That a high middle number produces more blooms is a myth. Most plants, even when flowering and producing fruit will use nutrients in a 3 - .5 - 2 ratio or close to it. Note the middle number is not five, but point 5 or 1/2. Giving a plant more than this amount does no good as the plant can't use it.

DynaGro does make a product that is suitable when you want to switch away from vegetative growth and slow that down while still promoting good health and flowering/fruiting. It is called ProTekt and it is 0-0-3. It also contains silicon which helps the plant build hardier leaves more resistant to bugs and disease.

By using the Pro Tekt with Foliage Pro we boost the last number (K) while leaving the N and P alone. This is a safer, more effective and less wasteful approach than switching to the Bloom formula. The 3-12-6 ratio of the bloom formula isn't useful for very much I am afraid.

I still have a quart of it left that I don't use anymore once I learned what nutrients plants really use instead of what the fertilizer salespeople wanted me to believe.

A quick warning: If you do use the Pro Tekt, do not mix it directly with the Foliage Pro. Mix both into water rather than combine the two directly and then add to water. The silicon starts to solidify if mixed directly with a fertilizer.

I think we just touched on this in one of our conversations, N. I'd have said the same thing.

Al

Yes, you would have, Al, since you are one of the sources that helped me understand this stuff and you turned me on to the Pro Tekt.

Since you also use PT I have a question for you, as I want to compare my experience with it to yours. Do you find that using the PT really puts the brakes on the vegetative growth?

I used it on a bunch of seedlings to get the benefit of the silicon and found the plants were healthy and stocky, but not as large as I would have expected. I switched to the FP only and after transplanting to outdoor containers continued to do this. Then I went back to using the FP + PT on a subset of marigolds. I am finding the marigolds where both are used are smaller, but just as healthy and blooming well.

Has this been your experience as well? Right now I am struggling to get the benefits of the silicon while trying to maintain the early season growth rate I want. I should note that I am mixing FP at 1 tsp per gallon and PT at 1/2 tsp per gallon which is the label recommendation (low end for more frequent use).

Thanks JAG and Al, I think I finally get it now. I have been meaning to get the Pro Tekt, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I already had the Dyna-gro liquid bloom and was hoping to use it up instead of wasting it. But I guess no point in using it...

Thanks guys, as always I do appreciate the help and clarifications...

Well, puglvr1, it isn't that there is no point in using it, just that once you have something better you will find it difficult to justify using something you know to be inferior.

Before I understood that high P was a waste and potentially problematic (moreso in the ground than containers) I used it for a couple of years for houseplants and containers and was more or less happy with it. It isn't terrible and there is merit in using what you have. It isn't optimal, but that isn't to say your plants will do terribly.

Thanks again JAG,

I am looking for it now to see who has the best deal out there for the Pro tekt. Just to clarify, how much do you use per watering, or do you only use it occasionally? Without the bottle here(directions) I was wondering if a quart would be enough? Sorry, I guess I can do some more research instead of asking more ??

And thanks for the warning on mixing it together with the Foliage Pro.

Oops, sorry JAG,(duh) just reread your post above (question for Al) had the answer I was looking for...disregard the questions for the directions. Thanks again!!

Lol - I was talking to N when I said "I think we just touched on this in one of our conversations, N."

I used the ProTeKt a few years ago, and then stopped for no particular reason. I noticed that I lost a few bonsai in the fall to root rot - even in the fast soils I use. I didn't get it at first, but I finally realized it was a product of late summer high soil temps and the accompanying root death that was doing it - this, after I stopped the ProTeKt. Since I started using it again, I noticed less temperature related problems, no loss of plants, seemingly less insect troubles - particularly aphids, and fewer rusts/ fungal issues (not that I often have trouble with these things anyway).

I really can't say that I notice the plants being any more compact, but I'm not paying much attention, either. Nothing jumps out at me as problematic, but that may only mean I haven't honed my observational skills. I know that nurseries often use a 2:1:2 ratio fertilizer, which keeps plants compact, and that's almost what you're doing by adding the 0-0-3. If you have a soluble micronutrient source, you could probably keep using the 0-0-3 along with 30-10-10 at almost full strength (or at least a higher concentration that delivers more N, depending on the frequency of your applications) and still get the benefit of the silicon w/o risk of burn. Just me musing - don't know if it makes sense to you or not.

N - you don't use very much of the ProTeKt at all, so a quart will last you a long, long time. I think I bought mine from New England Hydroponics. Happy 4th again. ;o)

Al