If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Intro To Fertilizer Myths And Truths 1:14 2 Reasons Gardeners Avoid Using Fertilizer 1:52 Do Gardens Need Fertilizer? Is Permaculture Real? 4:46 Why Vegetable Gardens Are Often NOT Sustainable 8:15 Can I Use Just Compost & No Fertilizer In A Garden? 9:25 Why Compost Is An Inefficient Way To Fertilize 12:46 How To Fertilize A Garden For Free (Almost) 14:49 Why You Must Fertilize A Container Garden 17:07 Adventures With Dale
I have a REALLY important question as I'm getting ready to prune my fruit trees. Some sites say NEVER prune the leader on an apple tree. Others say it's okay. I can't AFFORD to kill my only apple tree (it's pollinated by an old crabapple). Please advise.
“Folk wisdom has it that a poor gardener grows weeds, a good gardener grows vegetables, and a very good gardener grows soil.” - S.Stein Great video! Thanks.
Thank you for all this great information and motivation. You`ve made a big difference in my future. When the fertilizer shortage happened I bought 25 pounds of MasterBlend hydro nutrients...one 10lb bag is general "tomato" fertilizer, another is calcium nitrate, and a 5 lb bag of epsom salt. Then I discovered MaxiGro is all I need and it`s an all-in-one kilo bag of powder that lasts me years. One kilo can grow more tomatoes, lettuce, herbs etc than I can eat in 5 years, basically. I love growing tomatoes under the edge of my camper roof in hydro buckets. So EASY and inexpensive! Soil to grow one container tomato plant costs 100 times more than water and tiny amounts of nutrients and soil needs watering over and over and over sometimes three times per day. Water/nutrients grows perfect cabbage, lettuce, basil...it`s incredible...and you can add an aquarium bubbler and not have to watch water levels. But it`s easy to keep water levels right for air roots with float valves connected to a tank. My soil was removed here so until I slowly repair it I can`t grow tomatoes in the ground.@@TheMillennialGardener
Honestly compost is fertilizer. Ik semantics but it brings fertility to your soil and you can amend the compost naturally to have all the needed compounds
I read that the synthetics can kill soil microbes, which may be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I think synthetics have a place in potted gardening or where the soil is very nutrient poor. Maybe a compromise is to use the synthetics to grow plants for composting and limit that to one bed or so? (Line it with charcoal or so to avoid leaching) Maybe that way you get nutrients into your poor soil without shocking the soil microbes dead.
My fertilizer is just all the poos I can get from my animals. And all the compost I made from my kitchen scraps or rotten produce due to flood or livestock killed by predators.
I can't count how many times I have had to argue the difference between fertilizer and compost. Some people are adamant about permaculture, but don't know there is a difference between fertilizing and composting, and that I have to fertilize the veggies as well as compost the garden each year. Thank you for educating!
It's ultimately frustrating, because people try these systems and they wonder why the yields are so low. There is a reason why organic produce is 3x more expensive than conventional produce - the yields are much lower, and the products are more expensive. If you want to grow food organically, or at least as organically as possible, and have good production, you're going to need to apply external fertilizer.
Absolutely fantastic points. I think it is sometimes easy to forget that we are borrowing nutrients in our backyard gardens, and in most cases, borrowing those nutrients at an alarmingly unsustainable rate. We absolutely should work to provide organic material and nutrients from compost and other inputs whenever possible, that includes organic and soluble fertilizers. It is as equally important to not solely rely on soluble fertilizers as the this is essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. Quick result, not long lasting and not soil building. As in everything in life, it's all about balance. This is why I really resonant with this channel. A no-nonsense, data, and science-based approach that also has the ability to make us think! Kudos to you and Dale!
This is 100% true. Gardens are not sustainable systems, and they "take" faster than they put back. It's up to the gardener to balance out the equation. Soil doesn't magically produce nutrients. It needs, at the very least, the raw materials to convert it into nutrition, and in many cases, it can't do it fast enough to grow these "mutant" heirloom vegetable we insist on growing 18 inches apart! It isn't good to solely rely on synthesized fertilizers since the primary focus should be to create healthy soil first, but it also isn't harmful to use them in moderation to account for all the nutrients our plants are taking. As with everything in life, the truth is a gray area. There is no reason to be militant in either direction, and there are many ways to do something well.
Fertilizer absolutely is necessary in many gardens. My garden started off with the most infertile soil I could I could imagine. Rock and hard pan. After years of amending with organic matter and compost it's improved alot, but organic fertilizer helped too
It certainly does. Compost is heavy and expensive. Trying to do it all with just compost is a great way to hurt your back and wallet unless you have a local source you can get for free or almost free.
Same here. I ended up having to use a good quality organic fertilizer eventually. Theres no issues with using both in harmony. We want the best veggies and fruits possible. So, naturally, we use both to provide them with everything they need to produce a great bounty.
You just said what was in my heart.. Infact i now uses chemical fertilizers as well if the soil is too much infertile but only in the preparation of the soil.. after seedlings I mostly prefer to use Organic fertilizers and Bio fertilizers.. these fertilizers are blessings
I really appreciate your scientific approach to husbandry & gardening. You bring up ideas that I just never thought of, such as veg plots are NOT found in nature. I'd rather eat tomatoes than lambs quarters and domestic lettuce rather than purslane any meal of the week.
A lot of folks want to eat food as naturally as possible, which is understandable, but you can't apply the laws of nature to unnatural foods grown in unnatural means. There's just a lot of confusion out there between "permaculture" and vegetable gardening. If you're going to grow vegetables, which are human-altered species grown in man-made plots, you're going to have to add man-made fertilizers to keep the system growing if you want good results.
Man, you nailed it! I agree with you 100% on the fertilizer. I’m reluctant to use “free” mulch and compost because I don’t know what I’m getting. I make my own compost because i have access to all the leaves i can handle. Great video!
☔🌱🦋🌿 I so appreciate your style and enthusiasm....and now your open mindedness when discussing topics. I just listened to your "Pee vs. Miracle-Gro. I've heard much lately about M.G. being an artificial fertilizer we should avoid. I didn't hear that in your presentation and would really love to hear your feedback from watching a video called "Why I Won't Use Miracle-Gro.". It made a lot of sense to me as a video all gardeners should see. Just from listening to several of your videos, I'm sure you would find it worth your time. Thanks also for showing such respect to the critters who pay your garden a visit❣️
I bought my current house in 2000, all clay soil. It took years of adding compost and organic fertilizer to get to were we are today. I now grow veg and herbs easily and use mostly home made compost and some organic fertilizer. I have a good friend arborist who delivers to my driveway for free lots of shredded tree mulch, cant beat that. Good video, bro.
I had 10 acres in Michigan. Clay. i did the same thing. I also had an arborist with a huge boom and shredder, who would drop me off loads of tree shredded mulch. Who lived next door. I built the soil, and mulched. The main thing about clay. First airiate it, and keep mulching. That’s the secret. The mulching also keeps it from drying out. I never had to water those gardens. In the heat of summer, I could pull mulch back and it was always moist. I had HUGE perreniel gardens too. The only thing I really watered was things in pots. Clay soil actually has alot of nutrients in it. Believe me. The dead SAND down here is a trip. I been in every type soil. And the sand is the worse! Talk about ammending! Plus the sun, it breaks down quick! You know when you put your shovel in and can’t find one worm! It’s DEAD! So slowly I creep, ammending and hot composting and layering. Happy gardening all! 🤗
Right on Point. I use both compost and organic fertilizer. I was still picking tomatoes and making sauce in the begining of November last year and I am in zone 6b.
Hi neighbor, I live in the same county. I've been watching you getting inspired. I just bought a new home this past December, and I'm pushing my yard to be 100% edible.
I agree! But still I wonder: how did people grow vegetables 100 or 200 years ago before packaged fertilizers? It may be that they had animals, and used the manure.
@@immortalgaiden Nah. They used everything. They cut weeds and composted them, they lined pits with animals scraps (bones and unusable hide), they scraped up bird dung. But the real truth is, that for most of history, human agriculture was pretty bad. It wasn't until the invention of cheap artificial fertilizer that it took off.
Most was grain/seed or leaf, but it was very dependent on good soil and compost. Lots of Hugal culture type growing and irrigation for river or pond nutrients. But, as stated also....poop.
THANK YOU for the clarification! This is my FAV garden channel not just for the additional info you provide, the cost saving tips and GREAT analysis, but you're not too far from us, Myrtle Beach here.
Thanks for your hard work and research on this. Very much appreciate your easy to follow advice and ideas. After 2 years of watching lots of videos, I do as much composting as my kitchen scraps allow and supliment with fertilizer. This weekend I planted some broccoli and couldn't believe how many worms I had. Looking forward to a great season!
I think that's the appropriate thing to do for 95+% of us that grow in a backyard settings. If you live in a rural area and have a great source of local manure or compost, great. If you're fortunate enough to own land and have animals where you can make your own compost safely in large quantities, great. But that's most of us, and the cheapest, safest and healthiest way to do things is a blend of fertilizer and compost where we can get it affordably.
You're welcome! I've been experimenting for a long time, and fertilizer works. There isn't much else to say other than that. The results are immediately noticeable.
I use a combination of both every year. I pour on truckloads of gin trash from my local cotton gin and compost it in during the winter with a tarp. I use natural pre plant fertilizer and use synthetic thru my drip tape. Seems to work out pretty good 😊
Thank you. You communicate the truth so well. I say most vegetable gardens are over-watered and underfed. Most vegetables we eat have had their natural defenses and resistance bred out. Overworking the soils, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides kill any remnant of a natural soil environment these plants need to thrive/survive.
The only problem with collection point waste products is that you do not know what pesticides and herbicides may be in it. Although I do not grow organic, I still am very conscious of keeping pesticides out of my biosphere, so as not to kill beneficial insects. Monarch butterflies, for example. VERY sensitive to pesticides.
Good point!…I have not thought of that!!.. I love the idea of using community sourced compost and mulch. I produce enough compost myself that I did not have to go get some for a long time, but this is really good point. Thanks!
So "self-sufficiency" is new to me. Last year I bought chickens. And I have watched a TON of chicken videos to help me. And then I bought fruit trees and utilized the Ellen White Blue Print Method that I found in RUclips videos to plant those trees. And now I'm am watching just a TON of gardening videos as I try to get my raised garden beds producing. I wish I could have latched onto these videos BEFORE I just threw things together. You know an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure and all that. Anyway, thank you for all the content. I have watched a TON of very good videos from a lot of different content creators. And although I have found that I do like a lot of different content creators... I keep coming back to your videos first and foremost to expand my knowledge. Your videos are very well done and packed with excellent information. So thank you for all the great videos and keep up the great work. And I have to say that you are an exception to the "Millennial Memes". :) And for what it is worth demographically speaking, I'm a 57 year old male who lives just southwest of St. Louis, MO.
Good discussion. I believe in the concept I’ve heard some agricultural science speakers explain is that average soil has a good quantity of N, P, K , but what the plants need is the ability to take up those nutrients reliably. That’s where compost comes in. The fungi and other microbes that compost introduces to the soil break down the nutrients so the plants can take them up. So healthy soil is a bigger contributor than synthetic fertilizer to your garden producing a good crop. Your videos do a great job of motivating would-be gardeners to get going!
This is one of the best and most useful videos I've ever watched about a core principle of gardening - compost or fertilizer? It explains why nature doesn't need added fertilizer. At the same time tacitly explaining why there are no vegetable gardens in nature. It implicitly explains why when you start a new garden with truckloads of mixed compost and soil there is very little fertility. We may think we got delivered a load of poor soil but in fact it is just that right off the truck the first year there is no developed microbiome yet. It will need a lot more fertilizer that first year to eighteen months.
Thanks for this video. I agree with this content. I make compost but I also buy and use organic fertilizer on newly planted fruit trees and in my vegetable garden. I mulch my fruit trees heavily with organic matter and the leaves from said trees and depending on what is going on with my mature fruit trees will determine if I fertilize them or not.
thank you for being honest about vegetable gardens not being able to behave like nature. theres so much pressure online to somehow make everything work like permaculture and also grow food all while consuming/buying absolutely nothing. cute but impossible ideals.
You can get a good yielding garden by just using compost or preference means. However, like you said in your tomato fertilizing guide, you grow to maximize production, which means fertilizing. You can be as whichever and back to nature as you want, but you're not going to produce the same yields as a person following similar means, but it's also consistently account extra nutrition in the form of fertilizer.
Great topic to discuss. Many times, buying veggies at the store can be cheaper. However, you don't know how it's grown and not earth/people friendly fertilizer is used. I enjoy gardening just to see if I can grow food, enjoy the outdoors, and when my G-babies come over, they can pick carrots, wipe dirt off on my shirt, and eat right then. I make my own compost that I mix in with my soil to help with soil biology. I now make my own bonemeal as well. I use many different organic fertilizers as needed for my garden cause I want to grow food bottom line.
I think many people dont realize that vegetables have been bred to produce more and better fruit, most dont occur like that naturally. They are expecting some help along the way to be able to produce the amount and size that they do.
Thank you. I agree with you totally. I have tried to grow organically multiple times. I have nutrient rich soil. I do soil tests, but the yields drop tremendously relying on organic fertilizer. I have been adding 4 inches of compost or organic potting soil when I can't get good compost a year. However, I have recently had to stop doing that because my soil test showed that the phosphorus had risen to 2300. The only fertilizer I add to the garden is sulfate of ammonia for about 10 years. The only other source has been the compost and organic potting soil which has fertilizer in it. My soil organic matter is more than 5% so I have backed off on the organic matter and when I use it again I will only add about 0.5-1 inch instead. I had a problems growing cucumbers organically in containers. The plants had severe nutrient deficiencies, poorer yields, and more pest problems than the same variety planted with conventional fertilizer. Part of the problem was that no one organic fertilizer was complete. At least the ones I have access to and I could not figure out how to mix them to not fix one problem without causing another. Synthetic fertilizers with their guaranteed analysis are not only cheaper to use, but I can add only what I need and nothing else and that saves me $ on fertilizers I don't need. I do believe in feeding the soil, but as you said an intensively planted vegetable garden is a freak of nature. Nature cannot support it and still get high yields. However, adding organic matter does support healthy soil life. I don't expect the soil to feed my plants, but I do want a healthy soil to support what I grow. About food forests. It is true that mature forests are self supporting, but they can only do that by extending their roots to seek more sustenance. Other plants like vegetables don't fare well planted near trees. Not only do the trees block the light, but their roots will out compete the smaller plants and may be aleopathic and be hostile to other plants under them. That is why you can only plant temporary crops under very young trees. Once the trees mature, you have to have enough land to move the garden or you have to find plants that can survive with the trees.
As I’ve watched a lot of your videos, this one is one of the ones I agree with 100%. Trying to grow without fertilizing is so hard. I’ve done it before and most plants suffered so much. A good mix of fertilizer and compost does so well here. Gwinnett county in GA has free mulch on fridays and it’s great stuff!
I totally agree. There's no way to grow a successful garden without using some type of fertilizer. And I do compost my kitchen scraps and make leaf mold for the worms. Every year I mulch the leaves and grass clippings to cover my garden beds also. In the spring I just push whatever didn't break down aside to plant and the beds are filled with worms.
I try to keep costs down and follow organic growing as much as possible. I make my own compost. I also make my own fertiliser. Some of my plants thrive on the composts alone. I use grass, leaves, woodchip, cow manure and wood ash if I have it. I also make worm tea, cow manure tea, Comfrey tea and about to try JMS. Even with all this I just bought some organic lifter and Searles 5 in 1 liquid feed. This garden is a little over a year old. It's built on sandy/ silt soil. I've only just started seeing lots of small worms in the beds. I will get away from the bought fertilisers. Once I understand the plant requirements more. Pests and poor soil have got me buying fertiliser. I believe healthy plants have a better chance. So I'm doing what I need to. A helping hand from some fertiliser will hopefully give me an idea of how good my compost is..what might be missing from it. Good video. I think the answer lies in what you want to achieve. I want to grow food by only using what's on my property. Everyone to their own thing I guess.
@@TheMillennialGardener it is obvious that you are passionate about the whole growing industry. From the smallest details. That is what sets your channel apart from most content providers. You have research. Experience. Hindsight. and a wealth of knowledge and you readily provide replies to questions . Absolutely fabulous channel and I am so glad I found it.
I don't do any supplemental fertilizing at all but I make my own very diverse compost in large quantities as well as biochar, leaf mould, worm castings. I mix them and apply an inch or two before planting and I have great results. I will say, this is not possible for many people for a multitude of reasons and there's nothing wrong with fertilizers if they're needed. Charles Dowding does amazing market gardens and I'm pretty sure he only top dresses with compost once a year as well. It's really about making a well rounded compost with a plethora of inputs but I've got 50 acres of different greens, browns, potash and manures etc to give me a very well balanced compost. At the same time, you'll always have variance in the content whereas you know exactly what you're getting in a labeled bag of store bought fertilizer.
Also guys like Jim Kovaleski use this method of just adding a thick layer of compost to beds and get great results. Dr. Elaine Ingham discusses why this works in her soil seminars - the sand silt and clay that make up soil contain almost a limitless amount of nutrients, the key is unlocking those nutrients and making them available for your plants to use. Fertilizers are beneficial as they provide direct nutrients to the plants regardless of the quality of the soil/soil life. The most important thing is that you grow food, all of the different methods and techniques that exist are simply tools to assist to getting to the end goal of growing nutrient dense food
I have a friend that has horses and a lot of property. He makes a huge compost every year. He doesn’t use any fertilizer except he does supplement for his tomatoes. As he said to me, it took many years to achieve his soil biome.
A big problem for most people are the resources to aquire that much compost. And the resources to make that much for big areas. (Which the original poster did mention 👍) One thing, unfortunately, I have been very LEERY of (as I use to use it all the time). Is Manures. Because of Grazon being sprayed on the hay and straw fields when growing it. The animals eat it, and it does not dissipate. It goes into the manure. And can completely KILL your garden for years. To me. It’s tragic. As I use to love using straw and manure. Now, I just won’t take the chance. I hot compost clippings and other things being SURE they have not been contaminated with herbicides. So beware where you get manure, hay, and straw from! That’s all I can say. !!
I look forward to your videos and thank you so much for all the research and time you put in them. I live in Georgia and I'm in zone 8, so your input on growing helps me immensely. Keep up the great work.
Excellent video as usual and welcome to the pickup truck owners club. I highly recommend you purchase a LoadHandler truck bed unloader for your new ride. It will make unloading your bulk compost a breeze. I can verify LoadHandler is a quality product that will last a long time. I've had mine since 2017 and have used it to unload up to 3/4 ton of gravel in one run. I've also used it to unload multiple cubic yards of mulch, compost, and topsoil from our friends at Seaside mulch over the years. I know Harbor Freight has a version of this product, but I have no experience with it. But it may be worth checking out. The time and energy you save with a truck bed unloader will pay for the item after a use or two.
The Millennial Gardener is spot on here. The latest university studies show the highest yields are produced from a combination of organic and synthetic fertilizers. And he has a bunch of videos about adding organic matter to one’s garden.
Yes, I've experimented with different setups for years, and I've found the best production is to follow the principles of organic gardening - meaning compost and mulch applications with organic fertilizer granules worked into the soil - but to supplement every 14 days with something like Jack's 20-20-20. It, by far, has produced the best results for me.
I would be interested in a study on the actual nutritional value of the vegetables grown with compost and mulch versus those grown with only fertilizers. It seems to me that the compost and the mulch add more to the soil than simply nitrogen phosphorus and Potassium. It's adding vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.... The circle of life, right? It's about more than just production levels.
@@tabithacarter9192 I am a bit confused by your comment because The MG and I are not advocating for a 100% synthetic fertilizer approach only. Yes, quality compost and mulch does improve the soil. Nobody is making the claim that synthetics improve soil quality. These days synthetics fertilizers are not just NPK-that is another myth. For example, Original Miracle Grow also has boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. The ions of the above in Miracle Grow are exactly the same as ions from organic fertilizers. If you want to grow 100% organic only, awesome! After all it is your garden and you can do whatever you want. But the latest university studies and backyard experiences of growers are showing the best yields come from using organic matter, organic ferts, and limited synthetic fertilizers. Sometimes you can only feed your soil so much and synthetics can provide an extra boost. For example, early in the year when it is cool a high nitrogen synthetic will get your plant going much sooner than waiting for organics to be broken down. In the heat of summer when temps are pushing 95-100 degrees plants are under tremendous fruit/vegetable load stress. Working in some synthetics will help immediately. (Now a liquid fish fertilizer can also be absorbed right away too and they are awesome. However, their NPK levels are much lower than synthetics.)
@@tabithacarter9192 There have been studies done and even testimony at the senate level from the American Pediatric association that said that there was no difference in nutritional value between a carrot grown conventionally or a carrot grown organically under similar conditions and using the same cultivar. There are differences in meat production because grass fed beef has better quality of fat and a lot less of it. The meat will be tougher and drier, it that is ok with you. As far as pest residue goes, organic may be better. However, who tests for organic pesticides regularly???? Even conventional produce has very low pesticide residues and it behooves growers to make sure they follow the procedures because food is tested for non-organic residues. For most people, the food on the market is safe. For some individuals, they may be sensitive to even low levels. BTW, as a home grower, you have the choice on what fertilizer and pesticides you use on your own garden. I use conventional fertilizer, but rarely do I use any pesticides on my vegetable gardens. Only Bt, sulfur, pyrethrins and slug bait which are OMRI approved. Mainly I rely on predators. I have a flower and nectar garden. I also use water as my main pest control. Compost and mulch do not have many nutrients and unless you are testing your compost, you cannot say what nutrients it actually provides. Most of those nutrients are not taken up by plants, but are instead consumed by the soil organisms which compete with plants for nutrients at some point if the supply is low. Minerals are taken up from the soil by the plants. Their origin is usually the rocks that make up your soil base. Vitamins are produced by the plants. Plants don't really care if the source of their nutrition comes from organic or synthetic sources as long as they get what they need. BTW soil organisms don't care either, they still can take up synthetic ammonia, they just need the carbon so they have a balanced diet and that is what organic matter really provides for them.
You are right, we need both fertilizer and compost to keep our gardens growing. I would like to hear more about how fertilizer works in sandy soil. Living in nw Florida we have to contend with the sand. Keep on gardening!
This is your best video so far. Thank you. What about making a compost tea for containers? Dale is so spoiled. He is one lucky baby to have you guys. ❤️
Thank you! I have not made compost tea before. However, because compost tea is a fermented product, you're actually processing it so it's more bioavailable for consumption. If you do it correctly, that can be a really good source of fertilizer for container gardens. Would your containers still perform better with a little extra "real" fertilizer? Maybe. That would be something you'd want to experiment with. Compost tea may be enough, or it may lack some nutrients for heavy fruiters that a little supplemental NPK can add. If you're growing lettuce, you don't need fertilizers as strong as you'd need growing a fig tree in a pot, at least that's what I've found.
Love your video, I used organic fertilizer only to start the garden, now mulching with grass and compost made from grass I basically have all the fertility I need, when I notice a deficiency on a plant that is stun I use compost extract as foliar really diluted with home made with worm castings, also there but I don't have raised beds, and I live in the Caribbean where things decompose really fast and I have tons of grass to much. It's not Bermuda grass, is a mixtures of grasses and legumes that do help. So is possible to have a fertilizer free garden just needs lots of inputs, and no dig, hopefully in a few years I will mature my garden as charles the father of no dig up in london
Our city mulch is stuff picked up from neighborhoods, as well. So you don’t know how much of it is contaminated with pesticides or herbicides. Also, we find micro plastics and other garbage debris in it. It’s a bummer. Thank you for this information and for doing the math for us!
You will want to ask the people where the mulch came from. Sometimes, it's simply a product of tree trimming. That's usually really good stuff. A small amount of debris in your mulch isn't a big deal when you consider the cost savings and can be picked out. The places that let you load your own mulch are great, because you can choose what goes in your truck.
@@TheMillennialGardener we have a place 30 minutes from home where we can buy a composted soil as well as fresh mulch by the scoop at a decent price and I can speak to them about where the product ones from. I have had too many horror stories from people who get our city mulch, including tons of weed/tree seeds sprouting from it. I don’t think our city is invested in going thru the process properly.
I started gardening last year and followed the square foot gardening book. They say to use a mix of organic fertilizer, peat moss and coarse Vermiculite and you don’t need fertilizer. But I disagree. I could not get zucchini or cucumbers to grow and I think it was due to lack of fertilizer. Zucchini would look good and then I’d go out one day and it was turned to much. Cucumbers would start out fine and then turn a pinkish color. So I will be using fertilizer this year. Thanks for the info! Everything makes perfect sense.
How about a video on what to do if you get invasive tree roots in your raised beds? I just discovered tree roots in our raised beds and am wondering what I should do, so I can transplant my tomato and pepper plants ASAP. Cheers!
Many tree roots that are an issue in a garden are in the top 12 inches of soil. My neighbor's tree was sending roots into my raised bed becausehe doesn’t water enough. I dug a trench about 12 to 16 inches deep. Then I placed spare floor tiles upright in it. I overlapped them a bit as well. Then I back filled the hole and I had an almost impermeable root barrier that was rot and rust proof.
@@yellowdog762jb I appreciate the information. I have some corrugated plastic sheets that I could use for a barrier. I’m going to call Blue Stake to mark where the electric lines run before I dig 12” down just to be safe. Eventually the tree is going to have to come down because it’s headed toward the sewer pipes. Thanks for sharing and have a good one!
You make an excellent point. Yes in nature we see fruit trees but not any type of vegetable garden. For my own trial, I did a natural garden with both flowering plants and vegetables, using minimum fertilizer, no mulch etc. No matter how much I tried, weeds kept coming back and they are quite powerful. Can take over even within one week. Container garden which is not natural, and of course man made, allows us to reduce the impact from weeds, but needs water every day. This is so unlike a fruit tree that can stand out there, whether we water them regularly or not. Those trees, even if we did not mulch, are capable of tolerating and sustain themselves. Now on to type of fertilizer - whether natural manure or with synthetic manure, NPK is important for defining fertilizer. In order to fertilize the artificial vegetable garden that we have now come to adapt, as human beings, we absolutely need fertilizer. In that way, we human beings created the need for fertilizer. With all that said, the fruits and vegetables in the garden taste so much better than those in the market shelf, since those commercial products have other visual appeals. They also must sustain long transporation cycles and shelf life - which we as gardeners do not have to bother about. There are farms that follow your thinking. They dont even sell dwarf version of fruit trees, that are the mainstay of commercial fruit industry. Instead, they sell only natural root stock that take years to grow into a tree, but can sustain well even in extreme weather conditions. Since they are natural, they are less prone to attacks by insects and less disease prone. Thanks for this excellent video - in simple terms you have explained to gardens the differences and why some things are not needed.
Brother I love your channel. I’m a new subscriber and have watched probably all of your fig videos. I’ve planted all 5 of your top 5 for humid locations and I’m even rooting some cuttings using your lessons learned info. Now I’m learning from your other videos and look forward to gardening. Thank you for taking the time to do this for the internet lol.
@@TheMillennialGardener , wait, you have fig videos?!? I am in zone 9b and was wondering if we can add them here. Subscribed and watching/sharing more. Thank you 🙂
When I moved into my house five years ago, The yard was spotty and mostly consisted of sand with zero value to the plants. Last year, I spred a six inch layer of compost over my entire eight thousand square foot yard, and by the end of the summer, I had one of the most vibrant lawns in the entire neighborhood. Small towns with free compost make life much easier
I'm big on fertilizer. The cost is irrelevant given that grocery stores sell junk. On a totally different topic, I'm building another raised bed garden. Can't decide on depth; either 12 inches deep or 24 inches deep. What do you recommend?
Mine are made out of 2x8's, so they're 7.25 inches deep. However, they're bottomless, so the roots will grow into the native soil if necessary. What works for you depends on how much you want to spend or bend over. There are advantages to higher beds, but they're more costly to build, fill, and if you grow tall plants in them like tomatoes, it can be a reach issue.
One of the best explanations on the topic of why we use synthetic fertilizer. To grow the type of food we eat on a large scale! Organic is great... for dilettanti. I like this guy.
To the contrary, most people who are against commercially generated fertilizer have used it and have then researched and realized all we need is natural compounds, such as manure and compost.
@すし what is that based on? That isn’t true at all. All fertilizers are “chemicals.” Water is a chemical. There are no such things as “chemical fertilizers” beyond the fact everything we eat and drink are chemicals. The word you’re looking for is “synthesized,” and there is no evidence that they are harmful when used as directed. If they were harmful, hydroponics would be impossible. Of course, hydroponics works wonders, which proves soil biology has nothing to do with plant health and its only function is to process nutrients for the plants. Plants don’t care how they get their NPK. If you have actual evidence to the contrary that is derived from controlled trials where recommended dosages are used, I would love to see it. Otherwise, it is just fear mongering.
Finelly somebody(You) made a big difference on how and at what stage of growth to use right fertilizer.The other pro growers would like to show the final result not the stages of growth.I asked them spesifictly,not response.It seems like it is in their heads and what you do appeals to me.I live in Canada(Ottawa),different zone but heaving access to the green room(constant temp)makes it easy to start earlier seedlings using grow lights.Now it is too hot there(up to 30C),they are big and still more time to get them in the garden.Wish me luck.Thank you,watching you all the time.A week ago i seeded the beit alfa cucs,can not wait.Regards,Vieslava.
You make a terrific argument about using fertilizer because of the non-sustainable nature of a veg garden. Also, you make clear about what compost actually does, versus the common perception that it’s a panacea for organic gardening. Thanks for giving me something to chew on!
Be careful when buying compost from the local refuse locations. I have seen the piles of yard waste, professional tree trimming waste along with lumber scraps including chemically treated lumber waste products. I bought this soil before seeing them making it. also lots of scrap plastic bags broken into small and micro size plastics. If you are an organic gardener or just a concerned gardener, please beware.
Seaweed is one of our favorite soil amendments. I gather it up in the fall in the back of my truck and bury it with leaves. We add some winter rye seed and by tilling in the spring everything is decomposed and all that organic matter costs pennies.
It's fine if you have a source and you use proper culture so you don't get ill using it. There are thousands of documented e.coli infections caused by organic farming, so you have to be careful when using it.
EXCELLENT POINTS! 100% AGREE! THESE ARE VERY STRONG PROFESSIONAL ARGUMENTS AND REALLY WELL THOUGHT. YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE GARDENERS AT ALL, YOU ARE INDEED THE MILLENNIAL GARDENER. I AM A FAN. WOULD YOU TELL ME WHERE TO GET THE PICKLE BARRELS? THANKS!
So, one part of the problem is your usage of the word "fertilizer", as I'm listening to you. There is one thing that chemical or man-made fertilizers do for sure, and that's kill the soil's natural biome. And this is where no-till, not permaculture farmers are the best source of information, and no-till is not the same thing as no-dig. The object is to disturb the soil as little as possible. This is a complex topic, because you can't plant anything you want wherever you want and people who watch some videos will often get an impression that initial soil quality doesn't matter with no-till/no-dig and that's not the case. I see videos showing how to start a garden using cardboard, but this makes a LOT of assumptions about the plot of land being used. In fact before you ever start you have to analyze your soil. This requires digging down to depth in different locations, to see how consistent the soil is, understand what different plants might need for additives, drainage, etc........... Oftentimes a plot of land that's going to be used for gardening, especially crops that need well-drained soil needs an initial dig and conditioning, and this needs to be deep, and extend out past the garden by at least a few feet so you don't create a bowl for water to collect, defeating your purpose of trying to create well-drained soil. Oftentimes you'll need to raise the soil level. People who practice no-till correctly don't have to ever use chemicals. They WILL need to use natural additives which do the same thing, WITHOUT killing the biome in the soil. THIS is the part that can be confusing because of the debate that nature can do blah blah blah. Well, a garden isn't natural, go ask anyone who makes money growing crops, even no-till farmers or permaculture farmers who grow crops for income successfully. They use additives of different types. This cycle is very important not to disturb, and anyone who is successful at no-till will say the same thing. Plants pull in energy from the sun. If the plant has the right conditions, it will be very successful at creating sugars. Plants will store this in the soil. This feeds the biome in the soil. The biome in turn produce elements the plants needs. They balance each other out. If a plant needs to it can pull some of this energy back out of the soil. But a garden can't do this without any inputs whatsoever, even when you're adding compost to the top for the biome to use to make food for the plants. You will still have to monitor plants for diseases and insects and then give the plants what they need. As long as the soil and climate is right, it's going to be some kind of deficiency. These can often be trace elements that's easy to get into the plant with additives. If the plant has what it needs, THEN no-dig is effective and you never have to add chemicals in the way of insecticides or fungicides or fertilizers. You add compost to the top, not mulch, and once you understand your plants you can add compost which will help them get the trace elements they need most of the time. Compost is added to the top. BUT, if you end a season and don't plant something in the ground so there is nothing growing there during the off season, you're setting up the situation to where you can lose part of the natural biome because they have nothing that's feeding them, so part of learning no-till/no-dig is ALSO learning how to use cover crops that work well with the plants you're growing in the garden, and you kill off those cover crops at an appropriate time for the needs of your garden. You do not dig the cover crops out of the ground. This defeats the purpose. You use an appropriate, chemical free method of killing the crop. This cover crop then becomes part of the food system for the crops you grow. So, THIS is most of the story. If a person doesn't have the wherewithal to learn this process, and it takes time since you have to learn about the plants you're growing, then using chemicals tends to be the only way of managing a garden system. As is said by proper no-till gardeners, the soil needs to have something growing in it almost all the time.
Most gardeners on utube are too scared to divulge the fact that fertilizers (Non-organic) can be used on vegetable gardens. I used them for the first time this season and the veggies are growing a storm. Before I used the fertilizers, my plants were crying. I do add compost and mulch also, but it's not enough. In Australia I used Thrive, and what a big difference from using all organic products. It's like you said, in nature, vegetables don't grow in clumps naturally. Thank you for being truthful.
My biggest fear with synthetic fertilizer is my kids. Too many pediatric health issues have been linked to the food supply. I use organic fertilizer and compost. I do avoid products with ingredients I don't understand, I keep that same energy with 🧼 cleaning and hygiene products.
An ion of nitrogen from synthetic fertilizer is the same as an ion from blood meal. The issues you mention are related to an overuse of certain pesticides and fungicides and contamination from using some of these products near fruits and veggies that will be eaten.
@@barco581 It's not just the ions, but the additives like everything else. I just like understanding the products that I am bringing around my family and pets
In reality, organic produce is actually more dangerous than conventional produce. Organic farms cut corners all the time, and their favorite thing to do is use manure-based compost before it's finished. This is a dated study, but it found organic produce was over 6x more likely to be contaminated by e.coli, which can be deadly. I don't think you're going to find problems using synthesized fertilizers 1-2 times a month in a backyard setting to give your plants a boost. I don't think fertilizers are the problem with the food supply. There are far more problematic things coming in contact with our food, and it starts with the processed grain-based, seed-oil-based foods. www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/study-yields-mixed-findings-about-microbes-organic-produce#:~:text=The%20samples%20were%20not%20washed%20before%20being%20analyzed.,produce%2C%20a%20significant%20difference%2C%20according%20to%20the%20report.
@@TheMillennialGardener one of the biggest garden/farm environmental disasters here in MA occurred at an organic compost facility. Check out "When organic is toxic: How a composting facility likely spread massive amounts of ‘forever chemicals’ across one town in Massachusetts." Boston Globe 7/6/2022.
Loved your video, a lot of good information...One thing I learned by watching you and other gardeners is that what works for you might not work in my climate and soil.. I have the worst soil imaginable I live in Central Florida and have no choice but to amend my soil..... There is nothing but sand where I live... My family from up North just laughs at me "How can anything grow in this".....This is not the soft fluffy sand it is dark gray to black sand that allows water to sit once it is able to soak into the ground...I try to grow organic but find myself giving in and fertilizing at least twice with water soluble fertilizer... love watching your journey!
This was really well done. You marshaled your thoughts and presented in my opinion an unassailable argument. Thank you so much for clearly eliminating the difference between fertilizer and compost!
I'd look into the book called Cu/re. It explains the dangers of NPK fertilizers and how the inhibit the uptake of important minerals such as copper, zinc and many others. Which ends up leaving us as a population mineral deficient. Which leads to not only diseases in plants but as well as us.
I have taken compost and wood chip mulch from my town and it really saves me a ton of money. I use chicken and rabbit manure, worm castings for the bulk of my fertilizer but I still use a little bit of fish fertilizer.
All these years I have mindlessly dumped Black Kow into my raised beds without giving it a second thought. Just “because.” Thank you for this excellent video - I will reconsider my options for a productive garden. (Greensboro NC)
I like to challenge people. If I ask you why you’re doing something, you should be able to tell me why without flinching. If you disagree with me, but you can articulate why, so be it. However, if you can’t fully explain to someone why you’re doing what you’re doing, consider why you’re doing it. Always understand why you are doing something first. Hopefully, some of these things make sense. I may not be correct on all my opinions, but I can reason my way through them.
Welcome to the pickup truck club. I love having a truck. I can move myself (to some extent). I've used it to camp in very remote areas. And of course I can load it up with goods from the home stores.
So far, I really enjoy it. It makes running errands a lot simpler. I'm glad I went with a Colorado, because they're very narrow and easily fit into parking spots without being bulky. It's a pleasure to drive so far.
Bro .... good video. Here's what I tell people. Compost compost compost but ..... ALL the nutrients within the root ball cannot produce ALL them tomatoes. So yes, compost is critical, but they MUST be fed plant food to replace the nutrients that has been lost. Good compost is so awesome .... it's the number 1 most important thing. But you must add plant food also. Man you nailed it. I have 3 compost piles and leaf mold. It's the most important gardening requirement. I also put plant food in my compost piles.... chicken poop, cow manure, fish heads, and worms galore .... along with the carbons and nitrogen. All my fertilizers are organic plant food except for miracle grow tomato as a liquid leaf spray fertilizer.
Each year I learn more. This year I'm more prepared with a fertilizer routine, so hopefully I will get better results. Thank you for your teaching videos, these are so informative and step by step, which is what I need.
Great informative video ! Interesting and new eye-opening garden knowledge. I try to choose organic fertilizer, but there are so many choices that it is confusing.Chicken manure compost is a must. Thanks for the information
Outstanding explanation of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to fertilizers. Thanks for the education on growing such a huge variety of vegetables and fruit trees! Grow on!
I live in a rainforest on lava rock. So cindesoil and compost is essential. I use blood meal and bone meal. Seems to work pretty good. Oh I also have perennial peanut as ground cover. My major problem is the heavy rains. So having a trellis and clear roof helps. This area loves cabbages, kales collards, everything else needs lots of care.
I find your videos so educational. Your explanations are always clear and easy to understand. This is a boon since I'm 62 yo but a veritable green thumb. Thank you very much.
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEOOOOOOO!!!...YOUR INFO IS SO LOGICAL & FACTUAL & PRACTICAL...I LIVE IN EAST TAMPA, FL...I BUILT A 5' X 20' RAISED BED 30" HIGH OUT OF PT DECKING & 4x4 BRACES & LINED THE INSIDE W/LANDSCAPE FABRIC...WORKS GREAT!...I'M FERTILIZING NOW, THANX TO YOUR INFO...GETTING GREAT RESULTS!😁
I cannot say the forest is sustainable because after I cleaned up a wooded area, almost nothing would grow until some fertilizer was applied. This includes clover as a ground cover, blueberry bushes, haskap bushes, and fruit trees. I agree with you on building the soil and adding a responsible amount of fertilizer. I like fish fertilizer but only in small amounts as an amino acid. I get my best results by focusing upon trace minerals. Mulching with grass clippings also converts into N while building the soil profile.
This is invaluable information. I use home made compost, leaf mold and horse manure but it is still not enough and supplementation is necessary, especially for the tomatoes in containers!! This year I have access to rabbit poop so am hoping to reap the benefits of that - has good NPK and is cold manure so does not have to be composted.
I totally agree with you , when I lived up north I grew fantastic vegetables and some flowers and bushes , I even planted red pines and hemlock and holly and none of these needed any care once they were stabilized .
Good video. I find that it is helpful to read the ingredients list as some fertilizers may be extracted from petroleum. You can use fertilizers and still be organic. For example, bone meal, blood meal, and green sand are great organic materials that act as NPK fertilizers. Others materials include fish/shellfish carcasses, processed egg shells, and certain aquatic grasses.
Thanks! Dale is adorable! My dogs love figs too. This time of year the Dachshunds hang out under the fig tree when I take them outside. They look for any figs on the low branches. One of them also hopes that mommy will pick a "ball" for her off the tree. My Lab mix is taller and looks on higher branches.
I know I can speak for everyone at how much we appreciate the education you bring us. How do you feel about synthetic fertilizers destroying the micro biology in your soil? Also, please be careful with getting free compost from your township. I have heard nightmare stories about people’s whole gardens being contaminated from pesticides and finding things other than plant matter in the compost.
We do pot growing of our veggie garden, but at the end of the season, we will dump our pots into the dirt area. Over the winter we feed our soil. We make our own compost and add that to the soil along with shredded leaves to replenish our soil
Appreciate your reasoned approach to this. You’ve made some great points and opened my eyes to some different ways of thinking. And thanks for the time, effort and obvious passion you put into your channel. It’s making a difference for me, and I’m sure many, many others.
We're new to this, we are planting now for our second season. Any advice is welcomed. This video helps us to understand the value of compost (we make our own) and of fertilizer, which we are using, and the difference between them. Great video. Cheers
I really enjoy your videos, and I admire your willingness to tackle such a controversial gardening topic! That said, I do have to question some of your points. Fruits have generally evolved to be tasty on purpose so that animals eat them and then poop out the seeds, dispersing them to different areas. To be fair, domesticated food crops have even extensively bred for various characteristics, including bigger/better/more fruit. I suspect wild fruiting plants have to strike a balance between their fruits being palatable to animals while also having as many seeds as possible and not costing the plant too much energy to produce... That is just conjecture on my part, tho. Not having a guaranteed analysis on compost doesn't necessarily mean it has less nutrients, it just means that no one ran the tests, so I'm not clear on why (properly made) homemade compost would be less nutritional than store bought. Compost certainly is far less concentrated in NPK than commercial fertilizers, but most people apply way more compost than they do fertilizer. Which, yes, is way more expensive from a store. But what about when people make it at home from free/cheap resources? I know my homemade compost is cheaper than any fertilizer I could buy, because I make it out of kitchen scraps and used pet rat bedding that would otherwise be thrown out. Just some things that came to me while watching the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, if you have time. To clarify, I'm not entirely anti-fertilizer, though I am interested in using locally available resources as much as possible. I do think there's a time and place for inorganic fertilizer, tho. I use it for my seedlings, for example, and I can imagine it could be less intimidating for newbie gardeners. At the end of the day, whatever enables people to grow their own food can't be too bad, right?
So glad you finally got your pickup. I can't imagine living without one! This video about fertilizers is very informative. It will be one I will revisit often.
Thank you! I'm very excited to be a 'truck guy.' Every 7 years or so, I think I have an identity crisis of some sort. Now, I've reached the "practicality" phase of my life 😂
Thanks for explaining this. Im a beginner at gardening but I had the mentality you addressed in both your arguments. I now understand and see the point of fertilizer.
In general I agree with the points made in this video. The one caveat I would add is that I would think home made compost which has food waste, coffee grounds etc. added to it is probably higher in npk than the cow manure. I have fertilized with a mix of seaweed (liquid), Neem seed meal (powder) , and grown my plants in raised beds with large volumes of compost. I also add ash into my compost piles. Have not run into any issues yet...
If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Intro To Fertilizer Myths And Truths
1:14 2 Reasons Gardeners Avoid Using Fertilizer
1:52 Do Gardens Need Fertilizer? Is Permaculture Real?
4:46 Why Vegetable Gardens Are Often NOT Sustainable
8:15 Can I Use Just Compost & No Fertilizer In A Garden?
9:25 Why Compost Is An Inefficient Way To Fertilize
12:46 How To Fertilize A Garden For Free (Almost)
14:49 Why You Must Fertilize A Container Garden
17:07 Adventures With Dale
I've mixed cow dung into my greenhouse beds but what else do you suggest before I transplant my veggie plants?
You're gonna come up with many more ideas with a truck!
I have a REALLY important question as I'm getting ready to prune my fruit trees. Some sites say NEVER prune the leader on an apple tree. Others say it's okay. I can't AFFORD to kill my only apple tree (it's pollinated by an old crabapple). Please advise.
Good job educating the hard headed.
@@shekharmoona544 thanks for watching 😊
“Folk wisdom has it that a poor gardener grows weeds, a good gardener grows vegetables, and a very good gardener grows soil.” - S.Stein
Great video! Thanks.
You're welcome!
So true!
Thank you for all this great information and motivation. You`ve made a big difference in my future. When the fertilizer shortage happened I bought 25 pounds of MasterBlend hydro nutrients...one 10lb bag is general "tomato" fertilizer, another is calcium nitrate, and a 5 lb bag of epsom salt. Then I discovered MaxiGro is all I need and it`s an all-in-one kilo bag of powder that lasts me years. One kilo can grow more tomatoes, lettuce, herbs etc than I can eat in 5 years, basically.
I love growing tomatoes under the edge of my camper roof in hydro buckets. So EASY and inexpensive! Soil to grow one container tomato plant costs 100 times more than water and tiny amounts of nutrients and soil needs watering over and over and over sometimes three times per day. Water/nutrients grows perfect cabbage, lettuce, basil...it`s incredible...and you can add an aquarium bubbler and not have to watch water levels. But it`s easy to keep water levels right for air roots with float valves connected to a tank. My soil was removed here so until I slowly repair it I can`t grow tomatoes in the ground.@@TheMillennialGardener
In fishing is the same. Only imbecile catches the queen.
I think the best gardener's use both fertilizers and compost. You get the best of both worlds
They're just different. They aren't interchangeable. Trying to avoid using one of them is going to have negative consequences in most cases.
Honestly compost is fertilizer. Ik semantics but it brings fertility to your soil and you can amend the compost naturally to have all the needed compounds
I read that the synthetics can kill soil microbes, which may be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I think synthetics have a place in potted gardening or where the soil is very nutrient poor.
Maybe a compromise is to use the synthetics to grow plants for composting and limit that to one bed or so? (Line it with charcoal or so to avoid leaching) Maybe that way you get nutrients into your poor soil without shocking the soil microbes dead.
My fertilizer is just all the poos I can get from my animals. And all the compost I made from my kitchen scraps or rotten produce due to flood or livestock killed by predators.
Some times you need to get the plants to kick start. Lol
I can't count how many times I have had to argue the difference between fertilizer and compost. Some people are adamant about permaculture, but don't know there is a difference between fertilizing and composting, and that I have to fertilize the veggies as well as compost the garden each year. Thank you for educating!
You are correct.
I grow a lot in bags. I use the compost to energize the soil I fill them with.
It's ultimately frustrating, because people try these systems and they wonder why the yields are so low. There is a reason why organic produce is 3x more expensive than conventional produce - the yields are much lower, and the products are more expensive. If you want to grow food organically, or at least as organically as possible, and have good production, you're going to need to apply external fertilizer.
Absolutely fantastic points. I think it is sometimes easy to forget that we are borrowing nutrients in our backyard gardens, and in most cases, borrowing those nutrients at an alarmingly unsustainable rate. We absolutely should work to provide organic material and nutrients from compost and other inputs whenever possible, that includes organic and soluble fertilizers. It is as equally important to not solely rely on soluble fertilizers as the this is essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. Quick result, not long lasting and not soil building. As in everything in life, it's all about balance. This is why I really resonant with this channel. A no-nonsense, data, and science-based approach that also has the ability to make us think! Kudos to you and Dale!
This is 100% true. Gardens are not sustainable systems, and they "take" faster than they put back. It's up to the gardener to balance out the equation. Soil doesn't magically produce nutrients. It needs, at the very least, the raw materials to convert it into nutrition, and in many cases, it can't do it fast enough to grow these "mutant" heirloom vegetable we insist on growing 18 inches apart! It isn't good to solely rely on synthesized fertilizers since the primary focus should be to create healthy soil first, but it also isn't harmful to use them in moderation to account for all the nutrients our plants are taking. As with everything in life, the truth is a gray area. There is no reason to be militant in either direction, and there are many ways to do something well.
Fertilizer absolutely is necessary in many gardens. My garden started off with the most infertile soil I could I could imagine. Rock and hard pan. After years of amending with organic matter and compost it's improved alot, but organic fertilizer helped too
It certainly does. Compost is heavy and expensive. Trying to do it all with just compost is a great way to hurt your back and wallet unless you have a local source you can get for free or almost free.
Same here. I ended up having to use a good quality organic fertilizer eventually. Theres no issues with using both in harmony. We want the best veggies and fruits possible. So, naturally, we use both to provide them with everything they need to produce a great bounty.
Hey MG, Mark from Charlotte….perfect!
I have clay and rocks. I've had issues every time I turn around. Definitely raised beds for me.
You just said what was in my heart.. Infact i now uses chemical fertilizers as well if the soil is too much infertile but only in the preparation of the soil.. after seedlings I mostly prefer to use Organic fertilizers and Bio fertilizers.. these fertilizers are blessings
I really appreciate your scientific approach to husbandry & gardening. You bring up ideas that I just never thought of, such as veg plots are NOT found in nature. I'd rather eat tomatoes than lambs quarters and domestic lettuce rather than purslane any meal of the week.
But purslane isn't bad, truly healthy.
I find lambs quarters tastier than spinach, although not as easy to harvest.
A lot of folks want to eat food as naturally as possible, which is understandable, but you can't apply the laws of nature to unnatural foods grown in unnatural means. There's just a lot of confusion out there between "permaculture" and vegetable gardening. If you're going to grow vegetables, which are human-altered species grown in man-made plots, you're going to have to add man-made fertilizers to keep the system growing if you want good results.
Man, you nailed it! I agree with you 100% on the fertilizer. I’m reluctant to use “free” mulch and compost because I don’t know what I’m getting. I make my own compost because i have access to all the leaves i can handle. Great video!
Agree! Free mulch now a days is RISKY with grazon and herbicides! Leaves=Black Gold!
If the mulch is just from tree trimming operations, that's going to be fine.
I was wondering about what is in free mulch and compost.
Another issue is introducing dormant green flye eggs into your garden. If you make your own compost, less likely to bring in contamination.
You are spot on, sir! While I am an organic Gardner, I still use fertilizer!
Thanks for your explanations and the wisdom!
Blessings ❤
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
☔🌱🦋🌿 I so appreciate your style and enthusiasm....and now your open mindedness when discussing topics.
I just listened to your "Pee vs. Miracle-Gro. I've heard much lately about M.G. being an artificial fertilizer we should avoid. I didn't hear that in your presentation and would really love to hear your feedback from watching a video called "Why I Won't Use Miracle-Gro.".
It made a lot of sense to me as a video all gardeners should see.
Just from listening to several of your videos, I'm sure you would find it worth your time.
Thanks also for showing such respect to the critters who pay your garden a visit❣️
🍀☔🌱🦋. The posted video I hoped you would take a look at was from the channel named "Next Level Gardening."
Take care! 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲
I bought my current house in 2000, all clay soil. It took years of adding compost and organic fertilizer to get to were we are today. I now grow veg and herbs easily and use mostly home made compost and some organic fertilizer. I have a good friend arborist who delivers to my driveway for free lots of shredded tree mulch, cant beat that. Good video, bro.
I had a similar situation with construction debris and clay, lots of clover and time its actually becoming viable.
I had 10 acres in Michigan. Clay. i did the same thing. I also had an arborist with a huge boom and shredder, who would drop me off loads of tree shredded mulch. Who lived next door. I built the soil, and mulched. The main thing about clay. First airiate it, and keep mulching. That’s the secret. The mulching also keeps it from drying out. I never had to water those gardens. In the heat of summer, I could pull mulch back and it was always moist. I had HUGE perreniel gardens too. The only thing I really watered was things in pots. Clay soil actually has alot of nutrients in it.
Believe me. The dead SAND down here is a trip. I been in every type soil. And the sand is the worse! Talk about ammending! Plus the sun, it breaks down quick! You know when you put your shovel in and can’t find one worm! It’s DEAD! So slowly I creep, ammending and hot composting and layering.
Happy gardening all! 🤗
Right on Point. I use both compost and organic fertilizer. I was still picking tomatoes and making sauce in the begining of November last year and I am in zone 6b.
Hi neighbor, I live in the same county. I've been watching you getting inspired. I just bought a new home this past December, and I'm pushing my yard to be 100% edible.
I agree! But still I wonder: how did people grow vegetables 100 or 200 years ago before packaged fertilizers? It may be that they had animals, and used the manure.
they used poop. not even always animal poop. they used human poop a lot too.
@@immortalgaiden Nah. They used everything. They cut weeds and composted them, they lined pits with animals scraps (bones and unusable hide), they scraped up bird dung. But the real truth is, that for most of history, human agriculture was pretty bad. It wasn't until the invention of cheap artificial fertilizer that it took off.
That is why 100/200 years ago,the world has much less population than now, without the moderm fertilizer,the production is poor
Usually 1 veggie most of time then whatever else like this whole continent for a very long time corn Europe potatoe alot of roots etc
Most was grain/seed or leaf, but it was very dependent on good soil and compost. Lots of Hugal culture type growing and irrigation for river or pond nutrients. But, as stated also....poop.
THANK YOU for the clarification! This is my FAV garden channel not just for the additional info you provide, the cost saving tips and GREAT analysis, but you're not too far from us, Myrtle Beach here.
Thanks for your hard work and research on this. Very much appreciate your easy to follow advice and ideas. After 2 years of watching lots of videos, I do as much composting as my kitchen scraps allow and supliment with fertilizer. This weekend I planted some broccoli and couldn't believe how many worms I had. Looking forward to a great season!
I think that's the appropriate thing to do for 95+% of us that grow in a backyard settings. If you live in a rural area and have a great source of local manure or compost, great. If you're fortunate enough to own land and have animals where you can make your own compost safely in large quantities, great. But that's most of us, and the cheapest, safest and healthiest way to do things is a blend of fertilizer and compost where we can get it affordably.
I agree with everything you said . When I don’t use fertilizer I certainly notice a difference, even with compost. Thank you for being so detailed.
You're welcome! I've been experimenting for a long time, and fertilizer works. There isn't much else to say other than that. The results are immediately noticeable.
I use a combination of both every year. I pour on truckloads of gin trash from my local cotton gin and compost it in during the winter with a tarp. I use natural pre plant fertilizer and use synthetic thru my drip tape. Seems to work out pretty good 😊
Thank you. You communicate the truth so well.
I say most vegetable gardens are over-watered and underfed. Most vegetables we eat have had their natural defenses and resistance bred out. Overworking the soils, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides kill any remnant of a natural soil environment these plants need to thrive/survive.
The only problem with collection point waste products is that you do not know what pesticides and herbicides may be in it. Although I do not grow organic, I still am very conscious of keeping pesticides out of my biosphere, so as not to kill beneficial insects. Monarch butterflies, for example. VERY sensitive to pesticides.
Good point!…I have not thought of that!!.. I love the idea of using community sourced compost and mulch. I produce enough compost myself that I did not have to go get some for a long time, but this is really good point. Thanks!
So "self-sufficiency" is new to me. Last year I bought chickens. And I have watched a TON of chicken videos to help me. And then I bought fruit trees and utilized the Ellen White Blue Print Method that I found in RUclips videos to plant those trees. And now I'm am watching just a TON of gardening videos as I try to get my raised garden beds producing. I wish I could have latched onto these videos BEFORE I just threw things together. You know an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure and all that. Anyway, thank you for all the content. I have watched a TON of very good videos from a lot of different content creators. And although I have found that I do like a lot of different content creators... I keep coming back to your videos first and foremost to expand my knowledge. Your videos are very well done and packed with excellent information. So thank you for all the great videos and keep up the great work. And I have to say that you are an exception to the "Millennial Memes". :) And for what it is worth demographically speaking, I'm a 57 year old male who lives just southwest of St. Louis, MO.
Good discussion. I believe in the concept I’ve heard some agricultural science speakers explain is that average soil has a good quantity of N, P, K , but what the plants need is the ability to take up those nutrients reliably. That’s where compost comes in. The fungi and other microbes that compost introduces to the soil break down the nutrients so the plants can take them up. So healthy soil is a bigger contributor than synthetic fertilizer to your garden producing a good crop. Your videos do a great job of motivating would-be gardeners to get going!
This is one of the best and most useful videos I've ever watched about a core principle of gardening - compost or fertilizer? It explains why nature doesn't need added fertilizer. At the same time tacitly explaining why there are no vegetable gardens in nature. It implicitly explains why when you start a new garden with truckloads of mixed compost and soil there is very little fertility. We may think we got delivered a load of poor soil but in fact it is just that right off the truck the first year there is no developed microbiome yet. It will need a lot more fertilizer that first year to eighteen months.
Thanks for this video. I agree with this content. I make compost but I also buy and use organic fertilizer on newly planted fruit trees and in my vegetable garden. I mulch my fruit trees heavily with organic matter and the leaves from said trees and depending on what is going on with my mature fruit trees will determine if I fertilize them or not.
thank you for being honest about vegetable gardens not being able to behave like nature. theres so much pressure online to somehow make everything work like permaculture and also grow food all while consuming/buying absolutely nothing. cute but impossible ideals.
You can get a good yielding garden by just using compost or preference means. However, like you said in your tomato fertilizing guide, you grow to maximize production, which means fertilizing. You can be as whichever and back to nature as you want, but you're not going to produce the same yields as a person following similar means, but it's also consistently account extra nutrition in the form of fertilizer.
Great topic to discuss. Many times, buying veggies at the store can be cheaper. However, you don't know how it's grown and not earth/people friendly fertilizer is used. I enjoy gardening just to see if I can grow food, enjoy the outdoors, and when my G-babies come over, they can pick carrots, wipe dirt off on my shirt, and eat right then. I make my own compost that I mix in with my soil to help with soil biology. I now make my own bonemeal as well. I use many different organic fertilizers as needed for my garden cause I want to grow food bottom line.
I think many people dont realize that vegetables have been bred to produce more and better fruit, most dont occur like that naturally. They are expecting some help along the way to be able to produce the amount and size that they do.
Thank you. I agree with you totally. I have tried to grow organically multiple times. I have nutrient rich soil. I do soil tests, but the yields drop tremendously relying on organic fertilizer. I have been adding 4 inches of compost or organic potting soil when I can't get good compost a year. However, I have recently had to stop doing that because my soil test showed that the phosphorus had risen to 2300. The only fertilizer I add to the garden is sulfate of ammonia for about 10 years. The only other source has been the compost and organic potting soil which has fertilizer in it. My soil organic matter is more than 5% so I have backed off on the organic matter and when I use it again I will only add about 0.5-1 inch instead. I had a problems growing cucumbers organically in containers. The plants had severe nutrient deficiencies, poorer yields, and more pest problems than the same variety planted with conventional fertilizer. Part of the problem was that no one organic fertilizer was complete. At least the ones I have access to and I could not figure out how to mix them to not fix one problem without causing another. Synthetic fertilizers with their guaranteed analysis are not only cheaper to use, but I can add only what I need and nothing else and that saves me $ on fertilizers I don't need. I do believe in feeding the soil, but as you said an intensively planted vegetable garden is a freak of nature. Nature cannot support it and still get high yields. However, adding organic matter does support healthy soil life. I don't expect the soil to feed my plants, but I do want a healthy soil to support what I grow. About food forests. It is true that mature forests are self supporting, but they can only do that by extending their roots to seek more sustenance. Other plants like vegetables don't fare well planted near trees. Not only do the trees block the light, but their roots will out compete the smaller plants and may be aleopathic and be hostile to other plants under them. That is why you can only plant temporary crops under very young trees. Once the trees mature, you have to have enough land to move the garden or you have to find plants that can survive with the trees.
As I’ve watched a lot of your videos, this one is one of the ones I agree with 100%. Trying to grow without fertilizing is so hard. I’ve done it before and most plants suffered so much. A good mix of fertilizer and compost does so well here.
Gwinnett county in GA has free mulch on fridays and it’s great stuff!
I live in Gwinnett. Where do you get it from?
@@danielfoshee702 it’s off paper mill rd. Fridays from 8-3. They can load it or you can self load.
Makes you look hard at what's going on with the anti-fertilizer folks in many "green" countries, huh? Going to starve their populations.
I totally agree. There's no way to grow a successful garden without using some type of fertilizer. And I do compost my kitchen scraps and make leaf mold for the worms. Every year I mulch the leaves and grass clippings to cover my garden beds also. In the spring I just push whatever didn't break down aside to plant and the beds are filled with worms.
Thanks for breaking it all down! That was informative and very helpful.
I try to keep costs down and follow organic growing as much as possible.
I make my own compost. I also make my own fertiliser.
Some of my plants thrive on the composts alone. I use grass, leaves, woodchip, cow manure and wood ash if I have it.
I also make worm tea, cow manure tea, Comfrey tea and about to try JMS.
Even with all this I just bought some organic lifter and Searles 5 in 1 liquid feed.
This garden is a little over a year old. It's built on sandy/ silt soil. I've only just started seeing lots of small worms in the beds.
I will get away from the bought fertilisers. Once I understand the plant requirements more.
Pests and poor soil have got me buying fertiliser. I believe healthy plants have a better chance. So I'm doing what I need to. A helping hand from some fertiliser will hopefully give me an idea of how good my compost is..what might be missing from it.
Good video. I think the answer lies in what you want to achieve. I want to grow food by only using what's on my property. Everyone to their own thing I guess.
The amount of work and research that went into this video is huge. Thank you for teaching me about fertilisation.
Thanks for noticing. I try to research everything I can.
@@TheMillennialGardener it is obvious that you are passionate about the whole growing industry. From the smallest details. That is what sets your channel apart from most content providers. You have research. Experience. Hindsight. and a wealth of knowledge and you readily provide replies to questions . Absolutely fabulous channel and I am so glad I found it.
Great points! Both Compost and Fert are NEEDED!!! I would argue that you could just compost, but you will have issues going just fert!
I don't do any supplemental fertilizing at all but I make my own very diverse compost in large quantities as well as biochar, leaf mould, worm castings. I mix them and apply an inch or two before planting and I have great results. I will say, this is not possible for many people for a multitude of reasons and there's nothing wrong with fertilizers if they're needed. Charles Dowding does amazing market gardens and I'm pretty sure he only top dresses with compost once a year as well. It's really about making a well rounded compost with a plethora of inputs but I've got 50 acres of different greens, browns, potash and manures etc to give me a very well balanced compost. At the same time, you'll always have variance in the content whereas you know exactly what you're getting in a labeled bag of store bought fertilizer.
Also guys like Jim Kovaleski use this method of just adding a thick layer of compost to beds and get great results. Dr. Elaine Ingham discusses why this works in her soil seminars - the sand silt and clay that make up soil contain almost a limitless amount of nutrients, the key is unlocking those nutrients and making them available for your plants to use. Fertilizers are beneficial as they provide direct nutrients to the plants regardless of the quality of the soil/soil life. The most important thing is that you grow food, all of the different methods and techniques that exist are simply tools to assist to getting to the end goal of growing nutrient dense food
I have a friend that has horses and a lot of property. He makes a huge compost every year. He doesn’t use any fertilizer except he does supplement for his tomatoes. As he said to me, it took many years to achieve his soil biome.
A big problem for most people are the resources to aquire that much compost. And the resources to make that much for big areas. (Which the original poster did mention 👍)
One thing, unfortunately, I have been very LEERY of (as I use to use it all the time). Is Manures. Because of Grazon being sprayed on the hay and straw fields when growing it. The animals eat it, and it does not dissipate. It goes into the manure. And can completely KILL your garden for years. To me. It’s tragic. As I use to love using straw and manure. Now, I just won’t take the chance. I hot compost clippings and other things being SURE they have not been contaminated with herbicides. So beware where you get manure, hay, and straw from! That’s all I can say. !!
That was super informative. I now realize I've been starving my garden and containers of nutrients by relying on compost only.
Let’s go!! Come on last frost!!! My attempt at rooting figs is working!
Great work! I think we are done frosts here, but we have been tricked before…
As a first time backyard gardener, this video is a godsend. Most of what I need to know about this subject. New subscriber. Thank you.
I look forward to your videos and thank you so much for all the research and time you put in them. I live in Georgia and I'm in zone 8, so your input on growing helps me immensely. Keep up the great work.
I'm glad the videos have been helpful! I appreciate you watching.
Excellent video as usual and welcome to the pickup truck owners club. I highly recommend you purchase a LoadHandler truck bed unloader for your new ride. It will make unloading your bulk compost a breeze. I can verify LoadHandler is a quality product that will last a long time. I've had mine since 2017 and have used it to unload up to 3/4 ton of gravel in one run. I've also used it to unload multiple cubic yards of mulch, compost, and topsoil from our friends at Seaside mulch over the years. I know Harbor Freight has a version of this product, but I have no experience with it. But it may be worth checking out. The time and energy you save with a truck bed unloader will pay for the item after a use or two.
The Millennial Gardener is spot on here. The latest university studies show the highest yields are produced from a combination of organic and synthetic fertilizers. And he has a bunch of videos about adding organic matter to one’s garden.
Yes, I've experimented with different setups for years, and I've found the best production is to follow the principles of organic gardening - meaning compost and mulch applications with organic fertilizer granules worked into the soil - but to supplement every 14 days with something like Jack's 20-20-20. It, by far, has produced the best results for me.
I would be interested in a study on the actual nutritional value of the vegetables grown with compost and mulch versus those grown with only fertilizers. It seems to me that the compost and the mulch add more to the soil than simply nitrogen phosphorus and Potassium. It's adding vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.... The circle of life, right? It's about more than just production levels.
@@tabithacarter9192 I am a bit confused by your comment because The MG and I are not advocating for a 100% synthetic fertilizer approach only. Yes, quality compost and mulch does improve the soil. Nobody is making the claim that synthetics improve soil quality. These days synthetics fertilizers are not just NPK-that is another myth. For example, Original Miracle Grow also has boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. The ions of the above in Miracle Grow are exactly the same as ions from organic fertilizers.
If you want to grow 100% organic only, awesome! After all it is your garden and you can do whatever you want. But the latest university studies and backyard experiences of growers are showing the best yields come from using organic matter, organic ferts, and limited synthetic fertilizers.
Sometimes you can only feed your soil so much and synthetics can provide an extra boost. For example, early in the year when it is cool a high nitrogen synthetic will get your plant going much sooner than waiting for organics to be broken down. In the heat of summer when temps are pushing 95-100 degrees plants are under tremendous fruit/vegetable load stress. Working in some synthetics will help immediately. (Now a liquid fish fertilizer can also be absorbed right away too and they are awesome. However, their NPK levels are much lower than synthetics.)
@@tabithacarter9192 There have been studies done and even testimony at the senate level from the American Pediatric association that said that there was no difference in nutritional value between a carrot grown conventionally or a carrot grown organically under similar conditions and using the same cultivar. There are differences in meat production because grass fed beef has better quality of fat and a lot less of it. The meat will be tougher and drier, it that is ok with you. As far as pest residue goes, organic may be better. However, who tests for organic pesticides regularly???? Even conventional produce has very low pesticide residues and it behooves growers to make sure they follow the procedures because food is tested for non-organic residues. For most people, the food on the market is safe. For some individuals, they may be sensitive to even low levels. BTW, as a home grower, you have the choice on what fertilizer and pesticides you use on your own garden. I use conventional fertilizer, but rarely do I use any pesticides on my vegetable gardens. Only Bt, sulfur, pyrethrins and slug bait which are OMRI approved. Mainly I rely on predators. I have a flower and nectar garden. I also use water as my main pest control. Compost and mulch do not have many nutrients and unless you are testing your compost, you cannot say what nutrients it actually provides. Most of those nutrients are not taken up by plants, but are instead consumed by the soil organisms which compete with plants for nutrients at some point if the supply is low. Minerals are taken up from the soil by the plants. Their origin is usually the rocks that make up your soil base. Vitamins are produced by the plants. Plants don't really care if the source of their nutrition comes from organic or synthetic sources as long as they get what they need. BTW soil organisms don't care either, they still can take up synthetic ammonia, they just need the carbon so they have a balanced diet and that is what organic matter really provides for them.
@@imafan2610 exactly, compost and mulch are not always some miracle cure all. Some compost and mulch can be of very low quality.
You are right, we need both fertilizer and compost to keep our gardens growing. I would like to hear more about how fertilizer works in sandy soil. Living in nw Florida we have to contend with the sand. Keep on gardening!
This is your best video so far. Thank you. What about making a compost tea for containers?
Dale is so spoiled. He is one lucky baby to have you guys. ❤️
Thank you! I have not made compost tea before. However, because compost tea is a fermented product, you're actually processing it so it's more bioavailable for consumption. If you do it correctly, that can be a really good source of fertilizer for container gardens. Would your containers still perform better with a little extra "real" fertilizer? Maybe. That would be something you'd want to experiment with. Compost tea may be enough, or it may lack some nutrients for heavy fruiters that a little supplemental NPK can add. If you're growing lettuce, you don't need fertilizers as strong as you'd need growing a fig tree in a pot, at least that's what I've found.
@@TheMillennialGardener Makes sense! I love to experiment. Challenge accepted lol. Thanks again!
Love your video, I used organic fertilizer only to start the garden, now mulching with grass and compost made from grass I basically have all the fertility I need, when I notice a deficiency on a plant that is stun I use compost extract as foliar really diluted with home made with worm castings, also there but I don't have raised beds, and I live in the Caribbean where things decompose really fast and I have tons of grass to much. It's not Bermuda grass, is a mixtures of grasses and legumes that do help. So is possible to have a fertilizer free garden just needs lots of inputs, and no dig, hopefully in a few years I will mature my garden as charles the father of no dig up in london
Our city mulch is stuff picked up from neighborhoods, as well. So you don’t know how much of it is contaminated with pesticides or herbicides. Also, we find micro plastics and other garbage debris in it. It’s a bummer.
Thank you for this information and for doing the math for us!
We have the same issue with our mushroom compost .😢
The herbicide/pesticide contamination is my concern, also.
You will want to ask the people where the mulch came from. Sometimes, it's simply a product of tree trimming. That's usually really good stuff. A small amount of debris in your mulch isn't a big deal when you consider the cost savings and can be picked out. The places that let you load your own mulch are great, because you can choose what goes in your truck.
@@TheMillennialGardener we have a place 30 minutes from home where we can buy a composted soil as well as fresh mulch by the scoop at a decent price and I can speak to them about where the product ones from. I have had too many horror stories from people who get our city mulch, including tons of weed/tree seeds sprouting from it. I don’t think our city is invested in going thru the process properly.
@@teribelleau137 that’s too bad!
I started gardening last year and followed the square foot gardening book. They say to use a mix of organic fertilizer, peat moss and coarse Vermiculite and you don’t need fertilizer. But I disagree. I could not get zucchini or cucumbers to grow and I think it was due to lack of fertilizer. Zucchini would look good and then I’d go out one day and it was turned to much. Cucumbers would start out fine and then turn a pinkish color. So I will be using fertilizer this year. Thanks for the info! Everything makes perfect sense.
How about a video on what to do if you get invasive tree roots in your raised beds? I just discovered tree roots in our raised beds and am wondering what I should do, so I can transplant my tomato and pepper plants ASAP. Cheers!
Many tree roots that are an issue in a garden are in the top 12 inches of soil. My neighbor's tree was sending roots into my raised bed becausehe doesn’t water enough. I dug a trench about 12 to 16 inches deep. Then I placed spare floor tiles upright in it. I overlapped them a bit as well. Then I back filled the hole and I had an almost impermeable root barrier that was rot and rust proof.
@@yellowdog762jb I appreciate the information. I have some corrugated plastic sheets that I could use for a barrier. I’m going to call Blue Stake to mark where the electric lines run before I dig 12” down just to be safe. Eventually the tree is going to have to come down because it’s headed toward the sewer pipes. Thanks for sharing and have a good one!
You make an excellent point. Yes in nature we see fruit trees but not any type of vegetable garden. For my own trial, I did a natural garden with both flowering plants and vegetables, using minimum fertilizer, no mulch etc. No matter how much I tried, weeds kept coming back and they are quite powerful. Can take over even within one week.
Container garden which is not natural, and of course man made, allows us to reduce the impact from weeds, but needs water every day. This is so unlike a fruit tree that can stand out there, whether we water them regularly or not. Those trees, even if we did not mulch, are capable of tolerating and sustain themselves.
Now on to type of fertilizer - whether natural manure or with synthetic manure, NPK is important for defining fertilizer. In order to fertilize the artificial vegetable garden that we have now come to adapt, as human beings, we absolutely need fertilizer. In that way, we human beings created the need for fertilizer.
With all that said, the fruits and vegetables in the garden taste so much better than those in the market shelf, since those commercial products have other visual appeals. They also must sustain long transporation cycles and shelf life - which we as gardeners do not have to bother about.
There are farms that follow your thinking. They dont even sell dwarf version of fruit trees, that are the mainstay of commercial fruit industry. Instead, they sell only natural root stock that take years to grow into a tree, but can sustain well even in extreme weather conditions. Since they are natural, they are less prone to attacks by insects and less disease prone.
Thanks for this excellent video - in simple terms you have explained to gardens the differences and why some things are not needed.
Brother I love your channel. I’m a new subscriber and have watched probably all of your fig videos. I’ve planted all 5 of your top 5 for humid locations and I’m even rooting some cuttings using your lessons learned info. Now I’m learning from your other videos and look forward to gardening. Thank you for taking the time to do this for the internet lol.
Outstanding! Congrats on the new figs! It gets addicting very quickly. Try not to wind up with 100 trees like me 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener , wait, you have fig videos?!? I am in zone 9b and was wondering if we can add them here. Subscribed and watching/sharing more. Thank you 🙂
When I moved into my house five years ago, The yard was spotty and mostly consisted of sand with zero value to the plants. Last year, I spred a six inch layer of compost over my entire eight thousand square foot yard, and by the end of the summer, I had one of the most vibrant lawns in the entire neighborhood. Small towns with free compost make life much easier
I'm big on fertilizer. The cost is irrelevant given that grocery stores sell junk. On a totally different topic, I'm building another raised bed garden. Can't decide on depth; either 12 inches deep or 24 inches deep. What do you recommend?
Mine are made out of 2x8's, so they're 7.25 inches deep. However, they're bottomless, so the roots will grow into the native soil if necessary. What works for you depends on how much you want to spend or bend over. There are advantages to higher beds, but they're more costly to build, fill, and if you grow tall plants in them like tomatoes, it can be a reach issue.
One of the best explanations on the topic of why we use synthetic fertilizer. To grow the type of food we eat on a large scale! Organic is great... for dilettanti.
I like this guy.
I think many people who say negative things about fertilizer haven't actually used it themselves
To the contrary, most people who are against commercially generated fertilizer have used it and have then researched and realized all we need is natural compounds, such as manure and compost.
@Jeff, manure and compost are organic matter, not fertilizers.
@@barco581 even as he stated done correctly they can be, depending on the circumstances. Fertilizers are not a cure all.
I agree. An unbiased assessment would change minds.
@すし what is that based on? That isn’t true at all. All fertilizers are “chemicals.” Water is a chemical. There are no such things as “chemical fertilizers” beyond the fact everything we eat and drink are chemicals. The word you’re looking for is “synthesized,” and there is no evidence that they are harmful when used as directed. If they were harmful, hydroponics would be impossible. Of course, hydroponics works wonders, which proves soil biology has nothing to do with plant health and its only function is to process nutrients for the plants. Plants don’t care how they get their NPK.
If you have actual evidence to the contrary that is derived from controlled trials where recommended dosages are used, I would love to see it. Otherwise, it is just fear mongering.
Finelly somebody(You) made a big difference on how and at what stage of growth to use right fertilizer.The other pro growers would like to show the final result not the stages of growth.I asked them spesifictly,not response.It seems like it is in their heads and what you do appeals to me.I live in Canada(Ottawa),different zone but heaving access to the green room(constant temp)makes it easy to start earlier seedlings using grow lights.Now it is too hot there(up to 30C),they are big and still more time to get them in the garden.Wish me luck.Thank you,watching you all the time.A week ago i seeded the beit alfa cucs,can not wait.Regards,Vieslava.
Great job explaining the necessity of fertilizer. I really appreciate your help.
You’re welcome!
You make a terrific argument about using fertilizer because of the non-sustainable nature of a veg garden. Also, you make clear about what compost actually does, versus the common perception that it’s a panacea for organic gardening. Thanks for giving me something to chew on!
I'm glad it made the gears turn! I love encouraging thought. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Be careful when buying compost from the local refuse locations. I have seen the piles of yard waste, professional tree trimming waste along with lumber scraps including chemically treated lumber waste products. I bought this soil before seeing them making it. also lots of scrap plastic bags broken into small and micro size plastics. If you are an organic gardener
or just a concerned gardener, please beware.
Great advice. The good stuff is out there but be cautious
Great video. I am new at gardening and doing container garden. I am 74yrs old.
Free manure is great fertilizer, same with sea weed and home made compost
Agreed 💯
Seaweed is one of our favorite soil amendments. I gather it up in the fall in the back of my truck and bury it with leaves. We add some winter rye seed and by tilling in the spring everything is decomposed and all that organic matter costs pennies.
It's fine if you have a source and you use proper culture so you don't get ill using it. There are thousands of documented e.coli infections caused by organic farming, so you have to be careful when using it.
EXCELLENT POINTS! 100% AGREE! THESE ARE VERY STRONG PROFESSIONAL ARGUMENTS AND REALLY WELL THOUGHT. YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE GARDENERS AT ALL, YOU ARE INDEED THE MILLENNIAL GARDENER. I AM A FAN. WOULD YOU TELL ME WHERE TO GET THE PICKLE BARRELS? THANKS!
So, one part of the problem is your usage of the word "fertilizer", as I'm listening to you.
There is one thing that chemical or man-made fertilizers do for sure, and that's kill the soil's natural biome. And this is where no-till, not permaculture farmers are the best source of information, and no-till is not the same thing as no-dig. The object is to disturb the soil as little as possible.
This is a complex topic, because you can't plant anything you want wherever you want and people who watch some videos will often get an impression that initial soil quality doesn't matter with no-till/no-dig and that's not the case. I see videos showing how to start a garden using cardboard, but this makes a LOT of assumptions about the plot of land being used.
In fact before you ever start you have to analyze your soil. This requires digging down to depth in different locations, to see how consistent the soil is, understand what different plants might need for additives, drainage, etc........... Oftentimes a plot of land that's going to be used for gardening, especially crops that need well-drained soil needs an initial dig and conditioning, and this needs to be deep, and extend out past the garden by at least a few feet so you don't create a bowl for water to collect, defeating your purpose of trying to create well-drained soil. Oftentimes you'll need to raise the soil level.
People who practice no-till correctly don't have to ever use chemicals. They WILL need to use natural additives which do the same thing, WITHOUT killing the biome in the soil. THIS is the part that can be confusing because of the debate that nature can do blah blah blah. Well, a garden isn't natural, go ask anyone who makes money growing crops, even no-till farmers or permaculture farmers who grow crops for income successfully. They use additives of different types.
This cycle is very important not to disturb, and anyone who is successful at no-till will say the same thing. Plants pull in energy from the sun. If the plant has the right conditions, it will be very successful at creating sugars. Plants will store this in the soil. This feeds the biome in the soil. The biome in turn produce elements the plants needs. They balance each other out. If a plant needs to it can pull some of this energy back out of the soil. But a garden can't do this without any inputs whatsoever, even when you're adding compost to the top for the biome to use to make food for the plants. You will still have to monitor plants for diseases and insects and then give the plants what they need. As long as the soil and climate is right, it's going to be some kind of deficiency. These can often be trace elements that's easy to get into the plant with additives. If the plant has what it needs, THEN no-dig is effective and you never have to add chemicals in the way of insecticides or fungicides or fertilizers. You add compost to the top, not mulch, and once you understand your plants you can add compost which will help them get the trace elements they need most of the time. Compost is added to the top. BUT, if you end a season and don't plant something in the ground so there is nothing growing there during the off season, you're setting up the situation to where you can lose part of the natural biome because they have nothing that's feeding them, so part of learning no-till/no-dig is ALSO learning how to use cover crops that work well with the plants you're growing in the garden, and you kill off those cover crops at an appropriate time for the needs of your garden. You do not dig the cover crops out of the ground. This defeats the purpose. You use an appropriate, chemical free method of killing the crop. This cover crop then becomes part of the food system for the crops you grow.
So, THIS is most of the story. If a person doesn't have the wherewithal to learn this process, and it takes time since you have to learn about the plants you're growing, then using chemicals tends to be the only way of managing a garden system.
As is said by proper no-till gardeners, the soil needs to have something growing in it almost all the time.
Most gardeners on utube are too scared to divulge the fact that fertilizers (Non-organic) can be used on vegetable gardens. I used them for the first time this season and the veggies are growing a storm. Before I used the fertilizers, my plants were crying. I do add compost and mulch also, but it's not enough. In Australia I used Thrive, and what a big difference from using all organic products. It's like you said, in nature, vegetables don't grow in clumps naturally. Thank you for being truthful.
My biggest fear with synthetic fertilizer is my kids. Too many pediatric health issues have been linked to the food supply. I use organic fertilizer and compost. I do avoid products with ingredients I don't understand, I keep that same energy with 🧼 cleaning and hygiene products.
An ion of nitrogen from synthetic fertilizer is the same as an ion from blood meal. The issues you mention are related to an overuse of certain pesticides and fungicides and contamination from using some of these products near fruits and veggies that will be eaten.
@@barco581 It's not just the ions, but the additives like everything else. I just like understanding the products that I am bringing around my family and pets
@My Urban, okay. Can you provide a legit link that shows how the “additives” in say Miracle Grow are not safe?
In reality, organic produce is actually more dangerous than conventional produce. Organic farms cut corners all the time, and their favorite thing to do is use manure-based compost before it's finished. This is a dated study, but it found organic produce was over 6x more likely to be contaminated by e.coli, which can be deadly. I don't think you're going to find problems using synthesized fertilizers 1-2 times a month in a backyard setting to give your plants a boost. I don't think fertilizers are the problem with the food supply. There are far more problematic things coming in contact with our food, and it starts with the processed grain-based, seed-oil-based foods.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/study-yields-mixed-findings-about-microbes-organic-produce#:~:text=The%20samples%20were%20not%20washed%20before%20being%20analyzed.,produce%2C%20a%20significant%20difference%2C%20according%20to%20the%20report.
@@TheMillennialGardener one of the biggest garden/farm environmental disasters here in MA occurred at an organic compost facility. Check out "When organic is toxic: How a composting facility likely spread massive amounts of ‘forever chemicals’ across one town in Massachusetts." Boston Globe 7/6/2022.
Loved your video, a lot of good information...One thing I learned by watching you and other gardeners is that what works for you might not work in my climate and soil.. I have the worst soil imaginable I live in Central Florida and have no choice but to amend my soil..... There is nothing but sand where I live... My family from up North just laughs at me "How can anything grow in this".....This is not the soft fluffy sand it is dark gray to black sand that allows water to sit once it is able to soak into the ground...I try to grow organic but find myself giving in and fertilizing at least twice with water soluble fertilizer... love watching your journey!
This was really well done. You marshaled your thoughts and presented in my opinion an unassailable argument. Thank you so much for clearly eliminating the difference between fertilizer and compost!
That was about as educational as one can get and at the same time get the point across. Thank you!
Have you ever done a video on how to use Miracle Grow in the garden? Every 2 weeks? You are one of few that approve of it.
I am an old man. I have always used compost and manure. I never use chemical fertilizers. Nature's way is best
You have the ability to share important material clearly. The fertilizer purchase in fall is something I will forever use. Thanks for that one👊👍
I basically watched the entire video for the last bit about container gardening. Thanks for including that!
I'd look into the book called Cu/re. It explains the dangers of NPK fertilizers and how the inhibit the uptake of important minerals such as copper, zinc and many others. Which ends up leaving us as a population mineral deficient. Which leads to not only diseases in plants but as well as us.
I have taken compost and wood chip mulch from my town and it really saves me a ton of money. I use chicken and rabbit manure, worm castings for the bulk of my fertilizer but I still use a little bit of fish fertilizer.
Thank you! You make gardening easier to understand.
All these years I have mindlessly dumped Black Kow into my raised beds without giving it a second thought. Just “because.” Thank you for this excellent video - I will reconsider my options for a productive garden. (Greensboro NC)
I like to challenge people. If I ask you why you’re doing something, you should be able to tell me why without flinching. If you disagree with me, but you can articulate why, so be it. However, if you can’t fully explain to someone why you’re doing what you’re doing, consider why you’re doing it. Always understand why you are doing something first. Hopefully, some of these things make sense. I may not be correct on all my opinions, but I can reason my way through them.
Welcome to the pickup truck club. I love having a truck. I can move myself (to some extent). I've used it to camp in very remote areas. And of course I can load it up with goods from the home stores.
So far, I really enjoy it. It makes running errands a lot simpler. I'm glad I went with a Colorado, because they're very narrow and easily fit into parking spots without being bulky. It's a pleasure to drive so far.
Bro .... good video. Here's what I tell people. Compost compost compost but ..... ALL the nutrients within the root ball cannot produce ALL them tomatoes. So yes, compost is critical, but they MUST be fed plant food to replace the nutrients that has been lost. Good compost is so awesome .... it's the number 1 most important thing. But you must add plant food also. Man you nailed it. I have 3 compost piles and leaf mold. It's the most important gardening requirement. I also put plant food in my compost piles.... chicken poop, cow manure, fish heads, and worms galore .... along with the carbons and nitrogen. All my fertilizers are organic plant food except for miracle grow tomato as a liquid leaf spray fertilizer.
Each year I learn more. This year I'm more prepared with a fertilizer routine, so hopefully I will get better results. Thank you for your teaching videos, these are so informative and step by step, which is what I need.
Great informative video ! Interesting and new eye-opening garden knowledge. I try to choose organic fertilizer, but there are so many choices that it is confusing.Chicken manure compost is a must. Thanks for the information
Outstanding explanation of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to fertilizers. Thanks for the education on growing such a huge variety of vegetables and fruit trees! Grow on!
Best video on the subject people have "violent outbursts" about and/or wont even touch.
Excellent.
I live in a rainforest on lava rock. So cindesoil and compost is essential. I use blood meal and bone meal. Seems to work pretty good. Oh I also have perennial peanut as ground cover. My major problem is the heavy rains. So having a trellis and clear roof helps. This area loves cabbages, kales collards, everything else needs lots of care.
Thank you for addressing containers. I was gonna go buy organic granules but now I will get water soluble instead
I find your videos so educational. Your explanations are always clear and easy to understand. This is a boon since I'm 62 yo but a veritable green thumb. Thank you very much.
Sorry, brown thumb 😅
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEOOOOOOO!!!...YOUR INFO IS SO LOGICAL & FACTUAL & PRACTICAL...I LIVE IN EAST TAMPA, FL...I BUILT A 5' X 20' RAISED BED 30" HIGH OUT OF PT DECKING & 4x4 BRACES & LINED THE INSIDE W/LANDSCAPE FABRIC...WORKS GREAT!...I'M FERTILIZING NOW, THANX TO YOUR INFO...GETTING GREAT RESULTS!😁
Great advice. For years I tried to fertilize with only compost and it never worked.
I cannot say the forest is sustainable because after I cleaned up a wooded area, almost nothing would grow until some fertilizer was applied. This includes clover as a ground cover, blueberry bushes, haskap bushes, and fruit trees. I agree with you on building the soil and adding a responsible amount of fertilizer. I like fish fertilizer but only in small amounts as an amino acid. I get my best results by focusing upon trace minerals. Mulching with grass clippings also converts into N while building the soil profile.
This is invaluable information. I use home made compost, leaf mold and horse manure but it is still not enough and supplementation is necessary, especially for the tomatoes in containers!! This year I have access to rabbit poop so am hoping to reap the benefits of that - has good NPK and is cold manure so does not have to be composted.
I totally agree with you , when I lived up north I grew fantastic vegetables and some flowers and bushes , I even planted red pines and hemlock and holly and none of these needed any care once they were stabilized .
Good video. I find that it is helpful to read the ingredients list as some fertilizers may be extracted from petroleum. You can use fertilizers and still be organic. For example, bone meal, blood meal, and green sand are great organic materials that act as NPK fertilizers. Others materials include fish/shellfish carcasses, processed egg shells, and certain aquatic grasses.
Thanks! Dale is adorable!
My dogs love figs too. This time of year the Dachshunds hang out under the fig tree when I take them outside. They look for any figs on the low branches. One of them also hopes that mommy will pick a "ball" for her off the tree. My Lab mix is taller and looks on higher branches.
I know I can speak for everyone at how much we appreciate the education you bring us.
How do you feel about synthetic fertilizers destroying the micro biology in your soil?
Also, please be careful with getting free compost from your township. I have heard nightmare stories about people’s whole gardens being contaminated from pesticides and finding things other than plant matter in the compost.
We do pot growing of our veggie garden, but at the end of the season, we will dump our pots into the dirt area. Over the winter we feed our soil. We make our own compost and add that to the soil along with shredded leaves to replenish our soil
Thank you! I really understand this now and I dont feel guilty about fertilizing.
Appreciate your reasoned approach to this. You’ve made some great points and opened my eyes to some different ways of thinking. And thanks for the time, effort and obvious passion you put into your channel. It’s making a difference for me, and I’m sure many, many others.
We're new to this, we are planting now for our second season. Any advice is welcomed. This video helps us to understand the value of compost (we make our own) and of fertilizer, which we are using, and the difference between them. Great video. Cheers
Fellow NC guy here. Just wanted to say I’m excited about the season and I love the channel!
I really enjoy your videos, and I admire your willingness to tackle such a controversial gardening topic! That said, I do have to question some of your points.
Fruits have generally evolved to be tasty on purpose so that animals eat them and then poop out the seeds, dispersing them to different areas. To be fair, domesticated food crops have even extensively bred for various characteristics, including bigger/better/more fruit. I suspect wild fruiting plants have to strike a balance between their fruits being palatable to animals while also having as many seeds as possible and not costing the plant too much energy to produce... That is just conjecture on my part, tho.
Not having a guaranteed analysis on compost doesn't necessarily mean it has less nutrients, it just means that no one ran the tests, so I'm not clear on why (properly made) homemade compost would be less nutritional than store bought.
Compost certainly is far less concentrated in NPK than commercial fertilizers, but most people apply way more compost than they do fertilizer. Which, yes, is way more expensive from a store. But what about when people make it at home from free/cheap resources? I know my homemade compost is cheaper than any fertilizer I could buy, because I make it out of kitchen scraps and used pet rat bedding that would otherwise be thrown out.
Just some things that came to me while watching the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, if you have time. To clarify, I'm not entirely anti-fertilizer, though I am interested in using locally available resources as much as possible. I do think there's a time and place for inorganic fertilizer, tho. I use it for my seedlings, for example, and I can imagine it could be less intimidating for newbie gardeners.
At the end of the day, whatever enables people to grow their own food can't be too bad, right?
So glad you finally got your pickup. I can't imagine living without one! This video about fertilizers is very informative. It will be one I will revisit often.
Thank you! I'm very excited to be a 'truck guy.' Every 7 years or so, I think I have an identity crisis of some sort. Now, I've reached the "practicality" phase of my life 😂
Thanks for explaining this. Im a beginner at gardening but I had the mentality you addressed in both your arguments. I now understand and see the point of fertilizer.
In general I agree with the points made in this video. The one caveat I would add is that I would think home made compost which has food waste, coffee grounds etc. added to it is probably higher in npk than the cow manure. I have fertilized with a mix of seaweed (liquid), Neem seed meal (powder) , and grown my plants in raised beds with large volumes of compost. I also add ash into my compost piles. Have not run into any issues yet...