Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Here is a custom TLO layering blend that's high in nitrogen
HIGH NITROGEN LAYERING BLEND
2 parts blood meal
1 part feather meal
2 parts high nitrogen bird or bat guano
1 part ground oyster shells (a.k.a. “oyster shell flour”) or steamed bone meal
REV'S TIP
I use ground oyster shells by Down To Earth Company. You can find these
online at the time of writing at:
http://www.americanag.com/
.
Just do a search for OYSTER SHELL
to get taken right to them. Otherwise, contact Down to Earth to find the closest distributor to you.
This is an important component in TLO growing. It is at once a pH balancing/buffering element as
well as a slow-release calcium source, and an aerating amendment—nice!
I believe that it's better to use layers and zones with higher nitrogen blends. You could also try layering
with things like high phosphorus bird or bat guano, but you would need to buffer that with some steamed
bone meal or ground oyster shells. If you don't use a buffer, phosphorus bird and bat guanos will really
lower the pH in that zone or layer. In the High-Nitrogen Layering Blend, you can substitute steamed bone
meal for the ground oyster shells. The ground oyster shells are highly valuable in TLO, so try and locate
some if you can.
Inlargercontainers,youcanuseearthwormcastingsand/orcomposttofillspikeholesanduseinzones/
layers. Just keep in mind you need to aerate these and
keep them aerated.
Things like coconut coir fiber
