they're good - I never use a whole bottle in one year and it acts just the same later on - suspect it might be fine for quite a number of years, as it's pretty stable stuff, and of course in a closed container

Bill

Any bottled liquid natural fertilizer, contains no living beneficial aerobic microbes in it. It contains only some proteins, carbohydrates, enzymes, etc., which will become microbial foods later, after they are exposed to the air, in the presence of healthy aerobic microbes in your gardening environment. That is why the age of these anaerobic liquids is not really that important. It's how you use it.

These type of liquid fertilizers, all have to be diluted big time, in order for the aerobic microbes to overpower the anaerobic microbes, when they are in contact with growing plants.

Aerobic compost tea recipes are totally different. They are living, breeding, biostimulants. They contain both microbial foods plus healthy aerobic microbes, for both soil and foliar applications.

That is great, I had quite a bit left. Can anyone share if they have a way of spraying large amounts of plants? I sure don't want to use a small spray bottle...lol. I see those hose attachments at Lowe's or HD, but bought one once and have trouble figuring out how to fill them to the right dilution rate. I also thought they might clog that attachment since they are meant for something else. Anyone use one of these or something else?

Thanks,
Adam

That's my question too. The pounds per 100 feet or however it's measured makes my eyes glaze over. I would love something more like, "Fill it with a cup of fertilizer and then turn on the hose."
Amanda

I think a lot of those gadgets have a dial on them that you can set it to. On the back of my bottle of FE it says you can use a hose end sprayer.

I have tried several brands of the hose sprayers but have never had good results with the mix ratio. I have been using the 1 1/2 gal. pump up sprayer with excellent results. You know what comes out is what goes in and it either works or it doesn't. It pays to run clean water through it after each use and drain the hose part. If you're spraying a solution that has been blenderized (garlic, hot peppers, etc.) pour the solution through a small hand held strainer as you load the tank. Also great for Bt solution.

I agree Amanda, eyes glaze over..lol.

Tiarnna...yes, I realize they have a dial but the directions are horrible.

Peggy...I have only tried one brand and took it back to the store when I couldn't get it to work right. I have been looking at those pump sprayers. Some of them get pretty expensive especially the one's you don't have to pump by hand. I have seen some that you pull along that are on wheels and one that is like a backpack. Which one do you use?

Thanks alot..
Adam

adam,

when i fertilize the whole garden i use a 2 gallon hand pump sprayer. 2 gallons of neptune's harvest fish and seaweed emulsion goes a long way, i seldom mix more than a 1/2 gallon. if i want to do just a small amount of plants, like lettuce in early may, i have a 32 oz spray bottle.

for spraying my 14 norway spruce trees that are 20' tall i use a 4 gallon backpack sprayer and fill it 3 times!

i buy nh in the 1 gallon jug. it keeps for the 1 1/2 to 2 years it takes for me to use it up. what you can't do is mix the stuff with water and then store that, what you can't spray you have to toss. in that case i just water some plants with the left over mixture.

tom

Wow Tom..you bring fertilizing to a new level..lol
I guess I don't fertilize nearly enough. I NEVER fertilize trees...they are on their own. But come to think of it, I have two small trees that were hit with caterpillars this year and might need something extra to help them along.

I use the Neptune as well. So you basically have two sprayers. With the 2 gallon hand pump sprayer, is that on wheels that you wheel around as you go? I have seen the backpack. Would you mind if I asked where you bought them and if they were expensive?

Thanks Tom...
Adam

Does HEAVY rain hinder the use of Neptunes products. I provided all my veggies and flowers a good dose earlier this week. Yesterday here in the Boston area we had about 2 inches of very heavy rain, and tomorrow the remains of tropical storm Cindy are expectd to dump more. Will all of this rain reduce the effect of my efforts and should I re-feed the plants after the RAIN RAIN goes away. I normally feed about four times per summer 3-4 weeks apart, so is it too soon and can damage occurr???

====>I guess I don't fertilize nearly enough. I NEVER fertilize trees...they are on their own.
well adam perhaps you are wiser than i! between the 10-10-10 and the nh 2 times I AM FERTILIZING TOO MUCH!. so says the nursery where i bought those tress 6 years ago. he was stunned they went from 6-7' in oct 99 to 20' now. he told me STOP! he thinks this is why i'm having problems with pine shoot moths and another 20 spruce 25' to the east that get nothing (same age but smaller) are not being attacked.
====>So you basically have two sprayers. With the 2 gallon hand pump sprayer, is that on wheels that you wheel around as you go? I have seen the backpack. Would you mind if I asked where you bought them and if they were expensive?

i have two 2 gallon hand pump sprayers i carry they are not on wheels (1 organic the other not organic), a 4 gallon back pack sprayer and i use the 1 qt spray bottle a lot as i don't fertilize in the garden all that much. the 2 gallon sprayers are available anywhere, blue seal, agway (both argricultrual/feed stores), tractor supply company, on the internet from any gardening and many seed companies. the 2 gallon sprayers were bought many years ago i'd guess $15-20, today i'd say they are about $20-30 roughly. the 4 gallon back pack was just bought at tractor supply. they have 2, 1 is $49 the other is $79. i bought both, tested them with water and chose the more expensive.

sorry it took so long to reply, i don't come to this forum too often.

tom

rich manure nh will wash out of the soil or off the leaves if you spray and it rains say in 12 hours so don't use it if rain is predicted. after 2 or 3 days i wouldn't worry, the plants have gotten the benefit from it.

tom

Well not to hijack this post. But I also use the seaweed/fish combo.

Is it better to fertilize with the hand pump sprayer or to run the mixture through a sprikler and water it in?

Thanks tom for sharing that info about your pump sprayers. I will be shopping around for something soon. I imagine I will buy just one, and make it as easy as possible, with either a rolling one or a backpack. For smaller jobs, I usually use a regular spray bottle or a watering can that I just water the plant with.

RED, I think the reason we got to talking about the pumps was that a number of people expressed not finding the hose attachment easy to use. About watering it in..I always thought you watered the plant well before you fertilzed and then just poured on the seaweed/water mixture [according to package direction] and didn't add extra water after that.

Hope I understood your question. Maybe someone else would have a better answer.

Thanks again,
Adam

For what it's worth, we use a 2 gal hand held pressure sprayer (hand pumped) for the compost tea and/or BT for pest control. If I did this a lot, we might invest in a backpack version.
ut for root fertilizer, I have a gallon laundry soap jug with a sturdy handle and measuring cup lid. I use the lid to measure the concentrate (small,med,large load.. lol) into the jug, then fill it with water, shake it up, and use the same lid to measure and pour the diluted FE into each root area. I try to do this soon after a good rain so it can continue to filter down into the wet soil. I don't like dragging hoses around so this works well for me.
-Ron

Thanks Ron...yes I would want to use a 2 gallon too. I saw a backpack version at Lowes today that was $70. Sure seems like a lot. I do want to do foliar feeding and not root fertilizing. I can use a milk jug and just mix it up and pour it when it is just the roots. No I don't like dragging hoses around either.

thanks,
Adam

F.Y.I.
Here's a place on line that you can get free shipping on pump sprayers and a free hose sprayer when you purchase three Gallons of Neptune's Harvest. They are always running some sort of special, it may be worth your while to check them out. They also have a EZ-FLO Fertigation system, that automatically fertilizes your garden as you water! See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Fertilizer