Grower tries OVS blends on peppermint
St. Paul, Ore. peppermint grower Bill Smith is trying an OVS liquid fertilizer blend on a 6-year-old, 20-acre block to see how well it moves soil nutrients into his plants. “We just started experimenting with it,” Smith said. “We took soil samples before we applied it.”
The liquid fertilizer recipe was based on those findings.
“Basically what I’m experimenting with is a phosphate/potash product. There’s different (organic) acids in them. They (OVS) basically go off the soil samples to see what they need to stimulate the soil.”
In the past, Smith has used commercial dry fertilizer blends and will be comparing the results from the OVS applications with those earlier applications.
“It’s hard to get all of the phosphates released, even though it shows you have a good amount of phosphates in the soil. The plant’s got to be able to take it in. That’s what some of the (OVS) acids are designed to do, and therefore give us a stronger healthier plant - and increase yields, we hope.”
- John Schmitz
