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| On the bottle of Dyna-Gro Pro 9-3-6 there are recommended dilution ratios and I see similar ratios in posts on this website. For example for production (like growing vegetables) use 1 tsp per gallon of water once per week.
OK, so I fill a one gallon watering can with rain water and I add 1 tsp of Dyna-Gro Pro 9-3-6 to obtain "enhanced water". I wish to use this enhanced water once per week. BUT HOW MUCH DO I USE FOR A GIVEN PLANT AND CONTAINER? The recommended ratio of liquid fertilizer to water I understand but it is not clear how much of that mix to use for a given situation. So for example if I have a 2.5" tall eggplant in an 18" pot filled with Al's 5-1-1 soil recipe how do I apply the enhanced water? Do I water the plant with plain rain water first and then add some amount of the enhanced water? Or do I apply only the enhanced water until about 10-15% of the container's volume worth of enhanced water drains out of the bottom? The latter seems like it would waste fertilizer but perhaps that is the answer and I am making this harder than it needs to be. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a (My Page) on Sun, Aug 19, 12 at 12:06
| Hey, Paul! Good question. I pre-water my containers first, then I slowly add the fertilizer solution Many folks collect the effluent and then use that on other plants, such as trees in containers.
Josh |
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- Posted by meyermike_1micha 5 (mikerno_1@yahoo.com) on Sun, Aug 19, 12 at 13:16
| I do what Josh does. I also fertilize right after a good rain storm. I tend to waste, so a water everything heavily with my fertilizer solution. Mike |
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- Posted by Paul_30068 7 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 19, 12 at 14:06
| Thank you, Josh and Mike. What do you do to make the mixing process more efficient? I am going one gallon at a time and this requires frequent stops and starts. I am considering using a siphon mixer... the Gilmour 362 Professional No Pre-Mix Sprayer to be exact. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Gilmour 362 Professional No Pre-Mix Sprayer
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- Posted by Paul_30068 7 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 19, 12 at 14:08
| Correction to original post: My eggplant is 2.5' -- feet not inches. |
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| It also depends on how often I have to water. My containers are outside in the summer and dry out almost every day, so I am watering constantly.......therefore, I am more comfortable using the FP at 1/4 strength at every watering. But if I only needed to water once per week, the 1 teaspoon per gallon would be better. And yes, per-watering is probably better, but most of the time I just use the fertilized solution. |
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- Posted by greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a (My Page) on Sun, Aug 19, 12 at 15:24
| I use a 2-gallon container, which helps a bit. On fertilizing day, I make a batch for my peppers; then I make a second batch for my Citrus; then I make a third batch for my conifers, maples, et cetera. If there's a little left at the end, I add more water to dilute it and then I splash some on my succulents. My sister fills a 5-gallon waterjug, and draws from that. Josh |
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Mon, Aug 20, 12 at 12:28
| I do almost exactly what greenman does.. pre-water everything, then go back and give each one enough fertilized water such that I see a little come out of the bottom. Using 5-gallon buckets to premix is really convenient. I use a little bulb-primed siphon to move the mix from the bucket to my 1.5 gallon watering can. The bucket never really moves. There have been some threads by people on this board who use the Gilmour mixer, as well as more expensive devices. I use a Dramm siphon-mixer occasionally to acidify my irrigation water and add molasses, fish emulsion, or liquid seaweed to my in ground plants. I think you'll find that the accuracy isn't all that great, which is okay for some applications. It also greatly throttles down your water pressure, which really annoys me for some reason. It would make me uncomfortable to use it for water soluble salt fertilizers on containerized plants though.. there's not as much room for error. |
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