What dilution and frequency for liquid chemical fertilizer?

[Piedmont Bonsai]

For my younger stock, I have mainly been using osmocote plus granules for fertilizer and reapplying every few months.
I have a few boxes of 10-10-10 liquid fertilizer that I need to use this season to get rid of.

For those that use liquid chemical fertilizers, what concentration do you use, and how often do you fertilize?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I stick to the packaging, for very young plants the packaging x 0.8

That, or the drain. I water my bonsai pots so thoroughly that I'd waste about 60% of every liquid fertilizer application anyways, so I only use it for potting soil, or not at all.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

There was no information about which trees are in your collection so here’s some general information.

Combining Osmocote Plus with a liquid fertilizer, including for foliar feeding, is a common practice for developing stock. Once one moves closer to the refinement stage usually Osmocote Plus is substituted for something less powerful.

Many folks use Miracid, which is a liquid fertilizer which has micronutrients, similar to Osmocote Plus. If the 10-10-10 fertilizer has micronutrients it would be a good option to use on a regular basis, not just to get rid of, as it’s composition is pretty decent.

Application rate: As @Wires_Guy_wires mentioned, generally one would start with the posted application rate and dial it back 50% and observe the effect. Then shift to 100% and continue until the temperature gets over 90F, then dial back to 50% until the warmer temperatures subside. (Also dial back the Osmocote to 50% during the hottest part of the summer). Continue after the temps calm down.

btw: Many folks add cold pressed kelp and humic acid in their liquid fertilizer, or as a stand alone.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[River's Edge]

and observe the effect

I was worried that this portion of the statement may go unnoticed.

I water my bonsai pots so thoroughly that I'd waste about 60% of every liquid fertilizer

Proper watering techniques will have this cause and effect! The main reason my use of liquid fertilizers is limited and not part of my regular watering routine. I water first and come back later in the day to apply liquid fertilizer in smaller amounts. Less waste and by having the soil partially moist already the uptake is improved.

My way of saying these are the two key aspects of using liquid fertilizer in my view, 1. Determining the mix ratio for your particular circumstances. 2. Determining the application method that works best for your circumstances and species involved.

One of the key advantages to liquid fertilizer is that generally the nutrients are immediately available for use by the plant. Very useful in certain circumstances.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Less waste

You reminded me of something Frank, thanks for that. I rarely use liquid fertilizer and if I ever do, which is maybe once a year only for the weaker plants and plants with aspecific issues that are difficult to diagnose (so they just get a whole pH adjusted, "perfect" mixture or a Murashige & Skoog salts), I get myself one of those low and wide foot bath tubs and dunk my pots in the fertilizer+water mix.
Let them drip out for an hour on a rack on top of the tub, and donate the runoff to the potted plants.

That, and as a foliar spray sometimes. Mainly to get more metals into the plant (organic liquids usually fall short on this) so I can try to avoid the soil.

 

[River's Edge]

You reminded me of something Frank, thanks for that. I rarely use liquid fertilizer and if I ever do, which is maybe once a year only for the weaker plants and plants with aspecific issues that are difficult to diagnose (so they just get a whole pH adjusted, "perfect" mixture or a Murashige & Skoog salts), I get myself one of those low and wide foot bath tubs and dunk my pots in the fertilizer+water mix.
Let them drip out for an hour on a rack on top of the tub, and donate the runoff to the potted plants.

That, and as a foliar spray sometimes. Mainly to get more metals into the plant (organic liquids usually fall short on this) so I can try to avoid the soil.

That reminds me. The foliar spray is very useful for cuttings of more difficult yo root species. One of the reasons that contribute to successfully striking Prunus Mume for example.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Surprisingly so. Especially the particular formulation of foliar spray. When I first used foliar spray, it was by rote, monkey see, monkey do.

Yet after discussing formulations of fulvic/humic acid and kelp with @cmeg1 and testing these, a new facet of horticultural care unfolded.

Love the idea of catching the excess fertilizer! I’ll have to see how this idea can be used in our situation this growing season.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Glaucus]

You either use the recommended dosage, or you measure the EC yourself.

10-10-10 is not a good NPK ratio.

For foliar feeding, you want both a surfactan/wetting agent like triton or tween (not traditional soap) so the droplets are wetting and coating the entire leaf, rather than having droplets sit on hydrophobic leaves. Otherwise, you will have droplets on leaves and poor contant. And the droplets will soon fall off or evaporate. Additionally, you need to time foliar feeding to when the stomata are most opening. Generally the beginning of the evening.

 

[River's Edge]

Additionally, you need to time foliar feeding to when the stomata are most opening. Generally the beginning of the evening.

New thought to me! Does this apply to indoor, controlled propagation setups? Or is this more related to temperature and light variation outdoors? I mention this because of your use of the term " evening " . Not a factor within controlled propagation I am thinking. My use of foliar feeding is restricted to specific purposes where the tree or cuttings are under controlled aftercare processes.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Gosh somewhat reluctant to jump into a fertilizer discussion due to past history on this, and certainly not going to debate fertilizer formulations.

Yet credit @Glaucus for bringing up a good point, but his was only a partial description of the entry points of fertilizer via foliar application.

First let me state the science is complex, rapidly evolving and still not totally investigated thoroughly on some points. Certain nutrients macro vs micro appear to enter more easily. Also certain plants appear to translate foliar feeds more readily. One can expect to see much more ďata in upcoming years

Stomata:

Foliar applications can be absorbed in the stomata. One certain nutrients are effective delivered this way, for example Ca can go into the stomata, yet don’t seem to transport into the trees vascular system. Yet other nutrients N, K, Fe, Mg etc can be delivered this way will.

Opening and closing of the stomata are affected by extreme heat and cold, closing in each situation. This mid morning a later afternoon are better times, with72F being optimal at this time.

Leaf cuticle:

It appears transport occurs more efficiently via the tiny pores in the cuticle, Again some nutrients have a hard time crossing this boundary. Some practitioners feel the waxy cuticles of conifers make this impractical, yet studies of Redwoods appear to indicate otherwise,

Also proper timing and dilution rates are concerns.

Bark:

This is seems to be a relatively newer area of study. Recently data from Redwoods and other trees demonstrated water from fog penetrating the bark readily. Then translocating into a trees vascular system. In fact at certain dry but foggy times of the year this mode of entry can provide a high percentage of water to the tree. Thus another pathway for nutrients.

Again, solid data on which plants do better and which nutrients pass best through the bark appears to be in progress… but it does occur.

For a relatively simple introduction on this topic one might read through this post from the University of Missouri

Foliar Feeding Revisited (David Trinklein)

Foliar feeding has been the subject of much debate in recent years. The practice involves applying water-based fertilizers to the leaves of plants to enhance their nutritional status. Claims of yield increases up to 20 percent have been made based on the assumption that leaves are more efficient...

ipm.missouri.edu

Again I would say the person most up to speed on this topic would likely be @cmeg1

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

Thank you all for the detailed responses and discussion.

Based on the packaging one of the recommended feeding guidelines is to use 2tps per gallon with every watering.
I will try this in addition to using solid organic fertilizer as the chemical fertilizer doesn't appear to have a full spectrum of micronutrients and I will be using somewhat inert media.

I'm not particularly interested in using the fertilizer as a foliar feed as I have a foliar feeling regimen currently that I am quite happy with.

 

[Glaucus]

New thought to me! Does this apply to indoor, controlled propagation setups? Or is this more related to temperature and light variation outdoors? I mention this because of your use of the term " evening " . Not a factor within controlled propagation I am thinking. My use of foliar feeding is restricted to specific purposes where the tree or cuttings are under controlled aftercare processes.

Foliar feeding is not straighforward. You need to use all the tricks to get the fertilizer to actually go through the stomata and into the plant. I do not know how much the stomata opening varies inside say a greenhouse or for a house plant. But for outdoor plants, during the hottest part of the day, the stomata are more closed. The whole point of foliar feeding is that it is not dripping down into the pot and fertilizing the plant through the roots. So if you run a nursery and you have a foliar feeding regime to get a 2% or 10% bonus, you set up things like that. Using a wetting agent, using a fertilizer blend ideal for foliar feeding, using a fine spray nozzle, and using the right timing.

Not an expert at doing this. But if you are serious about foliar feeding, these are things one should be aware of. There's a reason why foliar feeding is very niche. Not even sure if it should have a place in bonsai.
I even remember they add a substance to make the stomata open or to improve penetration. But a quick google I couldn't find the exact term for that. So I am not sure if I remember that part correctly.
It seems that in nature, foliar feeding is only a very minor thing. But that we humans can use tricks to make it happen at a more relevant scale.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I will try this in addition to using solid organic fertilizer as the chemical fertilizer doesn't appear to have a full spectrum of micronutrients and I will be using somewhat inert media.

Not all fertilizers supply micronutrients, organic or chemical. It’s best to read the fine print in either case.

Would be interested in having you share what you are using as foliar feedstock as we have some folks here that are reasonably expert in this area .

cheers
DSD sends

 

[River's Edge]

Foliar feeding is not straighforward. You need to use all the tricks to get the fertilizer to actually go through the stomata and into the plant. I do not know how much the stomata opening varies inside say a greenhouse or for a house plant. But for outdoor plants, during the hottest part of the day, the stomata are more closed. The whole point of foliar feeding is that it is not dripping down into the pot and fertilizing the plant through the roots. So if you run a nursery and you have a foliar feeding regime to get a 2% or 10% bonus, you set up things like that. Using a wetting agent, using a fertilizer blend ideal for foliar feeding, using a fine spray nozzle, and using the right timing.

Not an expert at doing this. But if you are serious about foliar feeding, these are things one should be aware of. There's a reason why foliar feeding is very niche. Not even sure if it should have a place in bonsai.
I even remember they add a substance to make the stomata open or to improve penetration. But a quick google I couldn't find the exact term for that. So I am not sure f I remember that part correctly.

No worries I understand what you are saying. I don't consider myself an expert either. I do use it in a more controlled setting. And it produces a benefit in the survival rate. Some species are more difficult to root. I have found foliar feeding adds some extra time for root formation. Just wanted to clarify.