From

Location

Message

Date Posted

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Yesterday I bought some liquid fertilizer for about 6 dollars. What I actually got was 32 ounces of 12-4-8. I was thinking about, as an example, that I was getting about 4 ounces of Nitrogen, a little more than an ounce of Phosphate and about 2 ounces of Potassium. This for 6 dollars. I guess what I am really buying when I buy this stuff is convenience. If you buy a 50 pound bag of 10-10-10 you get 5 pounds of Nitrogen, 5 pounds of Phosphate and 5 pounds of Nitrogen. Is the convenience of this other stuff actually worth the money? Are my numbers wrong?

5/9/2012 10:13:00 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Oh you are right Marv. Most consumers are unaware if it and only buy what looks good or is recommended. You pay alot for the packaging. I always look at the percentage of active ingredient when buying Fertilizer, Insecticide, or Fungicide. I saw the other day they now sell premixed gas in quart cans for your weed trimmer. $6 what a deal.

5/9/2012 1:41:58 PM

Bristol R.I. USA

Big buisness has killed this country. The active ingredients in most products is less then advertised. The term you get what you pay for is such crap...most products that are made in America are full of cheap fillers and little active ingredients...it seems like they spend more on packaging rather then product. A perfect example is miricle grow. Their fertilizers are pure poison to the soilthey ruin soil structure and myco colinization and they fill the soil full of salts. Imo you should build your soil with aged compost from a reasearched reputable farm.....convieience vs. quality

5/9/2012 2:19:27 PM

Seattle, WA

I can't speak on the synthetic/chem side, but when it comes to organics, most organic ferts are simply a combination of seaweed, humates, and fish. Most of the ingredients you can purchase from a feed store for a fraction of the cost. I get my N from alfalfa meal and fish meal. P and K come from fish bone meal, crab/crustacean meal, and kelp meal. Minerals and calcium come in the form of glacial rock dust, soft rock phosphate, oyster shell flour, K-Mag, and potassium silicate.

You can save a ton of $ by sourcing the raw ingredients and ditching the fancy packaging. You should see what the hydro guys pay for the bottled stuff. You would think there's no other way to grow a plant from talking to them!

~Tad

5/9/2012 2:51:38 PM

Lloydminster/AB

Go down to your farm supply guys. Sometimes they collect the bulk spillage and put it in large ,say 50lb bags. Mix your own. Once I got 150 lbs in assorted types for about the same cost as 10 lbs of lawn ferts.

5/9/2012 8:51:41 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

It's whatever floats your boat. I like to save a few bucks, one of our members bulk purchased directly from the manufacturer. If you are willing to do the foot work you can save a bundle- dried kelp a buck per lb., liquid fish or fish/kelp- $8 per liter. My plant food bill is way down from last year.

5/9/2012 9:34:41 PM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

I think the most cost effective way to fertilize is with soil tea. Once you understand the nutrient and micro-nutrient found in your inputs you can tailor the appropriate NPK etc application for your soil conditions

5/10/2012 7:35:48 AM

Ohio

Tad,
how much Nitrogen is in Alfalfa meal?

Brooks

5/10/2012 6:59:13 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I don't look at CT as a fertilizer, rather a treatment to improve soil biology, nutrient uptake and disease resistance. You will never achieve adequate NPK levels for growing pumpkins through CT alone.

Getting back on topic, utilizing CT is a very cost effective way to improve the condition of your soil which in turn maximizes your return on the investment you made by properly ammending your soil in the fall.

5/10/2012 9:30:16 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

you can get your nitrogen from soybean meal. 100 percent organic

5/10/2012 11:10:55 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Nitrogen in soybean meal is 7

5/10/2012 11:11:19 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Brooks...alfalfa meal is 2.5-1-1

5/11/2012 12:13:44 AM

valparaiso, in

I put soybean meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, and corn meal in my garden before I till.

5/11/2012 1:40:56 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Gritch...thatZ a nice combo meal!

5/11/2012 11:34:51 AM

Paradise Mountain, New York

soybean feeds the micro's. Do a web search and you will see soybean is excellent for soil

5/11/2012 11:15:08 PM

Ohio

Thanks Glenn!

5/12/2012 5:00:08 AM