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| For the past year, I have been using Alaska Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1. The bottle is almost empty, and while shopping for more, I noticed Neptune's Harvest and a combination of fish and seaweed. Does anyone know what the benefits of having seaweed along with the fish will bring, or if you have experience or information regarding the benefit of one vs. both, your input would be greatly appreciated? Lynn |
This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 16:45
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by adamharbeck WA Aust (My Page) on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 23:26
| Not sure about that brand, but seaweed is great for all plants. seaweed extract on it's own is more of a tonic than a food per se, it contains growth promoting hormones and micronutrients that strengthen cell walls and makes the plant more resilient to drought and frost. this link might be helpful. the blend of both fish and seaweed would be good, but you can then apply seaweed in between feeds as a tonic. |
Here is a link that might be useful: seasol
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| I have never used fish fertilizer and have some questions if you don't mind answering them for me. Can you use it with blood and bone meal and can you use it with Rose Tone? Do you use a fish emulsion and if so does it smell?? I normally use miracle grow but would like to start feeding my roses something different. |
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| If you've had a soil test and the soil doesn't have plenty of potassium, the seaweed will add some of that. But chances are there is already adequate potassium. Seaweed has a growth stimulant that is mainly effective in foliar application. It makes the leaves get bigger. Both fish and seaweed are high in sodium, which could contribute to salt buildup in desert soil if you don't have plenty of water for periodic flushing of the soil. Ditto for poultry manure and blood meal. Alfalfa is an organic fertilizer without much sodium, plus it contains a growth stimulant. The Neptune's Harvest combo is much lower in nitrogen than the Alaska Fish 4-1-1, and nitrogen is the NPK nutrient most needed in all rose gardens. Boncrow-- be sure you are not doubling up with two or more fertilizers in the same time period so that you deliver a double dose of nitrogen that could burn plants. A labeled dose of one fertilizer (almost any kind) delivers more than enough N for the labeled time period. Miracle Gro alone is excellent, or if you want to go organic, Rose Tone alone would be excellent.
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| Michaelg thanks for the advice and breaking it down for me. I knew I could burn my plants with too much of one or both had never used fish fertilizer so just needed some clarification. I am assuming it's personal preference on what type of fertilizer you use. I may just stay with how I doing things for now since it seems to be working for me at this time. Thanks! |
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- Posted by desertgarden561 9/SZ11 -Las Vegas, N (My Page) on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 16:25
| My pH levels are too high for effective bone meal use. I use fish emulsion on bands as a fertilizer for them. I try to follow the feed weakly weekly protocol. Lynn |
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- Posted by desertgarden561 9/SZ11 -Las Vegas, N (My Page) on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 16:32
| Michaelg, I have Rosetone and use it for my mature grafted roses. I have often wondered at what point bands can receive Rosetone? Some of the suppliers suggest to hold off on fertilizing bands until they are one year old. Using a time period like that causes ambivalence for me as growth after a year for one plant could be different for another; or maybe I am being overly cautious ? Lynn |
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- Posted by nikthegreek 9b/10a E of Athens (My Page) on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 0:34
| The idea behind not feeding young plants too much is to encourage root dispersion in search of nutrients and not encourage green growth too much at the expense of root growth by providing too much nitrogen. Having said this, if young plants are grown in a nutrient poor medium some judicious fertilizing will be required. Just keep it on the lean side. Nik |
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- Posted by adamharbeck WA Aust (My Page) on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 2:29
| I think the old syaing "feed the soil, not the plant" rings true. My friend claims that when she feds with soluble inorganic fertilisers, the plants do well for ashort while but then sulk because the soil has been damaged. |
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| Lynn, I haven't planted bands for a long time, but I fertilize new 1-gal. plants (lightly) as soon as they are settled in and growing happily, usually just a few weeks. I have never injured a plant by doing this. Fertilizer burn is not caused by fertilizer per se or by a particular kind of fertilizer, but by TOO MUCH fertilizer, period. I would think by waiting a year you may be starving your plants of nitrogen and missing out on some potential growth. Of course, a small plant only needs a small fraction of the labeled fertilizer dose. It should be proportioned to the leaf area. But if you prepared the soil with manure before planting, you have already fertilized six months' worth. |
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- Posted by desertgarden561 9/SZ11 -Las Vegas, N (My Page) on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 11:43
| Michaelg, I feed the roses that arrived last year as bands, and are planted, weakly weekly (hit or miss), with fish emulsion. I got it in my head somewhere that is was a fertilizer safe enough for me to use on the bands and own root 1 gallon roses. It is a real pain, as everything else is fed Rose Tone that goes around the bush root zone. Using Rose Tone is a much easier process compared to mixing up the fish emulsion in a 2 gallon bucket over and over, and dividing it among these own root roses planted in various places throughout my yard. I do not have a hose end sprayer, as all I saw at the big box store was a M.G. version that came complete with their fertilizer which I did not purchase. My poorly communicated evolving question is when can I stop using fish emulsion and feed all of the roses Rose Tone, or is it more beneficial to switch to fish emulsion/seaweed, or do some of you all go back and forth between both? Also, in the past, on established roses at previous homes, I used granular fertilizer, but never during June, July, through mid August. Are products like fish emulsion or Rose Tone safe to use when it is hot? I am guessing that the application rate is decreased if so? Lynn |
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| You can give them Rose Tone (in lieu of fish) as soon as they are settled in, just 1/4 cup while they are still very small, and, of course, don't pile it around the stem. I have done that successfully. I'm sure the frequent weak fish makes them happy too, but it sounds like a lot of trouble. |
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| If you are looking for a good Fish Emulsion/Seaweed fertilizer look at John's Recipe from lady bug. It has both plus a lot of other good stuff in it. BTW: The only way inorganic ferts are going to 'damage' the soil is if you over apply them and you burn up the microbes. I rotate between John's and a chemical fert and have had no issues. |
Here is a link that might be useful: John's Recipe
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