If all you are using on your veggies is compost, there's no question that you'll see good results by the use of fish emulsion.

Neptune's Harvest is without a doubt one of the best things you can give your vegetables. Sometimes I use it as a foliar spray, other times, I'll just mix in a bucket and give a dose to each plant. The plants love it, you can't ever overfeed them with it, and vigor and disease resistance is greatly improved from not using it. I'm not strictly organic, but I do use this all the time and swear by it.

it's nothing that will not be provided by compost plus urea, unless your soil is alkaline, in which case the foliar spray improves absorption of certain minerals. I use a commercial foliar spray, mixed with regular spray, but only in the orchard. My garden is supercharged with organic matter.

It will be quite some time before my garden is supercharged with organic matter, so we do use fish emulsion. We use the Alaska brand. I would like to use Neptune's harvest but it is considerably more expensive. We spray a weak solution on plants that we wish to keep deer from eating. When using it as a fertilizer, I generally water it in. This year I am considering ordering the fish emulsion carried by Peaceful Valley, it is a bit more in line with a price I can afford. What I appreciate about fish emulsion is the weakness so I do not worry about creating a buildup in the soil. My garlic has definitely improved since using it, roughly once a month during the growing time.

Thanks all! I think I'll give it a try this year. Nancy

As a kid, my brothers and I would catch more fish than we could eat. After I cleaned the fish, the heads, scales, guts etc, would all go in my garden. The tomato bounty was always incredible.

Is there too much N for tomatoes? I watered some in about a month ago and they look great! Starting to flower a little. I'm wondering if I should just go back to compost tea for awhile.

I'm a little nervous using something new! Especially on my tomatoes! Nancy

I don't continue to fertilize with fish emulsion. It's more my choice when transplanting and during early growth. I put an organic vegetable fertilizer in the planting hole and hope that's sufficient for the growing season.

I think there is such an idea as too much N with toms. When mine start to flower, if the plant is sufficient size (not talking early blooms from being pot bound) then I switch from 12-6-6 to more balanced; slightly P heavier fert (generally numbers from 4-8) Can't say from personal solid experience, but have heard that in fruiting stage too much N can lead to slower ripening. You get big bushy plants, but not as much fruit.

Too much N will also cause BER in tomatoes, so I wouldn't use it on tomatoes once they start blooming. I used a one time application of the mix Ballonflower mentioned when I saw the first major flower production and from here on out Ill probably just leave it be. Ill count on the slow release stuff i planted it with to do it's job for the rest of the season.

Thanks. I think I'll hold off now. Nancy

So, what about other things that aren't near flower stage yet? I have cukes, melons, squash and eggplant that are all coming along rather slowly . Give them another shot of Fish stuff? Nancy

I would still like to know about the things above. Too much N? The cukes, melons and eggplant aren't doing well. Nnacy

I would go with the fish stuff. I didn't see the numbers on what you're using, but most are smaller (the brand I have is 3-3-2) and wouldn't cause issues with overkill on N. If they're not flowering, they can still use the N.

Have you done recent soil test? Could you be missing trace minerals?

balloon, I don't do tests cause they don't have them here in CA, and I have 10 beds that have been filled from time to time with different mixes. That would be 10 different tests, so up to $150!

I do make and use my compost and also a compost tea that I get each week for free.

My soil is clay, but each bed has been amended over the years with lots of organic matter.

I think I'll give everything except the tomatoes one more dose. Nancy

Fish emulsion is one of, if not the most benign supplements out there and it is honestly almost impossible to overdose with it (unless perhaps you used it daily). Not only is it a low dosage of the primary nutrients but it is in a form that encourages a slow and only-as-needed absorption by the plants. Plus it has the advantage of multiple levels of dilution. As many of the past discussions here about it show, many gardeners use it diluted to 1/4 strength each time they water plants or 1/2 strength every 10-14 days.

Lots of discussions about using fish emulsion

On the tomato growing forums it is often recommended as a foliar spray as well as a root drench with no concerns. So unlike many of the mass market synthetics used to excess by so many, fish emulsion has few if any negative side effects (other than odor).

Dave