AboutThe Long Island Gardener Expertise Do you know the wrong fertilizer will keep your plants from blooming?
Do you know that too much Nitrogen can kill your grass, even if it does not burn the roots? Do you know that Roses need a LOT of Nitrogen to bloom -- and why is that?
There's some complex chemistry in those plant foods. The secrets behind N-P-K are the key to the ultimate lawn, the the biggest flowers, the most fruits and vegetables. And if you don't get it right, you could be sorry.
I'll show you what you did wrong, and how to fix it.
Experience Homeowner with gardens indoors and outdoors, lawns back and forth. I wrote my first gardening column for our college newspaper, teaching roomates about the right way to feed those windowsills gardens. Today I look for challenges. Organic Fertilizers are the key to proper feeding of all our plants. Can you make your own fertilizer? Some people think so -- but there are side effects. I have been there, done that for 54 years and there is nothing like the voice of experience when it comes to Horticulture and Fertilizers.
Publications Numerous and sundry but only in college did I write about plants.
Education/Credentials B.A., Botany and Mass Communications.
Question Can I put partially decomposed fruits and vegetables directly on my garden without posing a hazard to my health when I eat the vegetables from my garden? I was pureeing my unused fruits and vegetables in my food processor and pouring the liquid onto the dirt in my garden. Is this safe, or do I risk illnesses from the partially decomposed food?
Answer Researchers have found that the common fruit fly is capable of contaminating fruit with bacteria known to cause diseases in humans. But I know of no study that traces any pathogens in contaminated crops back to fruit or vegetable compost where it was grown and harvested.
But there is a potential problem with trying to enrich your Soil with uncomposted produce.
Normally, Carbon-rich 'Brown' organic matter like wood, dead leaves and eggshells are mixed with Nitrogen-rich 'Green' organic matter that is combined in a ratio of 25:1. Fungi and Bacteria decompose organic matter. But they only do that if they have an ample supply of air -- Oxygen. Remove O and those decomposers are stuck. That's what happens when you bury fruits and vegetables. They get stuck.
Yes, it's tempting.
No, don't do it.
Not because you don't want to spread disease. But because you want your raw materials to be transformed efficiently into Compost and THEN applied to your vegetable garden. Burying them in Soil won't cut the mustard. Your followups welcome if needed. Thanks for writing.
