What are your thoughts on fertilizer cups/baskets?

DonovanC

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I’m thinking about using fertilizer cups. I’ve always been curious about them but I’ve never used them.

Do you use them?
What fertilizer do you use in them?
Pros, cons?
 

Nybonsai12

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I’ve used em and don’t like em. I filled em with a pellet type organic fertilizer. I got mold and bugs.
now I just use bio gold and spread the little chunks out over the soil.
 

DonovanC

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@Nybonsai12 I was just reading about them attracting critters.
Where do you order bio gold from? I’ve seen the name on Amazon applied to more than one product.
 

Nybonsai12

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I purchased off eBay. You want the original that typically comes in the white bags with Japanese writing.
 

DonovanC

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I purchased off eBay. You want the original that typically comes in the white bags with Japanese writing.
Do you grow moss in your pots? If so, do the fertilizer chunks have any effect on the moss?
 

Jiminsauga

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I've tired the baskets last year and found the same thing as Nybonsai12, gnats would lay eggs and I got maggots. This year I tired tea bags and am happy with them. Just don't puncture them.
 

DonovanC

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I've tired the baskets last year and found the same thing as Nybonsai12, gnats would lay eggs and I got maggots. This year I tired tea bags and am happy with them. Just don't puncture them.
I see. Are you using granular fertilizer in the bags, or the larger pellets/tablets?
 

JudyB

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I use a combination of baskets and bio-gold. The baskets are good if you want to control timing as you can remove them and the fert is gone. With the bio-gold it's difficult to remove. Also the bio-gold can make a mess on the soil surface so sometimes I don't want that. Yes the fert will kill moss around any type of fert, but it's usually pretty localized. I use the Portland Rose society fertilizer pellets in my baskets. Never had any problems. The mold you may see is part of the breakdown of organic ingredients. I've never seen maggots!
 

DonovanC

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I use a combination of baskets and bio-gold. The baskets are good if you want to control timing as you can remove them and the fert is gone. With the bio-gold it's difficult to remove. Also the bio-gold can make a mess on the soil surface so sometimes I don't want that. Yes the fert will kill moss around any type of fert, but it's usually pretty localized. I use the Portland Rose society fertilizer pellets in my baskets. Never had any problems. The mold you may see is part of the breakdown of organic ingredients. I've never seen maggots!
Thanks 😊 very useful 👍
I’m looking at the Portland Rose Society pellets.
 

Shogun610

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I’m thinking about using fertilizer cups. I’ve always been curious about them but I’ve never used them.

Do you use them?
What fertilizer do you use in them?
Pros, cons?
Waste of money, I use tea bags , tried the cups and the cakes , Every night when it was hot and humid at night I’d have slug city all over my fert. Used tea bags, it went away along with using emulsion weekly/ bi-weekly
 

DonovanC

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Waste of money, I use tea bags , tried the cups and the cakes , Every night when it was hot and humid at night I’d have slug city all over my fert. Used tea bags, it went away along with using emulsion weekly/ bi-weekly
I’ve thankfully never had an issue with slugs. I’ve been going back and forth between tea bags and baskets. So I’m weighing all the opinions I can elicit.
 

Colorado

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I’ve always just applied straight to the surface of the soil. Never had any problems. Usually I will push the pellet into the top dressing just slightly to keep it in place.

Seems logical that better contact with the soil would also facilitate more efficient breakdown. Wouldn’t the baskets and tea bags be an impediment to that?

The baskets also are not the most attractive…

Just my 2 cents.
 

JudyB

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I’ve always just applied straight to the surface of the soil. Never had any problems. Usually I will push the pellet into the top dressing just slightly to keep it in place.

Seems logical that better contact with the soil would also facilitate more efficient breakdown. Wouldn’t the baskets and tea bags be an impediment to that?

The baskets also are not the most attractive…

Just my 2 cents.
I think teabags are less attractive than baskets, plus you can pull them off easier when you want to share your trees with visitors and you want it to be “pretty” :)
 

DonovanC

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I think teabags are less attractive than baskets, plus you can pull them off easier when you want to share your trees with visitors and you want it to be “pretty” :)
I refrained from saying that lol. Part of the appeal of the baskets for me is purely aesthetic. They look much tidier to me.
 
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