Hi Amaryllis,

IÂve said this before around here, but I donÂt have time to fiddle with different things for different plants either, and when I do feed, I use JackÂs Classic 20-20-20 for everything! (It's what my brother uses in his greenhouses in Illinois!) ItÂs a soluble fertilizer so can be fed thru the foliage or the roots. Hose end sprayer would work fine. If foliar feeding, do it when the sunÂs not shining on the plants and be sure itÂs dry before the sun hits them again. No need to wash it off. IÂve never heard of that before. I usually just mix it in my big Dramm 2-gallon watering pot and go around watering/feeding the ones I want to. It dissolves instantly and is easy to use. ItÂs available at PaulinoÂs, and probably most other "real" garden centers. You wonÂt find it at the big box stores or probably at the "chain" garden centers.

Gotta go for now, but IÂm sure youÂll get LOTS of other recommendations.

Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Jack's Classic Plant Food

If you want to go organic, Alaska fish emulsion may be a good choice, Amaryllis.

It seems especially suitable for tomatoes and I think that if the leaf can hold the mixture (in other words, it doesn't just run off), a plant should benefit.

I'm not sure if I understand the idea of a liquid (foliar) fertilizer as best used if applied to the soil. Certainly, you can do that and, as Skybird notes, greenhouses use an injection system to add fertilizer to irrigation water.

The fish emulsion is only a 5-1-1 fertilizer. They also make a 2-2-2, sprayable fertilizer. At 2 tablespoons per gallon of water, you'd really have to saturate the soil to add much in the way of nutrients for the roots to absorb. Better to just wet the foliage and the plant will pull in the nutrients from there.

Even much higher percentage fertilizer aren't usually applied in the same quantity as a dry fertilizer, like 16-16-16. I mean, if you put foliar on at 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet - that would be both unnecessary and expensive.

On the other hand, dry fertilizers are not usually applied to be absorbed by the plant's leaves. And, to respond to your topic title - I use 16-16-16 and Miracle-gro in the ornamentals and a dry organic fertilizer in the veggies.

The fish emulsion is for more specific applications. I'm delighted to learn that Alaska has a new "Clog-Free Garden Feeder." I think I'd better get that . . . filling and re-filling a sprinkler can was a huge impediment for me using the stuff more often and widely in a large garden.

Steve

For my perennial beds I top dress with compost mixed with bone and blood meal. For annuals and annual veggies I dig in compost and peat, then add bone/blood meal and kelp meal to each bed (I used raised beds). I also dig in a quarter cup or so of that mix with each plant or seed I put in (and add some gypsum for the tomatoes).

My thoughts, worth only for what they are worth;
Most fertility should have been added and mixed into the soil before planting. Build up the soil over the years.
I am now trying injecting liquid fertilizer with my drip system. I think I like it.
As a life time farmer, I scoff at follar feeding. I know, it works some, but to me leaves are for sun, roots are for feeding.
After a plant is growing, I think liquid fertilizer, any way you can get it to the root zoon, is the way to go.
Just my opinions, every one elses, are just as good.
KennyP

In my opinion you need to find what works for you. I have used most of the methods out there and would use most of them again if I felt I needed too. I have my preferences like everyone else. I like Neptune's Harvest fish/seaweed when using a foliar spray. I do use MG on transplants in cups if needed. I have Jack's Classic and have used it. I have used commercial fertilizers most of the dry form. Presently I mulch heavily and add a layer of manure every year and mulch on top of it. I do add cottonseed meal, alfalfa in some form and soybean meal where I will plant row crops every year. i try to add it several months before I plant to allow it to start decomposing. Recent soil tests have shown I'm high is all areas so cut back this year some. I've farmed also but have seen where foliar feeding works. Just my 2 cents. Jay