The cheapest way to grow....

[Aap]

I grow figs and citrus and i am not very particular what to feed as long as it is cheap. I try not to buy full price. Fall is the best time for me to stock-up and Wally is my friend. Those bags you see are either $3.00 or $5.00
Figs get Espoma tomato and citrus get Espoma citrus and i might add a couple other stuff i have laying around.
My potted tree's are in 20 or 25 gls containers. I have also a 25 lbs bag of Jack's h.p. that will last years.Done!
I also grow subtropicals and i am also a big fan of persimmons but that is for a different forum.

[FigMania]

I keep hearing about all these sales at Wally World, Home Depot, etc at the end of the year.. I've never seen such sales hear.

[Bluemalibu]

Bill, our WallyWorlds here in Northern Calli have no reason to cut their prices on garden supplies... we are either actively growing summer crops or winter crops, year-round here.

[cis4elk]

Yep, this your cross to bear when they don't need to make way for shovels, snow blowers, and ice melt.

[Gina]

I'll happily choose the 'no snow' cross to bear. Small price to pay for living in this slice of heaven.

[don_sanders]

I picked up quite a few clearance bags this past year too. My Walmart lowers them 50% and then if they still don't sell down to 75% off. Can't beat those prices.

[AscPete]

Thanks for sharing this info...

I've taken advantage of those season end clearances for several years, usually stocking up on Holly-tone and Miracle-Gro All Purpose, sometimes Garden-tone, Tomato-tone, Plant-tone or Bio-tone plus, when available.

This year I was able to restock all my usual inventory and even added to my "expanded" inventory of Jobes Organics, M-G Shake'n Feed and Osmocote Plus. I was also able to add several new (to me) fertilizers for trials this coming season they include; Jobes Organics Water Soluble Fertilizer, Alaska fish fertilizer, Several Solid Organic Fertilizers, Several CRF (Controlled Release fertilizers) and I also added a few M-G Liquafeed regulators to the inventory.

Even with all the additional new items and fertilizers the cost was still well under my yearly fertilizer budget due to the 75% discount on most items.

[Visceral]

I wish I had thought of stocking up this past fall. It's just like clothes, you have to buy the sweaters in the spring, and t-shirts and shorts in the fall for the best prices.

What I do remember to do is check Lowes for damaged products. Any bagged goods like fertilizer, mulch, fire-ant killer are half-off if the bag has been damaged and contents spilled. I've gotten quite a few bags of pine mulch fines for half-off. I usually end up buying something else I didn't need though, so I think Lowes knows what it's doing.

[Bluemalibu]

Ditto for Home Depot, Visceral... I was able to collect eight bales of compressed peat this way over the course of the summer for just $6 each.

[WillsC]

Just find out where the farmers bu and get your fertilizer there. Here lowes is over $1 a pound for fertilizer. Helena you get a better fert with all the micros for $13 for 50 pound bags........I buy a ton at a time and they will even deliver it for free but pick up is the same price for just 1 bag.

[AscPete]

The Expert Gardener Slow Release 12-5-7 with micro-nutrients cost only $15 for 50 lbs (5lb bags, with the discounts).
I purchased two bags (10 lbs) to trial this coming season, cost $3.00.

[lilfiggy]

lowes doesnt give a big discount on damaged bags here outside of Tampa just 10% not worth it too me trying to unload and keep truck clean. BUT here is a warning. I just purchaseda bag of StaGreen potting soil and it is horrible full of chips and twigs. Sometimes bargin is not bargin.

[AscPete]

I never buy open bags of peat moss due to possible fungus gnat infestation of wet peat, but Lowes in the NE has regular "Season End Discounts" of nursery plants and trees including berries and fruit trees.

[Courtney]

It's hit or miss with the end of season clearance berries at Lowes. I bought some that lived and some were dead.

[AscPete]

At up to 90% off with the 1 year Guarantee it may still be a "hit".

[FigMania]

I get 50-70% off damaged bags of soils at HD. Recently bought a block of medium that normally sells for $24+ for $5. A neighbor who works at a winery brought me 6 half wine barrels that were $5 each.. that should last a long time before rotting out. I'll need more of those $5 bales of medium now

[growcrazie]

I have to watch feeding Espoma, my dogs eat it every chance they get

[Rickyv101]

I tried hard from fall/winter looking for fertilizers from Wally and HD without luck, so I got some fertilizer from Craigslist, It was $25C for 55Lbs, NPK =746 organic fertilizer, I applied it to my potted fig trees month ahead, now all of them cover with thick white mold, not sure what to do with them.

1). Not sure that it is good or bad ( like MYCORRHIZAE)
2). Not sure that mold will take up nutrient or not

[cjmach1973]

I have 4 Walmarts within 20 miles of me, but only 1 of them puts the soil and supplies 1/2 price in the fall. They do it to make room for the pumpkins and halloween decorations.

[WillsC]

• • The Expert Gardener Slow Release 12-5-7 with micro-nutrients cost only $15 for 50 lbs (5lb bags, with the discounts).
    I purchased two bags (10 lbs) to trial this coming season, cost $3.00.

Expert gardener is a Walmart brand. Blended in USA from all Chinese components like everything else at Walmart, and lead, cadmium and god only knows what other unwanted toxic chemicals FREE in every bag I will pass.

[AscPete]

That's why it pays to be an "Informed Consumer"....

All commercially available fertilizers are required to register with the Federal Regulatory Database...

http://agr.wa.gov/PestFert/Fertilizers/ProductDatabase.aspx

The info listed is the Guaranteed Plant Nutrient Analysis and Heavy Metal Analysis of fertilizers. My normal inventory of fertilizers are Espoma, Scotts, Miracle-Gro and Osmocote which are all available at Walmart.

[Courtney]

Ty for this info

[Taverna78]

Expert mix😉

Remmeber always. You get what you pay for

[Fygmalion]

Comedic interlude here.. for the hobbyist, financially speaking... growing figs is a slow death by a thousand cuts... the absolutely cheapest way to grow many desirable figs is not to come down with the addiction...

[cjmach1973]

I will save you with an intervention. I can come over with my trailor, and take the evil away!

[Fygmalion]

Thank you... its good to know I have friends that I can count on when things come to a pinch point... :-)

[Schnablfig]

I imagine urine would be cheapest. Made weaker with water. Might not be the NPK ratio you are looking for and need to be aware of medicines passed and possible salt build up for in ground trees that couldn't be flushed with water from time to time. Is anyone trying this?

[Blackfoot12]

I always wondered why my figs had low blood pressure

[Courtney]

No wonder my cuttings became dead upon arrival. j/k😂

[zone5figger]

Anyone using manure is also adding urine. Human urine is a great free fertilizer, but does gross some folks out so it's a bit of a loaded subject.

[FigMania]

Only around my ornamental trees.. not because I believe urine is bad or infectious.. It's just what I do. However.. most of the urine I collect.. when I get on the roll i poured over my compost pile. Higher N helps break down the ingredients a bit more rapidly.

[Taverna78]

You piss on you trees??? Eewwww!!!!!

[Schnablfig]

Plenty of info online about using urine as fertilizer. Here's one.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/28/human-urine-fertilizer.aspx

[FigMania]

I get 50-70% off damaged bags of soils at HD. Recently bought a block of medium that normally sells for $24+ for $5. A neighbor who works at a winery brought me 6 half wine barrels that were $5 each.. that should last a long time before rotting out. I'll need more of those $5 bales of medium now

Nope.. just on the ground surrounding it. Then water it in.

[don_sanders]

It makes a great liquid fertilizer. Mix diluted urine with some wood ash and it is about perfect. It doesn't smell once mixed into the soil.

I gave up pooping on my garden. The neighbors kept staring.

[Noel Goetz]

Urine is drinkable in a survival situation and is sterile. Good on the compost pile or tree's. Beats getting mud on the floor running to the Bathroom too lol. Not being sexist but I think this is more a guy thing over-all.

[Rickyv101]

I agree that urine is a good source of N fertilizer, I used diluted urine month ago and not happy about this, I live at PNW with about 10 hour sunlight/ Month now, sun light is good deodorant, urine without sterile by UV/Hi-heat can be quite smelly, It was so smelly at my greenhouse, I decide that no more urine unless I have more than 50+ hour sunlight/month at summer.
I think that Don is right, Urine = acidity = nitrogen fertilizer and Wood ash is an excellent source of lime and potassium, It sounds good complete balanced fertilizer
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ertilizer.html

[mountainfigs]

Mix with, or water in, a little garden lime; that can solve the problem. Garden lime sprinkled on soil and watered in will also sweeten up the smell of any sour smelling fig leaves (and soil) in general, and it cuts the acidity of bark mulch and/or peat, if that's the growing medium. Garden lime is something like $4 for 50 pounds, and I sprinkle it in pots, whether fertilized or not, if the soil smells sour, to sweeten it. I don't buy fertilizer at all. It's all homemade for my rough and ready growing, especially with most all pots heeled in for root escape to ground. No chemical use so I have a lot of earthworms and they are always improving the soil a lot. A lot of songbirds here, and they seem to go entirely for the worms and insects and not at all for the figs. So far, at least. A lot of benefits to going organic.

[Schnablfig]

Mountain figs, can you give us some ratios of mixes you use?

[mountainfigs]

Yes and no, so much depends on the size and decomposition level of the chips and bark mulch. The 5-1 ratio that everyone talks about is a good rule of thumb. My growing medium mixes are rough and ready like I say, good to go as long as there is some porosity for air and water. The roots escaping into ground (and mulch on earth) can then usually find their way to whatever extra air, water, and nutrient resources they need.

Last winter late I had a bunch of cuttings I wanted to root but no peat or potting soil which I usually use (with some chip/bark mulch and garden lime), so I said what the heck and just filled 4x4x12 tree pots with hardwood chip/bark mulch and watered in some garden lime and covered with a plastic sheet and they rooted just fine. That seems to me about as simple as it gets and I try to keep it simple.

Best potting medium I ever had was a couple bags of dark pine bark mulch with a lot of dime sized pieces I guess and smaller. That's all the heeled in fig plants needed with some lime. Mostly I have rougher bark mulch from a local landscaper, often hardwood bark mulch that requires (I guess) some added peat or compost, with a handful of lime, heeled in.

[WillsC]

That's why it pays to be an "Informed Consumer"....

All commercially available fertilizers are required to register with the Federal Regulatory Database...
http://agr.wa.gov/PestFert/Fertilize...tDatabase.aspx

The info listed is the Guaranteed Plant Nutrient Analysis and Heavy Metal Analysis of fertilizers. My normal inventory of fertilizers are Espoma, Scotts, Miracle-Gro and Osmocote which are all available at Walmart.

Yes it does pay to be an informed consumer.


The importing companies are only required to test batches of components on an ANNUAL basis. Not every batch of components is tested that comes in from China. If a company does test a batch and it fails due to cadmium or another toxic chemical it is sent back to China. Want to know what the Chinese companies do then? They send it right back to the USA knowing the odds that batch will be tested again randomly are nill. Do some reading on Chinese fertilizer coming in to this country and get back to me on how safe it is. If you want to play Russian roulette with your health that is your business but people need to know and a little reading would make anyone with any sense think twice before chancing their health on the integrity of the products the Chinese ship here.

I can post 100 links on contaminants in Chinese fertilizer and fertilizer / chemical fertilizer components but I think this one sums it up quite well........


http://www.kronoslp.com/imported-chi...els-of-cadmium
Imported Chinese Zinc Fertilizers May Contain High Levels of Cadmium


Fertilizer industry officials warned their members about the increased chance that imported Chinese zinc fertilizers could contain high levels of cadmium.
A memo sent by officials of The Fertilizer Institute told fertilizer manufacturers, importers and distributors that a U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher warned that zinc fertilizers containing high amounts of cadmium have been appearing in other countries. The USDA warning said the levels recorded in other countries suggest that hazardous heavy metals may have been purposefully dumped into fertilizers as a way to dispose of them.


"The point of our communication to members is to protect not only the industry but the folks who buy our products," said Bill Herz, vice president of scientific programs for TFI, in an interview with DTN. "We always recommend that (members) look at state and federal regulations and do some spot testing (of their own) for heavy metals."



Do you know what Cadmium does to the human body? And Cadmium is just one of a LONG laundry list of toxic items that have been found in the fertilizer components that are brought in to this country from China. The Chinese imports have had children's toys and dinner ware with 100X the toxic limit for lead. Chinese dog treats that killed 100's of dogs across the nation.

So you do what you want but on a product where you can't see it is bad or know what is in it without lab tests I will stick with manufactures who use all components produced here in the states OR voluntarily test every single batch. A chinese manufactured walmart branded chemical soup trying to hit the lowest price point???? No thank you.

[AscPete]

Thanks for sharing the link and info.

[Courtney]

Wow! This scares me!

[dkirtexas]

I am attempting to move away from commercial "Fertilizers" of any kind. I am now learning, through using, fish waste gained from aquaponics. I am also using more worm composted leaves and grass clippings. The fish poop is basically free as I use the free worms from my compost beds to catch Bluegill at the local State Park. I am trying to use solar power for my pumps, so-so results.

I have yet to "burn" a plant by over use of fish poop.

[Bluemalibu]

I'm envious of locales that allow one to live without having the state watching over your shoulder at every turn... here, Bluegill and all other fin fish cannot be kept alive after removal from a body of water. (The temporary captivity of game fish kept in live wells to be returned to the same body of water is the only exception)