anyone fertilize garlic with kelp?

[tjg911]

while it's too late this season i'm asking so next year i'll know.

in "growing great garlic" by ron engeland he mentions fertilizing garlic with maxicrop which is powdered kelp. my notes are not clear if this is a 1 time thing in early spring when the plants are 3" tall or if you use it every 2 weeks. he does say to foliar feed with fish emulsion every 2 weeks from 3" tall to early may then stop the fish emulsion. my notes sound like you use the kelp every 2 weeks also but i'm not clear on that.

the cost of powdered kelp is 3.5 pounds for $17! if you use powdered kelp:
1. one time application or every 2 weeks?
2. how much do you apply?

i use neptune's harvest fish and seaweed emulsion so maybe i'm already covered as it's in the mix?

tom

[Tom C zone 4/5]

Garlic (even in CT) should be wrapping up its season, it being a fall planting.

I don't fertilize mine this late. IMO its time to taper off watering too.

[zorro777]

I use Ron's timing and GGG's timing and component suggestions. (Multiple applications.) Neptune's Harvest is perfect and approved for organic growing.

[kurt]

On a larger scale the city of Miami Beach Florida has introduced giving away tons of composted(just turned over piles of it)seaweed gathered from the daily raking on the beaches.A friend who lives in Miami beach has been putting it on his yard and swears by it.

[tjg911]

i wouldn't fertilize now it's too late for that, i stopped fertilizing a month ago. i am asking for next year. trying to decide whether to buy kelp and poultry waste for the garlic, the kelp is stupid expensive. i haven't used either and have fine results but i'm wondering if these 2 would improve things.

tom

[rxkeith]

tom

when i use kelp, i combine it with fish emulsion or powder, and i would use it every 2 weeks. check out peaceful valley for kelp, and dried fish powder. i got some a couple years ago, and i think the price was reasonable.
i didn't use kelp or fish emulsion this year. i put several inches of composted horse manure from my neighbor on the garlic bed last year, and planted through that. my garlic doesn't look like it needs anything else. harvest is still over a month away for me. no scapes yet. the hundreds of bulbils i planted last year are looking good i expect some of them will give me small divided bulbs.

i know everyone says horse manure has lots of weed seeds. i haven't had many so far. this is on a field that was just plowed last year. could be because the manure was pretty well composted, hardly any nuggets, and i spread it on the ground thick without tilling it in.



keith

[tjg911]

thanks.
since i have kelp in the nh maybe i really don't need to use kelp powder. i may buy a bag and see if it makes a difference.

tom