Pacific Northwest Garden Forum: Anybody got some COF?

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   COF is/was Steve Solomon's name for his Complete Organic Fertilizer blend in his 6 editions of Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades.

Steve gave us vegetable variety fert recommendations by volume; e.g., gallons per 100 sq. ft. or 1/4 cup per plant.  With my old 2 gal. plastic bucket it was simple to fill it half up and start throwing.

I am now using Perfect Blend's 4-4-2 (< $0.50/LB) and trying to work the conversions.  It weighs 7 oz. per cup.  I still have a blend of feather meal (3 parts), fish meal, & Potassium sulfate (1 part each).  That weighs 5 oz. per cup.  I suspect that Steve's COF might lighter. 

Anyone got some COF and can weigh a cup for me?

Gary

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gary none Joined: Jul-26-2003 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 793	Topic: Anybody got some COF? Posted: Jun-07-2010 at 12:02pm
	COF is/was Steve Solomon's name for his Complete Organic Fertilizer blend in his 6 editions of Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. Steve gave us vegetable variety fert recommendations by volume; e.g., gallons per 100 sq. ft. or 1/4 cup per plant. With my old 2 gal. plastic bucket it was simple to fill it half up and start throwing. I am now using Perfect Blend's 4-4-2 (< $0.50/LB) and trying to work the conversions. It weighs 7 oz. per cup. I still have a blend of feather meal (3 parts), fish meal, & Potassium sulfate (1 part each). That weighs 5 oz. per cup. I suspect that Steve's COF might lighter. Anyone got some COF and can weigh a cup for me? Gary
	Gary Olympia Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8

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tommyb none Joined: May-01-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 724	Posted: Jun-07-2010 at 12:52pm
	My COF is based on 48 oz parts and includes a bonus 24 oz of alfalfa meal...and one cup tips the scale at 5.3 oz. I'm at 150 feet altitude midway between Portland and Salem and the ingredients are hopefully not affected by the increased moisture of this spring. Tom Edit: That sample was from my "dispensing bucket" and when I just drew a supply from the "holding bucket" it felt heavier. More rock phosphate or something, the second sample weighed in at 6.3 oz. Geez Tom, get some geritol! Edited by tommyb - Jun-07-2010 at 2:50pm
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gary none Joined: Jul-26-2003 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 793	Posted: Jun-08-2010 at 4:47am
	Tommy, Thank you! Most of us can't distinguish the difference between 5 & 6 lbs let alone a one oz. difference. Solomon tried to blend to a 5-5-1 NPK ratio. 7 oz. of 4-4-2 comes pretty close to 5.8 oz of 5-5-1 if we are JUST counting units of nitrogen (as John Marler and Gary Zimmer like to say). Your parts by weight gave me some more ideas. OSU has an organic Fert calculator spreadsheet. I've already started to input your 48 oz. parts into it. I start taking care of my granddaughter in less than an hour so I'll have to post some results later in addition to links for a pair of Acres USA articles by those guys above. I've got the rest of the week off (Penn. grandparents fly in tonight) so do some more work and thinking and get back.
	Gary Olympia Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
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