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paul53_gw

fish emulsion

Paul53
12 years ago

I'm thinking of fertilizing through my drip irrigation with fish emulsion. This will be for blueberries, rasberries and blackberries. Will the terrible ordor carry over to the taste of the fruit? Thanks for any response.

Comments (8)

  • henhousefarms
    12 years ago

    No - it will breakdown in the soil and be taken up by the plants as its constituent parts.

  • tommyk
    12 years ago

    Just wondering how you get the fish emulsion to flow through your drip irrigation system. Do you run the system directly from your outdoor spigot or do you use large containers filled with water?

  • Paul53
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I bought an injector. Fill it with your fertilizer of choice and it meters it out and injects it into the flow of water. I started using drip irrigation last year and it's the only way to go. It's watering while you do other things. Seemed like adding the fertilizer pot would make sense.

  • myfamilysfarm
    12 years ago

    you would probably need a filter, to sift any large particles out, before it goes into your injector.

  • henhousefarms
    12 years ago

    There's a screen on the suction side of the injector (at least there is on ours) but we use a line filter downflow from the injector. Probably not needed but had one so put it on. There is a pressure regulator in the string also - I run off the wellhead so have to limit the pressure to keep from blowing out the tape.

    Tom

  • boulderbelt
    12 years ago

    I would be worried that raccoons and other critters will start ripping into the tapes looking for the source of the smell. Water soluble kelp may be a better thing to use.

  • brookw_gw
    12 years ago

    There is a gentleman on the fruit forum, Ken Barber of Barber Berry Farms, that goes into some detail of what you're planning. You might do a search there.

  • barberberryfarm
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the reference brookw. However, rather than pump the fish/seaweed concentrate I got from Neptunes Harvest into the drip system, I sprayed it as a foliar spray every 10 days onto the leaves. However, since then after talking with some organic berry growers in Oregon, I've learned irrigating the soil with the fish/seaweed combination rather than spraying the leaves works better. So, give it a shot, Paul53, and let us know how it goes.

    However for me this year I decided to put more of a better quality of chemically-based slow-release granular fertilizer down bypassing the fish/seaweed, and I haven't noticed any difference in blueberry or blackberry vegetative growth or flavor so far. I was glad I tried it because it's all part of the farming experience. But, since I'm not an organic farmer and I'm trying to keep costs down, I've decided to stick with the granular fertilizer.

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