Check out what grew in my soil this year! No fertilizers or anything added!

BSD0621

Well-Known Member
So, I grew some zucchini's this year. Made a mix of Sta-Green with vermiculite and had a majority of them growing in the mix. They didn't do so well. BUT, what was grown from the earth, no fertilizers or anything added I got THIS PUPPY!

IMG_20130810_190242.jpg
IMG_20130810_192018.jpg Weighs around 5 LBS. Jumped on a bathroom scale with out then with it to measure it's weight.
The smaller one was from a zucchini plant that was starting to brown/yellow near the base. The MONSTER one has HUGE leaf's. Over 1 feet long! WOOHOO!! Mother nature at it's best!
 

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
Last year I made some nice zucchini bread. It's great with lots of butter. IDK what stay green is. Is it some kind of soil mix? Nice looking results.
 

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
That's the idea. We amend soil. We don't replace it. Can I suggest some Azomite? It's ground rock dust. 70 different kinds of elements in it. It makes a big difference in yields. Not expensive.
 

BSD0621

Well-Known Member
That's the idea. We amend soil. We don't replace it. Can I suggest some Azomite? It's ground rock dust. 70 different kinds of elements in it. It makes a big difference in yields. Not expensive.
Approx how much per square foot?

I have a big area fenced in for a garden just not sure on it's measurement's. Would like to try it out and see the result's. I'm old school, mix some compost in the dirt and let mother nature do the rest. But I want to get the max from my fruits and veggies next year :)
 

Azhden

Active Member
Copied from the Azomite website, hope it helps some... They don't really list the amounts in "per square foot"... but here's what I found

General Recommendations

When preparing soil, customers have reported an average of 30% improvement with AZOMITE® treatment at the rate of 1/4 cup per plant. For larger areas, we recommend two 44 lb bags per acre (based on rows approximately 18" apart with plants 12" apart). If the bed is established, sprinkle around each plant. AZOMITE® should be applied with compost, humus, manures, or other fertilizers to provide additional levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. AZOMITE® will not burn plants. For houseplants, mix 1 teaspoon per 2 inch pot diameter with potting soil before planting. Give 1 teaspoon quarterly thereafter. For roses, start with 1/4 lb. to the soil around each plant and lightly till into soil.

Rec. Per Acre and "Field Crops"

Recommended initial application is 75 - 150 pounds per acre , followed by an annual maintenance level of half the original application. Titration studies report more AZOMITE® is better. While not justified for most field crops, certain high value crops may warrant initial application up to 2 tons per acre.

Rec. for Trees Shrubs and general Vine, Citrus and Fruit Crops

Apply annually to all trees on ground surface under the drip line at the rate of 1 to 5 pounds, depending on the tree size. Double the application for decline or blight stricken trees. For grapes, apply 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. to the soil around each plant and lightly till into soil.

Also hope you enjoy my pic from my outdoor veggies, Cucumbers weighed ~8+lbs each, and the Zucchini's averaged ~15lbs! And yes, they had Azomite AND organic fertilizers :mrgreen:
 

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BSD0621

Well-Known Member
Thank you Azhden! Those look really healthy. How did you grow your strawberries? I have some wild ones growing in the garden but they don't get much sun. hoping I get a few also hoping I can get some seeds for next year
 

Azhden

Active Member
Thank you Azhden! Those look really healthy. How did you grow your strawberries? I have some wild ones growing in the garden but they don't get much sun. hoping I get a few also hoping I can get some seeds for next year
Grown in a "raised garden" I built. Soil used was Miracle Grow Organic (was on sale at the time and I'm sometimes a cheap B*), Perlite, and Sphagnum Peat. Also mixed in some Espoma Organic Garden Tone fertilizer 3-4-4 (8lb bag if I remember right) and a few Lbs of Azomite for my growing area (think its close to a 5 x 5 foot square and about 1.5 feet high). All tilled into the ground about a foot or so deep, then built up into my raised garden. Every few days I also go out and sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth everywhere to keep insects at bay. Didn't add any other ferts throughout the grow, just water from 90 degree misters (think it was set to 2 gallons per hour on those misters? built it a few years or so ago, I just re-amend the soil with some Espoma [not 8lbs worth, that was for the first round] and re-till the top around the strawberries/raspberries/blueberries every year ;-), the rest of what I grow outside gets a full tilling and re-amended with different Espoma Organics and Azomite :mrgreen: ).

I had a harsh year with those strawberries, we had a few families of "Wyoming Ground Squirrels" (looks like a prairie dog or tiny ground gophers... and yes... in Colorado we have "Wyoming" squirrels)... they chewed my strawberries almost to death and then tried to dig them up and take them back home... A .177 Gamo Air Rifle took care of that problem in a week :cuss: , but it took over a month for the plants to recover the beating this year. Last year I was pulling 2 or 3x the strawberries in the pic EVERY day. Next year will be better as I built a 'cage' to keep birds and other pests out.

:peace:
 

ElizabethHaynes

New Member
Man you really have a nice growth out there and that too without any sort of fertilizers and extra ingredients..going on the size..i really think you pulled off that baby really well.
 
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