How do you grind it up?
@@TheMillennialGardener I just use a blender. I store them in freezer til I have enough and then I cook them down for quite awhile, use that water in my garden....let them dry out til I can break by hand and then put the pieces in a blender and powder is the result. Shells I just dry and crunch up and then throw in blender and coffee grounds I just let dry.
@@mamamoon65 awesome
Me too !
@@TheMillennialGardener I don't even grind mine up. We often cook our meals on a charcoal (wood char) not coal. After the meal is cooked I remove the excess ash from the catcher and add in my bones. Put on an old cast iron pan or pot. Next day. Collect the ash. Potash and phosphorus booster. Viturally no work on my part except for sifting it out. 99 percent of it falls through the sift. Note. I live in Thailand and many meats are sold with bone. We cook 80 percent of our own meals. But the PH you say! Everything, everything in moderation. I don't ever buy external nutrients for my large garden. JLM, Korean natural farming and manures. Devote your winters to making these additions. Bonus. It helps with the winter garden blues. Not a suggestion, just my experience. Buy if can't make it.
Noob gardener here...thank you for having such a down to earth common sense approach to backyard gardeners
I listen to a variety of garden channels, and by far, I like yours the best. You give such detail explanations of EVERYTHING and how it all affects the life of your garden. This is my first year of attempting a garden and your information has proven to be invaluable. THANK YOU!
Thank you so much! I’m really glad to know it is helping. I wish you the best of luck this year. Take it slow, savor the successes, and don’t worry about the failures, because they’re the best way to learn! It’s a fun and rewarding journey.
HAVE FUN! You're gonna kill shit, grow too much of some, too little of another, get all kinds of weird bugs and problems, and it's ALL OKAY! Keep a garden journal, it's THAT important and so helpful! When you started seeds, what soil you used, what fertilizers, any problems you notice, etc. Date everything.
I have an approx 40 yr old glass & alum greenhouse, south-facing. Last yr I tried to use it. After cleaning & disinfecting i used 15 bags of Miracle Gro Organic($250.) soil"for raised beds" at recom of local Extension center. So disappointed. Zuc, yellow squash & cukes had lots of foilage & big blooms which promtly wilted and fell off= not 1 friut. Peppers poor. Tomatoes had bottom end rot until I added diluted milk. Wasting this $$, time and hard work has me not wanting to even try this yr but I want to. Any advice is welcome.
Hi great video. Thanks for your helpfulness !
My question: does your planting and feeding bone meal to tomato plants work similarly for tomato grown in “VegTrug” like elevated garden planters?
…thanks in advance for your reply
He says CAN double but Truth is is doesnt .
I used bone meal for the first time in my garden last year and WOW. It was the most successful garden I've ever grown. I wondered about repeat applications, which I didn't do, but now I will. I'm also zone 8a living in coastal VA. Off topic but....I'm hoping to order my orange and lemon trees this week. You convinced me to invest it those, so I'm going to try it. Give Dale a skritch behind the ears for me! He's such a good boy!
It is amazing stuff. I swear by it. The results are incredible. If you haven’t ordered your trees yet, I HIGHLY recommend Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. All my grafted citrus trees are for him. He is a great person, and he will ship phone orders. Tell him I sent you 😆
Please be sure to protect them in winter like I do. Citrus won’t survive longterm in our zone unprotected. They take a little work in winter, but they’re maintenance free mostly the rest of the year except for leaf miner and spider mites occasionally, and pruning. Dale says hello!
@@TheMillennialGardener i just mine from him too for zone 8a here in southern Piedmont nc
We can plant citrus trees in NC, or is it a greenhouse thing?? ... I truly miss the orange trees, Lemon, and lime. We used to get them from our daughter's house.
I got my citrus trees from Stan too. I only live just over an hour from him and visited on Tuesday. He is great. He comes to speak to my homesteading group occasionally which is how I learned about this channel. He always says @The Millennial Gardener put him on the map. ;)
Calcium also stops Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes
I love how in depth this video was. Most videos just tell you how to fertilize when planting and then never go any further. I found out last year I was fertilizing my tomatoes all wrong. I got lots of green leaves but little fruit. Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm glad to hear it was helpful.
The man isn’t kidding. On his recommendation, I started adding bone meal to my garden this season. It’s mid November, and I’m still harvesting tomatoes in Delaware (zone 7). There were times this year that I had to give fruit away from a measly five tomato, one bell pepper, and one eggplant. With the exception of a several week period of scorching temps, I was harvesting nearly daily. Crazy.
My grandpa was a commercial fisherman here in ARKANSAS.. He told me many years ago to throw a fish carcass into the hole before putting the plant in… I can attest that it works like crazy! I’m guessing the bones and micro nutrients are the key? A natural fertilizer that breaks down over time… love your channel. Thanks.
You are my favorite garden video on YT. I had only grown flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, & squash in the past. Retired now, so I am trying to plant other veggies this growing season. Therefore, I am so appreciative of your help! You have been blessed with the teaching gift!
Thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear the videos are helpful. Gardening is so rewarding. It teaches patience and investment, and it's so rewarding when you get that harvest.
I've used bone meal on my indeterminant tomato plants but hadn't realized it's also good for any plant with blooms which turn into fruit, thanks for that tip🙂.
Oh. I was throwing it on everything in the garden. But not very much.
I've always used it in every hole for bulbs.I guess I'll need a lot more this year.
This is very timely for me. I’m just about to plant my dwarf tomato seedlings, mostly in 5-gallon grow bags. Thank you!
You’re welcome. I try to time these videos based on the season.
How'd they do?
There is a gardening show here in Australia called Gardening Australia. In the early 2000 one of the presenters, Colin Blundell, always swore by and used blood and bone for the vegies and fruit. As I am new to vegie gardening and have been thinking about it and you have now confirmed it for me. Thank you for the way you present and share your knowledge.
You're welcome! Blood meal is fantastic for leafy growth, and bone meal is fantastic for root development and flowering/fruit set. When you combine the two properly, it's quite powerful.
"Blood and bloomin' bone!" Although my memory seems to associate that recommendation with Peter Cundall. Either way, it was good advice.😊
@@A34NR
It was definitely Peter Cundall. 😊
Sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar AND one helluva Gardener!!
I just discovered the magic of bone and blood meal this year. Thanks for the tip on how to continue fertilizing through the season. Love seeing Dale at the end of your videos.
Both of those items are fantastic. The results can't be denied. Dale sends his love ❤
I was given free fish carcasses and planted my tomatoes atop. Great harvest.
They'll grow better in that same hole this year now it's all broken down, just like a mini compost heap in the ground... Try it, same hole.
Love to see your happy dog ❤❤
Dale is the best 🐶
I have been using bone meal for decades and I just love the results
Love the step by step way you give directions. So helpful for a new gardener. You helped me so much last season, when I did my first ever garden. I'm excited for this season.
Always thought bone meal was just used at first planting
Bruh, micro rizzaaahhhh!!
I like happy frog, perlite,worn castings in the beginning, water with recharge, molasses , and bone meal at the start of flower, can't get my lazy ass to water consistently😢
I hope you had success!
You have done too good of a job spreading the word. My last store trip where I purchased fertilizer, they were out of bone meal.
Having been a late teenager in the early 80's I got quite a chuckle out of your little demonstration with the straw! lol Great information. Going to implement this in my garden more this year.
Glad you enjoyed it 😆
Same here!😅
Lmao. Yeah, that was good. Do you know what your grandmother did? 😂
took me back to the 60's!!
Ok. Urging the seedling to sniff that gator back was the best skit on the channel so far. Also dale is super spoiled, love it . Keep up the good work. 🎉
Glad you enjoyed it 😆 Dale spoils us every day with his presence, so he deserves to be treated every now and again. He doesn't know how good he has it...
Love that you get right to it!Always great content, always get right to the point and always very detailed!!! Love that you don’t “generalize”, very detailed!!! Thank you!
Almost fell off my chair with your bone meal/straw demo. Just about snorted out my tea, lmao.
Thanks for the information. I've put bone meal in my potato pots, per your instructions. Now I'll add it to all of my other seedlings that fit the criteria. Thought they'd all be in their pots by now, but today is raining with mid 40's daytime temp and low of low 30's tonight. It was 86 two days ago. Sigh... crazy spring in north GA.
Glad you enjoyed it 😆 What terrible weather we had this weekend. 2 inches of rain and we were in the 40's all day. It was colder than January. Now, we have a potential for upper 30's tomorrow. Winter always comes back for a last bite of the apple.
Another great video! Spring is coming, so time for the refreshers... Thank you for this video! Also, what are your thoughts on calcium acetate?
At 6:20 when you put it on plate and cut out lines straight faced made me laugh. It also lightened up the serious tomato facts and then producing , and sharing your knowledge which RUclips is great for Company.
I've got 2 bags of that exact bone meal. I'm gonna plant my tomatoes with it. Great video as always!
New sub from Northern Minnesota. Thanks for the videos. I don't post often but I always leave some imogis to help the algorithm. Please take this as a sign of my respect and appreciation for the work.
I amend my fruit trees with bone meal, kelp meal, home made compost and sea soil every year at least two times a year, even very established trees! They generally produce pretty well
Bone meal is fantastic for most fruit trees. Figs go absolutely nuts for them. The difference in production when regularly applying it is stark. It's like night and day, as they say.
Thank you. This is the first year I rolled my tomatoes in bone meal powder and added it to the hole. Excellent results thus far. THANK YOU!
Great info!! I mix powdered milk to pig directions and pour around my tomato plants once a week. No blossom end rot
Learned it from an old farmer, these are heavy calcium feeders. I grew Hungarian oxhearts,,German pinks and Amish paste. They had tomatoes past the second frost !!! Hugh stems and
Good tip!
What are 'pig' directions?
@@cedricerleward Probably the strength needed to feed piglets. Just a guess.
For the record, blossom end rot is usually a condition caused by uneven watering. All the calcium supplementation in the world won't matter if you allow your soil to dry out, then over-soak it, then allow it to dry out again, etc. Even moisture is key for calcium uptake. Providing you are watering deeply and mulching your soil, something like that should provide usable calcium, but I'd be careful with pH because tomatoes actually prefer a mildly acidic pH, and milk is alkaline.
@@joycee5493
Pretty sure it's a typo.
Pkg, not pig.
I'm in the DIY camp also. We raise our own grass-fed beef and lamb (and venison). We also have chickens. I pressure cook the bones. The chicken bones turn to mush pretty quickly. The beef bones take longer but also do eventually get brittle enough to break into small pieces. I use the first cooking for broth/stock, then use the bone broth for other purposes. Mostly I just toss the bone pieces into the compost, but now I'm thinking of being more purposeful with it's use :)
I've wanting to try to make my own bone broth to use in canning stew.
*Any advice?* ....
@@my_flippin_journey simple version for broth is to pressure cook the roasted bones with whatever herbs/vegetables that you want for flavor. Strain out the bones, herbs, vegetables for use as broth or stock. For bone broth, put the bones back in and pressure them with a bit of vinegar (I typically use apple cider vinegar). The vinegar helps get out the minerals I've been told. Bone broth isn't all that tasty (it's bland compared to stock) but it has the minerals. I pressure them for bone broth for a couple of hours if it is for me to use, or even longer if it is for animals or as a soil amendment.
If you take those bones after you've pressure cooked them for 3 hours at 15 lbs they will easily turn into a mush. I take this mush of meat marrow and bone and add oatmeal. The I use a small scoop and portion them into pink pong ball sized portions and bake till dry, cool, and place in gallon zip locks or something similar and keep frozen. These are the best dog treats ever!
@@brendamontanye9877 also your broth will be more tasty and have better color if you brown the bones under a broiler before makeing into broth...
@@zephyrwinkle6552 Great idea. But I would make them into a different shape. Balls can get lodged in a dogs mouth and choke them to death. I would make them in a long shape, like a dog bone.
Thanks. I'll be planting tomatoes next week and will be sure to use some bone meal I have from last year. I've never used it correctly- thanks for pointing out how one should. (The "it's the 80s" bit with the straw was hilarious too btw.)
Glad you enjoyed it 😁
This is my favorite video. Transplanting my tomatoes and needed a refresher. Thanks.
Glad I can help!
The slow feed bowls crack me up. our girl needed one and she has figured out how to hoover the food out of some spots...dogs..gotta love em
It's dangerous to feed Dale without one. Deep-chested dogs like Dale can literally die from eating by developing bloat. He will gulp his food so quickly it's dangerous for his health. When we first got him, he used to eat so quickly he'd vomit. These puzzle bowls have been, literally, a lifesaver. The key is to press the food into the grooves so they struggle to eat.
Omg. I literally spit out the water I was drinking I laughed so hard at the “pretend it’s the 80’s” and the look that you gave. You are hilarious and super knowledgeable. Love you videos
Thank you. When I built my garden boxes...you saidbefore put bmeal, so my tomatoes, potatoes. So excited to see this.
I love using bone meal!!! I have all raised beds and I know the nutrients leach out over the season after season. Loved your vid!!! Love from NJ
It's rough, especially on the rainy coast! Bone meal is essential in my garden. The results are dramatic. I was born and raised in NJ. Tell the place I said hi!
Small world…. I was born and raised in MD but have deep roots in NC….. NJ isnt bad but I live away from the NY hustle and bustle… I’m in South Jersey so actually have a nice place to have a garden…..
ever since i watched this video last year, ive been applying it and it works like a charm! thank u, u are one of d best. i always love your video and how u go to d topic straight. kisses to Dale
Thanks MG for another informative video. I didn’t know this is how you apply bone meal, down around the roots and above layer. Learning more about how the bone meal needs to get mixed in and slowly broken down first before the plant can take them up great advice. I also learned to optimally, fertilize several weeks before planting during the break down period, if possible so the soil is ready. All good stuff to know.🌱
From CA🏖️take care.
I would also dust the rootball with ecto and endo mycorrhizae so that the plant can use the NPK sooner and more effectively!
Since 90% of my garden is tomato’s and peppers I think this gonna be my method for this season.
I hope it was effective!
You’re the best! After watching what others had to say about blood meal and bone meal and when and how to use each, I didn’t get much out of them. Went to yours and it was (as you always are) full of good, clear and consiste content. You get right to the point and don’t talk about things that are irrelevant and you show us HOW you do things in your garden. I so appreciate that! EXCELLENT VIDEO!
Great video. On my end, my golden globe turnips are about ready for picking after over-wintering. My leeks, carrots and brussels sprouts did well too and a little batch of parsnips and I'm in Canada. Let's grow throughout the year! 🙂
Hello. May I ask when did you plant all your plants??? Did you use a greenhouse or?? I love leeks.
Yes I was very impressed with the harvest of tomatoes this year and I didn't even keep applying bone meal through the season just at planting time I'll be sure to do this with the rest of my crops that you mentioned. Thank you for the tip.
Dude! You are hilarious and informative. You had me going there for a second with the bone meal on the plate 😂 Ha ha ha! Thank you so much for all of your work. I’m becoming a better gardener because of you.
I'm so happy to hear the content is helping! Glad you appreciated a little humor in there 😆
Pretend it's the 80's 😆
Very good job with this video! I am a UF graduate in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and apply fertilizer for a living. You put together a nice cohesive guide for beginners to understand. We all have out tricks to what works in our given environment. Phosphorus is a missing link for most soils and a few more products would jump start your garden even further. Keep up the good work! I enjoy your channel. P.S Leelanau Sweetglo is an amazing watermelon, that is how I found your channel !
Totally unrelated but I love how you put your rain barrels. We were wondering how to raise them up high so gravity could be used to water our outdoor plants and that’s a great cheap way to do it and still looks nice. We are installing 2 rain barrels this year. Our water bill is insane where we live! This will help. Just ordered some bone meal, thanks for the video!
This was the cheapest way I could find to raise them up while also having a sturdy base. You can't beat concrete blocks. Best of luck with the bone meal! It's great stuff.
I used bone metal last planting and had a massive more fruit production..you are 100 % correct
I have found using high amounts of K over P to make the biggest difference. Master blend ratio is 4-18-38 and is water soluble (so one must be very very careful)
I got about what farmer Dre gets 30 lbs of tomatoes per plant. Best year I’ve ever had in the garden using that last year.
I haven't experimented with high levels of potassium for tomatoes, but I do have some 0-0-60. That bag has lasted me probably 5 years. Maybe I'll try some. Tomatoes struggle badly where I live come June due to the rain and humidity.
How do you make it Theo?
@@lsherylc2524 morgan county sells it I believe is the name
Don't use the 0-0-60 , if your going to try using potassium use only the 0-0-50,but you better be careful what you do because potassium and calcium don't get along they hinder each other from being taken up by the plant.
I’ve been using bone meal for years. I mix1/3 cup into the planting hole along with 1/4 cup of organic veggie fertilizer and 1/8 cup of Azomite, but after watching your brilliant video I’m going to start dusting bone meal on the root ball as well when planting.
Thanks for including fish emulsion in your video I’m a big believer in it as well. And with that one you can use a straw. 😅
I think if your tomato leaves get any purple color on them that it is usually a sign of phosphorus deficiency. It's happened to a few of my plants in the past. Bone meal always brought out the healthy green color.
Soil test here in Pa. easy and only cost $10. Penn State provides detailed report, easy to read and understand.
Bone meal made a huge difference in last year's garden, but didn't realize the re-application possibilities. Thanks for the info! Picked up some grafted Purple Cherokees and German Johnson's from Lewis Farms in Ogden and hope they do as well as before. Cheers!
It's awesome stuff! If your plants are still blooming, reapplications can help keep the party going! We have 2 cold nights coming up, so be vigilant. I think it's going to frost tomorrow night in low, cold spots.
Anything tomato related I like because im just trying to learn how to grow tomatoes and other vegetables like Eggplants okra basil & other vegetables! I love how you explain it too how to use it!!!!
Laughed so hard at the 80s skit. Love all your videos, clear ,concise and informative. ❤ Dale.
Glad you enjoyed it 😆 Dale sends his love 🐕
Come on! Pretend it's the 80s! ROTL!
I love this video! I can't thank you enough. It was soooo easy to follow and helpful. God bless you and I appreciate all you are doing to help us with our gardens!!!
If you don't have access to bone meal,pelletized guano is also good. 0-22-0. I use it especially when transplanting seedlings to encourage root growth and for citrus trees. Going to try it on sweet potatoes next.
That sounds similar. That's something I've never seen before, but that's a beautiful NPK for fruiting.
@@TheMillennialGardener I've had good success using guano with citrus trees, ornamentals, and tomatoes. I do container gardening. But I've also read that high P is good for root crops such as alliums and sweet potatoes, so I'll try it out.
Bone meal is hard to find in the tropics, and prohibitively expensive.
I appreciate you putting direct links to the products instead of just the full storefront
You're great with your presentations! Well done, and I learned a lot. Thanks for this!
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
I just bought bone meal to add to my container fig plants, now I’m going to add them to my tomato plants too! Thanks for the tip!
Bone meal works well for tomatoes, but it's AWESOME for figs. They respond incredibly!
@@TheMillennialGardener I just used up the 4 lbs bag that I bought on my figs and tomato. Can’t wait to see the results. Will be in the lookout for Bone meal sales from now on. Thanks again for the great tip! I have a lot to learn from you!
alot of ppl tend to forget how important iron and magnesium are to the soil! I add a small amount of epsom salt( magnesium), and I rust iron nails in a bowl to get iron water, put small amounts of those in a watering container, fill and add to each plant, just a little soaking around the plant stem in the ground! It makes the shiniest, healthiest bearing of tomatoes and bell peppers for sure! Thanks for talking about the phosphorus... i may add some this year, because our rain has shit off. We got the first rain in over two weeks yesterday!
The plants were growing but needed watering, and as soon as I watered them.... an hour later it rained!!!! A good soaking... mich needed! I tend to not add anything and ise Diatenaciois earth to protect plants from aphids and potato bugs as well as japanese beetles ( especially for my dads 100+ year old family grapevine! ) they destroy leaves on anything green!
Your rain did what??? Sorry, couldn't resist.
I’ve researched at least a dozen or more “expert” gardeners / farmers” on RUclips.. I’ve watched dozens and dozens of videos… Probably hundreds… Now I have it narrowed down to 2… Thanks for saving me the efforts of testing my soil, as well as a test kit I trust I don’t need… Also, I’m going to take your view on adding bonemeal for phosphorus..
I have become such a huge fan of this channel since stumbling upon it a while back. Always an overwhelming amount of information and straight to the point. Great work! And who doesn’t like a solid 80’s joke¿ “6:35”
Soil tests are FREE and easy. County extension agents can help you get them. I do 5 every other year.
I also put bone meal until frost. The bone meal will be available next spring
Im very proud of my judgement in thinking bone meal would be extremely essential after my research and buying a nice large bag ❤😊
I really like using bonemeal. I even save my bones and process it all into bonemeal when I have some spare time. Surprisingly you can make quite a lot bonemeal even from a small household that doesn't really eat much meat.
How do you grind it? Getting that fine grind appears to require special equipment. Powdering it is important to help it break down, because bone shards can take forever to break down.
@@TheMillennialGardener
if you have wood stove you can burn the bone then it easy to crush to powder
@@abdelrhmanoubied9624 WOW, thanks so much for mentioning that technique.
The ash including the bone meal would be a super duper plant food.
For my tomatoes I personal use fish, topped with lots of powdered eggs shells, some coffee grounds, then cover with a handful of lime.
Keeps the critters away and the plants love it. Happy gardening.
@@TheMillennialGardener Try using an angle grinder.
@wellspring2life Boil the bones to make stock/broth. Save the broth, then boil the bones again with 1 cup of vinegar per gallon of water for 4-6 hours. Strain the liquid, which when cool, can be applied directly to the soil. Dry the bones in the sun for 4 weeks. Break the bones into chunks with a hammer. Grind the bones in a thrift-shop blender, or (ideally) a ball mill. Beef and pork bones are much harder to process than chicken bones.
I am using bone meal for the first time in my garden this year!
Howdy MG and Dale.👋 Great info. I usually do an application of bone meal at planting and an extra application for some flowering plants, but not all. I'm going to use it regularly now. Thanks for the knowledge!👍
Breakfast with your fur baby....how sweet!😃
Happy Resurrection Day!
It's dynamite stuff. Really fantastic. Happy Easter! I hope you're doing something special. Dale and I are having both sides of the family over and making brisket 🙂
@TheMillennialGardener Brisket...I'm a Tejas girl...love our brisket. 😋 If you make brisket like you do pizza, I know it goooood!👍
We are also having family over.😃
Our main course is a steak and potato pie my hubby love.😃
I know Dale's going to be so excited with family all around him! Tell him howdy!🐕
💕
@@valoriegriego5212 it's actually corned beef brisket. I am going to smoke it. Corned beef is a little too salty for me, but when you smoke it, it takes the saltiness out of it and it makes fantastic tacos. It's not traditional, but we wanted something different than the same old Easter ham we have every year.
Steak and potatoes are always a winner. Sounds sort of like shepherd's pie? Or maybe more like a chicken pot pie but with steak? Either way, sounds good. Dale would like a slice.
@@TheMillennialGardener soak your corned beef in a container of water for 24 hours before you smoke it . That will take the excess salt out and your smoked corned beef will be amazing!!
We always fertilize our tomatoes up to the frost date. When we know a freeze is coming we cut the branches with fruit and set it in the garage to ripen on the vine. They aren't as good this way, but you will still often get ripe tomatoes using this approach.
Great demonstration on how to use bonemeal. I have never used it before, but will definitely get some now as I have a few cherry tomatoes started indoors. Many thanks 🙏🏻
I highly recommend it. It's also absolutely incredible on fig trees for enhancing production. The difference is noticeable, and quickly.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks 🙏🏻 and say “hi” to Dale from me 🥰🐶
@@TheMillennialGardener I've only used it for flowering bulbs.
I had no idea to use it any other way.
Calcium. It makes sense.
My tomatoes will definetly be getting bone meal this year.
Thank you.
@@TheMillennialGardener does your family eat all the figs (mine won't eat fresh or dried, but I do) do you have to buy a dehydrator to dry them?
I have grown over 150 varieties over 20 years. My best tip is to plant your tomatoes in the ground and do not feed nor water them. Only water if they start to drop fruits or flowers. Remove all sideshoots from indeterminate varieties and remove all leaves below any fruits.
If you have never grown tomatoes before and want an easy variety, I can highly recommend a determinate dwarf variety called Balconi Red. There is no need to remove any sideshoots and you can get three in a window box as the plant will get no bigger than your head. The fruits are small and tasty. If you grow them in a container, you will need to feed them.
Youre amazing! 3q’s: how do you find out if your tomato plant is determinate or not? What if you’re planting in a elevated bed, do you need the same amount of bone meal? I see that some tomatoes need staking and others hang. How do you know which is which?
The supplier of the seed or plant should specify whether it is a vine or bush (indeterminate or determinate) variety. Vine tomatoes need support, bush tomatoes can often benefit from support. Vine vs bush also have different pruning requirements.
Thanks being a good friend and honest person. I will do that for my all plants.
I appreciate it! Thanks so much for watching!
.....might add: check the soil ph.
Minerals are plant available at various ph levels. Hence a 6.0 to 7.0 is an optimal range for almost all fruit & vegetable crops.....blueberries being an exception. Think a ph range of 4 to 5 for them.
These suggestions assume a fairly neutral pH. Blueberries like a pH around 4.5, but they can tolerate a little higher or lower.
A great video. I always use bone meal even if I can't afford to buy any other type of fertilizer. I don't usually side dress my tomatoes but always side dress my peppers. One problem I have had is when adding bone meal to a planting hole is racoons will dig the seedlings up, therefore I have taken to broadcasting it and raking in a few days before planting.
Bro you just slayed me. I’m dying.
“Pretend it’s the 80’s!”
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your support and generosity! I really appreciate it ❤
@@TheMillennialGardener been watching your videos for a while. Great information. This one is extremely helpful
Glad to hear it! Happy to help.
I tried bone meal a few years ago and my dogs dug up my beds and ate it. Without bone meal no dog problems
ouch
Your videos are EXCELLENT!
Great info on the bone meal and how to apply it.
Thank you! I'm really glad they're helpful.
I just bought myself a bag of bone meal . I need all the help I can get. Thank you sir for your knowledge, I really appreciate you.
You're welcome! I wish you success!
Have you looked into agricultural molasses? I started using it with my fish fertilizer and I've noticed a big difference in the grow and health of my plants.
I have heard of adding this to tomato plants but have never tried it. When I redo my potting soil each year I typically add bone meal, blood meal, azomite and a slow release granular fertilizer. When planting I also add fish fertilizer to the water at about quarter strength each time I water for about two weeks. This year I am going to try molasses for tomatoes and peppers.
i use it sometimes. Also on my compost pile to kick start a cold compost pile. To get it working .
@@colliecoform6238 I use the same when I am ammending my beds. I put the azomite in water sometimes too to water with.
I have not. Is it costly? I'm pretty careful with the organic fertilizers I use in my garden, because they're often pricey and add up fast. I find fish fertilizer and bone meal to be worth the cost since you get more in return by investing in them, but I've also tried some other products and have been less than impressed.
Its like crack for the bio life in the soil
I just fertilized my plants with rabbit pebbles and im still harvesting tomatoes in November
While I agree with your point about soil testing for phosphorus being unnecessary, one thing that should be tested before using bone meal is the PH. Bone meal will increase the soil's PH, and if your soil already has a very high PH, increasing it further could make other nutrients unavailable to the plant. If you have a high PH soil, you may want to also use a soil acidifier in addition to the bone meal.
Thank you for all your tips! I never harvest as many vegetables( tomatoes, even the big flesh tomatoes they were insane big, courgettes, patissons, paprika's, red spanish hot pepper, eggplants, pumpkins) this year in our season from mai till september in Holland in two simple plastic greenhouses and in pots and some outside in pots.
When you broke out the credit card I just about died hahaha! And yes on the bone meal and put into the hole and stir around. I think that's a vital ingredient to success. Good stuff!
I'm glad you enjoyed it 😅 It's fantastic stuff for strong roots and increasing blooms.
I have already planted my tomatoes, can I now put in Bone meal on my plants? Last year I had tomato worms bad, what can I do? Love your show . I live in northwest GA
"how to apply it? Cut with credit card and get your straw." OMgosh! You had me hysterically laughing out loud!!! SO glad I found your channel recently. Will order the bone meal through your link tonight! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it. I couldn’t resist 😂
Lmao
You're amazing! I enjoy the way you think and operate! Always another great learning experience! Thank you!
I found some 4lb bags of bonemeal at TSC for $2.50 on clearance, and 4lb bags of organic 5-4-4 and 4-6-3 on clearance for $2 at Walmart.
Now? That’s a killer deal. If they’re having prices like that now, that’s nuts. In Fall, it is a little more common.
@@TheMillennialGardener TSC was a couple weeks ago, Walmart was the fall.
Our local TSC had Dr. Earth bone meal on sale for 5.99 at the end of last season, and since they had a TSC credit card new sign up promotion, they ended up being about $2.99 each. I caught an awesome fertilizer clearance at Walmart in 2021 10lb,8lb,4lb bags of fertilizer just $1 each, but 2022 was a bust. They have been changing their Expert Gardener brand lately, new designs on the bag, reformulations to cheapen them up a bit (4-4-4 now instead of 5-4-4 NPK on the all purpose, etc). They've also made all their 3.5lb bags 4lb and their 10lb bags 8lb.
@@keyphabenyisrael3219 awesome. I love a good deal
I do the same thing except I will be applying directly to roots as well. In addition I put water in the hole as well as watering when I fill in. Helps reduce shock I believe.
Just found your channel and absolutely LOVE it! ❤️ I saw you mentioned in another comment thread that bone meal is good for fig trees. We have a HUGE fig tree at th home we recently bought. Do I have to mix the bone meal into the soil or... How should I apply it? The tree is well established and we've harvested 2 very productive years.
he shows you in the beginning of the video
The more I watch you the more I learn. Thank you
That was totally unexpected...making lines out of the bone meal!
😂
I need more bone meal.
Totally took me back to my younger days😅