I don't think it's ever a good idea to till fresh manure of any kind into the soil. Pathogens aside, the excess nitrogen outgasses from the soil and is lost and can also burn your plants. Why not compost it with some old straw. The resulting compost will be a balanced fertilizer that loosens the soil and suppresses disease. Just my $0.02 worth.

Thanks, m. But let me clarify. I'm interested in all fertilizers here, not just manure. I would like help in identifying which crops will benefit from heavy feeding and which won't.

Jim

I think of N as "leaf fertilizer" and as a component of plant "muscle," Jim. Onion bulbs are essentially the base of the leaves. From onion bulbs to cabbage "heads," N has an importance. Corn is a large, muscular grass so needs N for leaves and to grow BIG.

Most everything appreciates easily available N early in the season, even the light feeders like peas and beans. Planting these legumes later will help overcome soil deficiencies, however.

In many gardens, limiting factors are not so much nutrients but rather other things such as cool Spring temperatures and limited sunlight, and later competition from weeds and lack of soil moisture. In these situations, one fertilizer or another will not correct the growth problems. But, these are things you already know . . .

Steve

Yeah, I think I misunderstood. Last time I grew cabbages they were N hogs. Also melons and squash in the spring. Cover crops tilled in before planting could be a great benefit for the N hogs. I think the brasicas use a good amount of phosphorous. I know to keep N to a minimum w/ root crops. I don't think they're very heavy feeders. These are simple observations and assumptions. Anyone have the numbers?

So does everyone agree that the crops you identified as nitrogen lovers will benefit from periodic applications of N throughout the growing season. I understand about "too much of a good thing". Will this result (other needs having been met) in lush growth such as snuffy-grow got with his onions planted in a compost-rich soil.

What about root crops such as carrots, turnips, radishes and parsnips? Do they benefit from regular applications of phosphorus? Should I go easy on the N, or maybe no N at all for root crops?

I know these are textbook questions but I like to hear about personal experiences. Often those accounts are more convincing.

Jim

The good thing about N is there any many products containing potent, fast acting sources of it.

So, do what you think is best at the beginning and if you think things are going slowly or not filling out correctly, give a short lived, fast acting shot of N and wait a week.

If the problem is corrected it was an N deficiency. If not corrected it is something else ;-)

I usually apply a good dose of 12-12-12 to all of my garden. 60 X 220 ft. My corn always gets a heavy dose of 46% urea side dress when it's 10 to 12 inches tall. Everything else can fend for itself.

http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/b1011-w.html#Table5

Jim, I grow my parsnips in a remote site that has had no outside input of nitrogen in six years. By most any standard, it is a sandy soil of low native fertility. The parsnip roots are often huge - even ridiculous. Beet roots grow large there also. So it would seem that only quite low levels of N are needed for those.

I grew some large onions there in the first couple years after adding truck-loads of compost, but since then they've been pretty consistently smallish. But leaf-mustard, which one might expect to need high levels of N to thrive, grows large and lusty there. So I question whether all the leaf-crops need lots of fertilizer. Heading cabbage, broccoli and so on, yes, but a lot of the leafy plants are much less demanding.

My potato yields get worse every year. The best crops were in the first two years, even before the compost introduction. They did not do well in the rich compost - no surprise, tons of scab. They don't produce well anywhere in that garden now. I've read that potatoes are a good crop for new land, and my experience seems to bear that out. I'm going to find some new locations one way or another.

Also remember, this was a cold summer, We only saw a couple days over 90, no days over 100, Cool and Rain the month of June. This affects the growth of many veggies, esp chiles

Here is a link that might be useful: NMSU

Thanks to everyone for very helpful information. All of it helped sharpen my understanding of garden fertilizer. If you haven't checked out the links provided by Peggy and Byron, I encourage you to do so. They are interesting and have information I haven't seen presented in that form on other sites.

Especially, thanks for your personal observations. That is where the forums really shine.

Jim