Vegetable Gardening Tips, Advice and FAQ's

Slow-Release Osmocote 14-14-14 Fertilizers Used - What Now?

Q. I have a square foot garden and I have already planted and used Osmocote 4Mo timed release 14-14-14 fertilizer. Can I still use your fertilizer mix and how much do I use? A. I recommend using the Pre-Plant mix, and mixing it with the soil surface one time. And I recommend using the Weekly Feed only as a supplement occasionally, as needed to maintain rapid growth rates in your garden. Osmocote 14-14-14 Classic's recommended application rate is 3.5# per cubic yard, and that is supposed to last for 3-4 months. Mittleider Magic Weekly Feed's (MWF) recommended application rate is 1.3# per cubic yard, and frequency is weekly until 3 weeks before harvest. For most home garden crops 4-6 applications of MWF are required to mature a crop. Using Osmocote 14-14-14 for those plants would leave some of the fertilizer unused when the plants were harvested, and Dr. Mittleider's experience indicates that for optimum growth plants need more than they would receive from Osmocote in the few weeks before maturity.

Last Modified: 2009-07-30 Number of views: 308