Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
alfalfa meal (4-1-1)
blood meal (12-1-0.6)
bone meal (4-12-0)
corn gluten (10-0-0)
cottonseed meal (6-1-1)
feather meal (14-0-0)
fish emulsion (5-2-2)
fish meal (10-6-2)
greensand (glauconite) (0-0-5)
guano (bat) (11-8-2)
guano (bird) (13-12-3
kelp (1-0-3)
peanut meal (6-1-1)
potassium chloride, muriate of potash (0-0-60)
potassium sulfate, sulfate of potash (0-0-50)
rock phosphate (0-3-0)
soybean meal (7-1-5)
sodium nitrate, nitrate of soda (16-0-0) Permitted for limited use in organic farm-
ing.
pelleted chicken or turkey manure (1-1-0.5)
urea (0-0-0)
wood ash (0-2-5) Note that only wood ash is considered organic. Don't use ash
from other sources.
worm castings (2-1-1)
FEEDING YOUR VINES
Nitrogen (N)
Nitrogen is usually the major nutrient most needed by grapevines. When nitrogen is
low, there is reduced shoot growth, which leads in turn to a reduced canopy and lower pho-
tosynthesis—eventually resulting in lower yields. Excess nitrogen causes too much veget-
ative growth, which leads to overshading by adjacent vines and reduced fruit quality.
The best time to apply nitrogen is during periods of root growth (from fall to early
winter and spring—but before veraison). I find that in the spring around fruit set is the best
time. Ammonium nitrate and urea are traditional agricultural sources of nitrogen but these
do not always come from an organic source. Alternative organic sources of nitrogen in-
clude alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, soybean meal, nitrate of soda (sodium nitrate), earth-
