So many fertilizer questions, so little time.

sierrajuniper

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So remember the Hosta Gro?

View attachment 114253 View attachment 114254

Here are the dilution rates:
View attachment 114255

In other words 1 oz per gallon will give you a NPK 0f 6-12-6 and 1/2 oz per gallon will give you an NPK of 3-6-3.

So if we're making 40 gallons of fertilized water and we fill up the 16 oz bottle we get:

16oz/40gallons or 0.4 oz/gallon. That's a fertilizer with a strength of about 2.5-5-2.5, a good dilute weekly feed.

Scott
Hi Scott,

Do you use Medina Humic Acid? It's the same company that makes Hastagrow.
 
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I'm interested in adding fish fert but I'm afraid it will attract every kitty in the neighborhood.

Thoughts? Experiences?
 

sierrajuniper

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I'm interested in adding fish fert but I'm afraid it will attract every kitty in the neighborhood.

Thoughts? Experiences?
In my case, fish fertilizer attracts racoons (3 or 4 every night), cats and skunks.
 

markyscott

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Do you use Hastagrow when you transplant to help transplant shock? Thanks Scott

Hi SJ. I don’t use anything for transplant shock. I just resume normal watering and fertilization when the tree starts growing.

S
 

ConorDash

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Hmm as I’m reading, thought of a random question..

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to scattering organic fert pellets over top of the tree substrate, rather than”cakes” in multiple locations?

I tend to lightly scatter them around all of the surface, thinking the water will then have the nutrients deep in to the whole rootball, not just concentrated in areas like cakes. But everyone uses cakes so it can’t be bad...

Anyone know the difference between the 2 options?
I’ll be starting my fertilising routine soon, when spring really arrives, so I’d be curious to try anything different.
 

Cable

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Theoretically, the watering is dissolving a small portion of the cakes and distributing that fairly evenly
 

markyscott

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Hmm as I’m reading, thought of a random question..

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to scattering organic fert pellets over top of the tree substrate, rather than”cakes” in multiple locations?

I tend to lightly scatter them around all of the surface, thinking the water will then have the nutrients deep in to the whole rootball, not just concentrated in areas like cakes. But everyone uses cakes so it can’t be bad...

Anyone know the difference between the 2 options?
I’ll be starting my fertilising routine soon, when spring really arrives, so I’d be curious to try anything different.

Use teabags to keep the broken down bits out of the soil.

S
 

ConorDash

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Use teabags to keep the broken down bits out of the soil.

S

My fert doesn’t really get any bits like that, I believe.. it’s just all completely gone and dissolves.
Thanks though,
 

markyscott

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Although much of what I do remains the same, some things have evolved a bit over time. I still think the most important thing is to just fertilize in whatever way works for you. But I’ve fallen into a routine involving 3 parts to my spring fertilization program.
 

markyscott

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I mix the two parts thoroughly and scoop them into wedding rice bags. I put a few bags onto the soil surface as soon as the buds begin to swell in spring. As the tree starts growing more, I add more fertilizer bags. I’ll replace all the bags in late summer - somewhere around September for us. I leave them on through the winter and pull them off when I start fertilizing again in early March.
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markyscott

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Part 2) Fertilizer injectors. I’ve installed these devices in my watering system. I don’t know how I lived without them. Just fill it up with fertilizer and it will inject a micro dose everytime the watering system comes on. Fertilizer lasts about a month - just long enough to get through spring. I put in a gallon of Hasta Gro Plant in March and let it do its work. I’ll put in another gallon in September. Takes 5 minutes to fertilize. Game changer.

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markyscott

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Part 3). I still hand fertilize every week to 10 days in spring and again in Fall. Pretty much the months of March and October. I’m mixing these components:

The fertilizer base combines two components: fish emulsion and Hasta Gro Plant
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To that base, I add fulvic acid, kelp and Pro-Tekt (a silicone solution that claims to help protect plants from heat).
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