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Tasmania Australia

I have been reading a few articles now where growers are saying that they are watering say 100 gallons per plant per day ( just a rough figure there as an example )
Then they talk about feeding the plant with different products.
I was just trying to find out, are they talking about mixing up enough fertilizer to do the 100 gallon run ?
So basically they are watering 100 gallons every day, and I am guessing every second or third day they are feeding the plant, so dose this mean every second or third day they mix up enough fertilizer to do a 100 gallon run?
As you can tell, I am a tad confused on the feeding side of things.

4/4/2024 4:51:54 AM

Syracuse, NY

What I, and ONLY I, was doing in '23 was, due to a deciding it was NOT necessary for only MYSELF, was to water a plant with whatever concentration of fertilizer I deemed necessary in a very small amount, like 'for 10 minutes, each plant' and simply water/fert a plant to give it what I felt it needed only, due to cost restraints. They did NOT seem to mind and I never lost a plant nor had any malnutrition issue(s) at all. I may call this 'Spritz' or 'Splash' fertilizing, especially since the word on the street is that plants take up ferts more quickly through the leaves anyway.

4/4/2024 8:09:43 AM

Syracuse, NY

I would THEN water the same plants as much as I could the next day to give them the 'fluidity' to circulate and utilize that fertilizer and again, never a problem - 1.5-2 hours on EACH plant through a whizzer sprinkler with no pump used, so, like 20 PSI (pounds per square inch) of pressure. Trust me in that they got enough water, the lot of them, lol. Sure, my heaviest pumpkin was 442 in '23 butt my plants had no issues - that means more to me. I have not added organic matter in like 3+ years and I'm sure that that contributes to my lowest weights ever - AND increasing shade from trees around my property. I have a plan to relocate my main, most-optimistic plants to an area that has full sun for the most time available on my property, about 200' long by initially 30' wide. Yay. SO far, it has ONE strip of horse manure 120 feet long - the weather a month back made it difficult at the horse ranch. If I were you I'd go to Grower Diaries for '23 and find one with about 100 entries+ OR at the bottom of it, a few REALLY HUGE pumpkins and follow that diary from start to finish, for SEVERAL growers, like 3, 4, whatever. THEN, you can see and get answers far more readily than, for instance, MY replies, lol. Traffic is VERY slow here at the moment and that information is bursting at the seams for you in what's already been done.
I DO hope that others answer your question effectively. Just trying to help---eric g

4/4/2024 8:09:56 AM

Ironton, ohio

I struggled with this for a while. Everyone says follow instructions on your fertilizer package, well if I’m feeding miracle grow and it says one scoop per gallon I’m not putting 50 scoops through my hose end sprayer because I’m watering 50gallons. A lot of people feed and water every day so we would divide those nutrients across 7 days. 50scoops divided by 7days roughly 7 scoops per day, probably too much divide it out again to 3.5 scoops per 50gallon watering you may be in the ballpark. Just remember we are spoon feeding so too much can be bad, learn to read the plant. Also could use soil or water ec and ppm meters for better understanding of how much you are providing the plant. It’s too individual of a topic for a black and white answer. 1275lb personal best so clearly haven’t figured it out myself lol. Hope this was helpful. Best of luck

4/4/2024 12:38:41 PM

Grittyville, WA

I either broadcast fertilizer under the leaves and then run the overhead irrigation to soak it in, or I put it in a hose-end sprayer. The hose end sprayer puts out about 20 gallons before it needs to be refilled. You need to know (or make an educated guess about) what your plant needs. Then, decide on where, how, and when to apply what it needs...
Thats what I do but there's myriad ways.
Drip tape and dosetrons are common. There are growers like mobeymike who mix up a 300 gallon tote and then fertigate overhead.
I think those are the main methods.

4/4/2024 5:38:32 PM

Mission Viejo, CA

BlueSilver,
This is one of the most difficult things in growing and also an area where some growers might be reluctant to share. If you have a local mentor, which is the BEST way to learn, I would suggest starting there.
That said, the first priority (after finding a mentor) is to get your soil balanced at the beginning of the season. That will take care of a lot of the plants needs, both early and throughout the season.
I get my plant tissue tested several times a season to find out specifically what the plant has in abundance and what it needs. This has helped me tremendously. Having a source for the individual micronutrients has been critical to getting my weight gains up.

When I do find out what the plant needs, I will feed it incrementally over a week, or even a two-week period. I water through a 275-gallon tote that takes a few days to empty, so if I am doing the math I might divide the ingredients in half and water it in over a week.

Hope this helps!

4/4/2024 5:39:49 PM

Syracuse, NY

.whoops. Think I'll change my handle to 'pumpkinwhoops', lol---eg

[Last edit: 04/04/24 9:15:50 PM]

4/4/2024 8:02:03 PM

New Castle, Indiana

This year I'm planning to use an inline siphon mixer that will mix the water with the liquid ferts when the watering happens. Now what the liquid cocktail will consist of is yet to be determined. I'll probably use a general mixture myself, but others will actually get a tissue test around pollination time to determine a more precise mixture for thier particular plants. If the plants aren't getting enough nutrients from the soil then you have to go heavy on those. You pretty much can't overfeed these things except for MAYBE nitrogen, but then there are easily seen signs of that.

4/4/2024 8:12:21 PM

Syracuse, NY

To All, when I fertilize, I do not do any LESS than what is recommended as far as the concentration goes - One TableSpoon per gallon of my fave fertilizer, (not one scoop, which MAY be 2-2.5 TBSP!) (WOW!!! 3 Miracle-Grow users on one page, now, maybe including within the provided video!!!) or whatever the label says for it as if only watering with it once a week. I DO deviate when it comes to how OFTEN, AT the recommended concentration
(ie., more often). I refuse to be bored! I should not have inadvertently said I was using a *lesser concentration* than recommended; it was just the length of TIME of it being thrown ONTO each plant.
Seems to me that dividing up/diluting the amount given at each 'serving' would be like getting a bar drink where you normally take two shots and the bartender says 'It's only 8 o'clock, so, 1/2 the booze in each drink tonight so you just stay later and buy twice as many, okay, Boss???'
'Like HELL, Man!!!'
Think of it this way - if you have one drink per hour, you'll never get drunk. You could still look kinda cool though, lol---Me? Well...
I mean - fertigate all anyone wants, but hit them harder, occasionally.
PS---I have STARTED seeds INTO double-strength MG in the Seed Starting mix - in a clinical trial that I did not put in my Diary, those plants lasted longer, looked greener and were more robust than ones that got simply Mycorrhizae alone and water. Food for thought.
I don't think this guy is going easy on his plants:
I have, and you all will, enjoy this video - watch it ALL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Ky-QamDLM
New PBs for ALL of us!!! eg out. eg

4/4/2024 9:14:20 PM

Tasmania Australia

Appreciate all the replies and advice given here, I figured it may be a very broad question.
That is a very impressive video, heaps of information in there and of course creates a lot of questions, but in general, that is a great video to watch.
I do or did have a mentor about 300km away ( 186 miles ) but not getting any contact from them now for some reason, might be because by PB jumped up about double in the first year but still it is only a mere 1070 pounds.

I am planning this year to use a black tote this year and run an electric pump of that.
I was looking at mixing it all at the recommended ratio and emptying it all in one watering, so for the fertilizer Monopotassium phosphate which is 0- 52- 34 at 1 tablespoon per gallon, and say I am using 100 gallons, that would be 100 tablespoons which is huge.

The idea of diving that by 7 for 7 days makes more sense at 14 tablespoons.

I was looking Joe Hollands fertilizer program as an idea and was trying to work out how to apply that.
Like once a week on his program he applies Monopotassium phosphate ( o-52-34 ) at a rate of 1-3 tablespoons per gallon.
But I don't think that would apply if watering 100 gallons at a time, but then again it is only done once a week.

Then on the other days he uses powdered seaweed, and a few days latter fish emulsion.

I am not sure if you can say mix all these three together at once and dilute it by 7 ( for 7 days ) and water it every day.

Will be interested to here more thoughts on my rambling on ideas though

[Last edit: 04/05/24 2:17:25 AM]

4/5/2024 1:45:18 AM

Grittyville, WA

You can probably mix potassium (o-52-34) with potassium (kelp is mostly potassium) but some nutrients would be best applied separately and/or as chelates. Joel did a good tell-all write up on his 2363. You're asking the right questions.

4/5/2024 9:27:20 AM

Grittyville, WA

I generally do things separately since I dont have a degree in chemistry...

4/5/2024 9:29:04 AM

Syracuse, NY

...'Use Nutri-Aid Blossom Booster & Fruit Finisher 0-52-34 starting June 10th – 15th'...
'Mix 1 to a maximum of 3 Tablespoons per gallon of water, or 3 cups of product per 50 gallons of water.'
See, I only had the ONE (MG) item to apply and it was 'experimental' ((frequency - water 'with', then water 'without' the next day in full)/start over/22 AGs/4FPs), lol and such because I did not want to spend much money on my season - I DID make money on selling my fruits and made some tremendous crosses.
Oooohhh, I cannot wait!!!
https://landogiants.com/pages/fertilizer-program-growing-guide
So far, I have not seen how much water Joel used to apply his amendments for a week's duration.
Long Story Short, (LSS) if you can get Holland's Products 'verbatim', and your soil is all set to begin with, then, I'd follow his program, 100 per cent as he did it. Or, follow a couple diaries 100%.
TO BE A WINNER, DO AS A WINNER DOES. They DO ship internationally, I see...
My muzzle fell off.
There, it's ba..........eg

4/5/2024 5:43:36 PM

Tasmania Australia

Appreciate the advice,
I will see if I can get in contact with Joe and see if I can get a bit of information from him on his fertilizer program.
You are correct in that they do ship internationally, but here in Australia, they are very restrictive on what we can bring in unfortunately, including seeds.
So I will have to work out what he was using and convert it to the same products that we have here.
There is quiet a bit to this fertilizer question the more you you look into it and the deeper you go, but I think I am starting to see some common products starting to appear, so that is a good start right there.
A long was from what I have been doing, I think I was only doing about 1/10th of what a lot of people are doing from what I have found out so far.

4/5/2024 7:27:30 PM

Syracuse, NY

Yeah, me, too and yer totally on the right track about what can or cannot be gotten, like subbing in margarine for butter when cooking, or something. Turns out I may need to order a couple things from there, myself and I did not get the '23 video, which has always been a tradition for me! If I had only ONE item to add to my soil, blindly, no soil report and zero money for anything else - Mycorrhizae. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. H started incorporating it fully into his patches and not long after, grew the 2363. Of course, it was from the 2145 McMullen, butt the combination was likely very potent. A living, thriving mass of fungus, looking to live on a pumpkin plant's roots. What could be better?
lol---Good Luck! eric g
PS---It's possible that that shaded area might be restrictive of the most sun energy available to your plant that goes there.
You have a lot of Moo-Moos, though, so (*_*) I'll assume plenty of organic matter, lol---eric g

4/6/2024 1:17:36 AM