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 Organic fertilizers feed your soil as well as your plants, nourishing everything in your garden without causing the harmful salt buildup and rootburn that can result from using concentrated inorganic plant foods. Here's a quick rundown of some of the organic fertilizers and soil amendments Payne's offers its Northern New Mexico customers.
And don't forget POSY — Payne's Organic Soil Yard! There you can buy organic mulches and soil amendments in bulk for pickup or delivery. POSY is now open from Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm. Give 'em a call at 424-0336. Sam McCarthy, compost king and new POSY manager, will be happy to help you select the best organic bulk product for your needs!
A QUICK GUIDE TO SOME OF
PAYNE'S ORGANIC SOIL AMENDMENTS
Soil Secrets™
Dr. Michael Melendrez, a New Mexico native, is one of the nation's top authorities on soil life and soil health. All his Soil Secrets™ products, which are manufactured in New Mexico, nourish the beneficial soil organisms, or mycorrhizae, that make heavy soils water permeable, sandy soils moisture-retentive, and plant roots better able to seek out and utilize soil nutrients. The products include Earth Magic™ (also known under the professional grade name of TerraPro™); Protein Crumblies™; TTP Supreme Compost™; and liquid Earth Ambrosia™.
Earth Magic™ (aka TerraPro™) is a soil humus concentrate containing specially cultured humus®, worm castings, rock dust, black and green kelps, and indigenous soil-borne organisms selected for monocots, dicots, and root crops, plus mycorrhizal propagules and root tissues. It is applied as a top dressing to soil, and as with all Soil Secrets™ products, a very little goes a very long way. A large .6 cubic foot bag treats 1000 square feet of soil if used alone, 2000 square feet if used with Protein Crumblies™ (see below), and retails for $129.00. Earth Magic™ may also be used with Protein Crumblies™ to inoculate and enrich container soils at a rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon of soil plus 1/2 teaspoon Protein Crumblies™.
Protein Crumblies™: Protein Crumblies™ provide food for the beneficial soil organisms contained in Earth Magic™. For optimum results, both products should be used together. Protein Crumblies™ come in a large .6 cubic foot bag, which treats 2000 square feet of soil as a top dressing or 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of container soil; it retails for $52.99. A smaller .12 cubic foot bag retails for for $21.99.
TTP Supreme™ Compost: TTP Supreme™ is a top of the line organic compost made without yard waste, city biosolids or animal manure. It contains vegetable-derived proteins and cellulose, fungal compost from wood waste, and worm castings. It is mixed at a rate of 1 part TTP Supreme™ per 9 parts container soil mix; used as a 1/4" mulch on top of container soil; or applied outdoors as a topdress at a rate of 1 gallon per 100 square feet of soil. A .6 cubic foot bag retails for $16.99. TTP Supreme™ may be used with or without Earth Magic™ and Protein Crumblies™.
Earth Ambrosia™is a powerfully bioactive liquid humus that can be used to amplify the power of other plant foods. It retails for $29.99 per gallon or $8.99 per quart, and many folks find it particularly valuable in adding organic oomph to inorganic liquid fertilizers.
Other Organic Soil Amendments
Payne's Organic Soil Conditioner™ is made from composted cotton burrs. Used as a soil amendment, this coarse compost helps aerate heavy clay soils, adds supplemental slow release nitrogen, and slightly acidifies the soil, helping offset our high pH (over 8.0 on the pH scale for native soil!). Payne's Organic Soil Conditioner™ comes in 3 cubic foot bags and retails for $7.99 per bag.
PAYNE'S ORGANIC FERTILIZERS
 Yum Yum Mix™ 2-1-1 is a premium vegetarian plant food formulated in the Southwest for Southwest soils and conditions. A Payne's customer favorite, Yum Yum Mix™ contains alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, greensand, kelp meal, rock dust, rock phosphate, mined humates, and dried molasses. It contains no slaughterhouse products (such as blood or bone meal) whatsoever, and it will not burn your plants. Use Yum Yum™ to fertilize everything in your garden, from ornamental trees, shrubs, perennials, and bedding plants to edible herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Yum Yum™ retails at $19.99 for a 12 pound sack and $14.99 for a 5 pound bag.
GrowMore™ Research Farms
Grow-More™'s line of organic fertilizers provides a dependable organic alternative to inorganic fertilizers at a reasonable cost. Grow-More™ 5-5-5 is made from blood meal, bone meal, kelp meal, fish meal, dry poultry waste compost, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, feather meal, calcium rock phosphate, and potassium sulfate, with no sewage sludge added. Grow-More™ 5-5-5 can be used in soils of low fertility at the rate of 1 pound per 50-60 square feet; in soils of moderate fertility at the rate of 1 pound per 75-90 square feet;high fertility at rates of 1 pound per 100-120 square feet. It can also be used for plants growing in containers at the rate of 1 teaspoon per inch of pot diameter or 1-3 tablespoons per gallon of growing medium. You can also use Grow-More™ 5-5-5 to make a fertilizer "tea" for your plants: just mix 1 tablespoon of the dry mix per gallon of water, allow the solution to sit overnight, and water your plants with the resulting liquid.
For customers preferring to use a fertilizer containing no animal products, there is also Grow-More™ Vegetarian Formula 5-2-2, made from cottonseed meal, kelp meal, calcium rock phosphate, and alfalfa meal.
Peace of Mind™'s highly effective, 100% organic fertilizers all contain beneficial soil microbes (mycorrhizae) and humic acid in addition to nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals derived from feather meal, bone meal, hydrolyzed fish, fish meal, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal, sulfate of potash magnesium (a naturally mined mineral), bat guano, rock phosphate, kelp meal, and gypsum. There are several formulations available under this label. All come in 4 pound boxes and retail anywhere from $10.99 to $13.99 depending on the product. (For more products from the same company that makes Peace of Mind™ fertilizers, see Happy Frog™ below!)
Peace of Mind™ All-Purpose Mix 5-5-5 is a wonderful nonburning formula suitable for most ornamental or edible plants.
Peace of Mind™ Rose Food 4-4-5 is superb for roses, raspberries, blackberries, and other flowering and fruiting plants in the Rose Family.
Peace of Mind™ Tomato & Vegetable Mix 7-4-5 is a great start-off food for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, and all other edible crops. Add it to the vegetable bed when you first set out your plants; then, as your vegetables start to put on some height, sidedress them with
Peace of Mind™ Fruit & Flower 5-8-4, which has a higher phosphorus content than the Vegetable Mix and will help stimulate your plants' flower and fruit production. It can also be used on ornamentals, rewarding you with an abundance of flowers all season long.
Peace of Mind™ For Acid Loving Plants 6-4-4 contains cottonseed meal and is specially formulated for rhododendrons, azaleas, blueberries, and other plants that do best in soils of a neutral to acidic pH.
Peace of Mind™ Premium Lawn Fertilizer 8-2-6 can provide your grassy areas with all the nutrients they'll need to be green and beautiful all season.
Happy Frog™ products are made by the same company that brings you Peace of Mind™. While many of the products in the Happy Frog™ line include inorganic fertilizers as well as high quality organic ingredients, two are particularly recommended for organic growers:
Happy Frog™ Jump Start 3-4-3 is a granular, 100% organic fertilizer specially formulated to get seedlings and young plants off to a good start. And liquid Happy Frog™ Big Bloom Concentrate is a wonderful flower and fruit booster when applied to plants when their blossoms first begin to open. It is made from earthworm castings, seabird and bat guano, rock phosphate, naturally mined sulfate of potash magnesium, and Norwegian kelp. Although its concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are low (.01-.3-.7), its rich store of natural plant-growth chemicals can make a big difference in your harvests of flowers and fruit. Happy Frog™ Big Bloom Concentrate retails at $18.99 for a 32 fluid ounce bottle.
Perfectly Natural™
Perfectly Natural™ Tree & Shrub Fertilizer 8-3-5 is a powerful, nonburning plant food specially formulated for the unique seasonal needs of ornamental and fruiting trees and shrubs. It contains feather meal, meat meal, bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, poultry meal and mineral langbeinite, with no sewage sludge added. Each package gives detailed directions for seasonal application, so follow these guidelines carefully for best results. Perfectly Natural™ Tree & Shrub Fertilizer 8-3-5 retails at $12.99 for a 5 pound bag.
Neptune's Harvest™ Organic Fish & Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer 2-3-1 is a 100% natural formulation of fertilizers drawn from our oceans. It is useful not only as a liquid fertilizer, but also as a compost enhancer and seed germination stimulator. A 36 ounce bottle retails for $19.99; a gallon retails for $42.99; and you use only a very little at a time: 1 tablespoon per gallon of water is the recommended dilution. Neptune's Harvest™ also sells liquid kelp concentrate, which makes a useful foliar (leaf) spray. Kelp contains plant cell-growth stimulants and has been shown to strengthen plants' immunity to pests, diseases, and environmental stress.
Alaska™ Brand Fish Fertilizers
Alaska™ is an old established company that has specialized in ocean-derived fertilizers for many decades. Although most of its fertilizer line contains combinations of organic and inorganic ingredients, Alaska™ Fish Fertilizer is a 100% natural formulation of fertilizers drawn from oceangoing fish. At $26.99 per gallon and $12.99 per 32 ounce bottle, Alaska™ 5-1-1 is cost effective, too. Although said to be "deodorized," both Alaska™ and Neptune's Harvest™ brands do possess an earthy fragrance (as befits their organic origins); my Siberian husky loves them!
— Compiled by Rand B. Lee
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