These fertilizer costs will end up in our food costs. Grow more and compost
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The feedstock is what? Natural gas? I don’t see how you get that kind of price volatility with that kind of input.
I also don’t get this supply chain issue, which never ever gets better. Only worse.
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Gardening has gotten more and more popular over the last few years. I think everything garden related is going up just due to the fact of lack of supply. A good example is when I bought cherries last year Raintree nursery was selling cherries at 31 or 20 something depending on dwarf vs super dwarf. Now you have them selling cherries for 60 dollars. Of course Raintree has brought their prices to a extreme compared to somewhere like Bay Laurel but I would counter that with there is some things you can only get on Raintree. Raintree sells pears on OHxF 87 that others only sell on OHxF 333 for example. Either way prices have gone up at other sellers too.
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A lot of that probably relates to shipping. Odd size shipping costs are way up. At some places part of the shipping is built into the price.
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I don’t want to hear about fertilizer crisis for the home gardener. Every gardener has it in himself to produce all the urea he needs, FREE, season after season. I did not say “she” when talking about said gardener because for her things are a bit more complicated. That, and cover crops. Stopping composting was good for my back. Urea and flattened cover crops are the way forward.
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True, and in the amounts most of us use, a few pounds of N is not very material anyway.
I’d say that the overall cost effective thing is to spring for a soil test or two, get the cheapest source of N you can find, and add real-chemical-name ferts in measured amounts as needed.
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if you raise chickens or rabbits in a decent amount you will have all the fertilizer you need. lay it around your plants green and it will compost in place. keeps out the weeds too. i layer about 4in. of chic bedding every fall in my garden / raised beds and turn it in good. by spring its all rotted . i use chopped straw as bedding now as it stays fluffier and composts more quickly than woodchips.
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Well yeah. If you have access to enough chicken manure (and tolerant neighbors) you can pretty much grow anything anywhere.
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I am good for the next 2 or 3 years. Not worry! !
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wish i had more access to leaves here. our trees dont put out many leaves. 60% of our trees are evergreens which dont have leaves. my neighbors actually like hearing my roosters. most of them were raised on farms that went out of business long ago.
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People concerned with fertilizer prices should look into making their own as @steveb4 suggested. There are lots of fertilizers that you can make yourself.
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i know of a half doz. cattle farmers here that will load your truck with manure for free. might be worth hiring a dump truck to dump a few yards on your property. that could meet your fertilizer needs for a while. most small operations dont use much chemicals on their cows. your own urine dumped on woodchips or leaves could also produce usable compost in a short time. i also grow hybrid comfrey that can be chopped several times a season and placed around your plants as a fertilizer.
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Use of nitrogen fixing plants like autumn berry, Buffalo berry, Seabury, goumi to a name few is wise. Clovers and other things are used here on my farm. Cow, pig, chicken,horse manure is also very good. How is chemical nitrogen made? Yes the air is 75% nitrogen there is plenty just grow the right things. Read up on this guy they won’t teach you about him in the history books Fritz Haber - Wikipedia and this is the process Haber process - Wikipedia. How fertiliser helped feed the world - BBC News
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siberian pea shrub is another N fixer and is very drought tolerant/ cold hardy. the seeds are 40% protein and can be used as chic feed or ground and used as flour in lean times.
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In Europe and Asian nat gas has escalated way more than here. A lot of fertilizer comes from there. Many of those plants have shut down due to high gas prices.
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Container culture is totally different. Much more to it, that’s basically where I am at. Been through growing inground big time. Now I choose containers much more fun for me. I don’t feed the world attitude anymore. It’s also about convenience, that’s what you are paying for nowadays, they sure make some good stuff. Love to tinker with what’s available.
Good example, guy buy a bass boat to catch a fish, I am doing the same thing with a cheap homemade rod and bring home lots of fish if I so desire.
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Trees grow better the in the ground then in containers as a general rule, especially when human error is factored in- the ground is more forgiving than a cubic foot or three of potting soil, especially of failing to water consistently, but in most matters concerning robust growth.
However, if one is attentive or uses tech to regulate watering, containers offer a lot more control which can lead to better quality of fruit and a quantity easier to deal with.
However, if one has space, many would consider growing trees in containers much less satisfying than the “real thing”. I like growing real trees in real soil- it is full of mystery and unanswered questions which keeps it interesting. Some like swimming pools and others like the ocean.
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You mean like this? Those days is not in my best interest but still do. 83 years old. Live on the lake for 24 years now, can eat fish every day, all it takes an hour to bring home the bacon. Got a pontoon boat, don’t even use it anymore.
Got samples of my 4 foot tree’s with 10 pomelo’s or 30/40 mandarins hanging from it. I am growing about 30 citrus tree’s in containers now.
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I get it. You should see how that works on my property which has land that’s quite steep, uneven and strewn with rocks and boulders.
I’m 69 and still have good balance, but who knows when that will go, along with the strength of my bones.
But right now, I will stick with trees and let the commercial folks grow their fruit on bushes, I can always use a pole picker.
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