Mounding potting mix on top of fertilizer... is 5 inches too much?

[robstur]

I'm just setting up some new EB's, and following the instructions that came with it to mound up the potting mix 5 inches above the fertilizer. Someone commented on Youtube under the official set up video, that such a mound over the fertilizer would result in the fertilizer being too low in the system and burning the plants, and suggested watching the videos by Blake and Dorothy.

I watched those old videos and Blake said fertilizer salts rise to the top and so you want the fertilizer near the top of the surface. He didn't appear to mound the soil up much ... a little, but nothing that looked like the 4-6 inches recommended currently in EB's current instructions.

Of course, I just finished making beautiful 5 inch mounds over top of my fertilizer (synthetic) bands, and now I'm wondering if I need to re-do things before I plant.

What do you experienced growers think about the 4-6 inch mounds? Are they of benefit? Do they create problems with the salts from fertilizers?

Thanks.

[gardendoc]

I had the good fortune to meet and talk with Blake before he passed away. He always told me to make that mound and put the fertilizer strip on top of the mound. If you're using organic fertilizer then burying into the mound as you describe would be fine. If inorganic like 10-10-10, I believe burying will cause the fertilizer to release the nutrients too quickly. In this case I would redo the EB.

Here's a video I shot a couple of years ago putting the mix in and then discuss the fertilizer strip placement, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NYiXr98w_Y

[robstur]

Thank you so much.  I studied lots of videos and instructional blogs the past couple of days, and, although it's hard to tell from the viewing angle, it looks to me like most people only mound the potting mix up a couple of inches rather than the 4-6 in the instructions.

I also found your YouTube channel and watched a lot of your videos... thank you for all the instruction you provide.

I read that organic fertilizer should be buried several inches to keep animals from digging it, and it looks like most of the instructional videos bury any fertilizer an inch or two.

Is it important to bury the fertilizer at all if it's synthetic?

[gardendoc]

I don't bury the ag grade granular fertilizer, just make a small trench for the fertilizer.