"Steven Briggs" wrote in message
...
In message , Reel McKoi

For those of us outside of the US of A, what precisely is the Ironite
you refer to?

It's a gray colored product that looks like gray clay kitty litter. It
comes in small boxes or larger bags for garden use.

(www.ironite.com lists a handful of general(ish) fertilizers).
Also what form do you use for your potassium input?

I'm using Muriate of Potash, a while crystal like product.

For Peter (who is UK based by the address), based on much research and
history of fertilizer threads in rec.ponds, I come up with this mix of
cheap readily available products :-

Potassium - Use potassium chloride, aka "Lo Salt" from the super market
(66% KCl, 33% NaCl, which of course added to the pond anyways for fishy
reasons). Also used Potassium Nitate sometimes to no ill effect.

Magnesium Sulphate / Epsom salts (Garden centre in JA Bower boxes).

Yes, I've added that in the past but never saw any benefit to the plants.


Chelated Iron (EDDHA, 6% Fe).
Chelated trace elements.

These last two are available as ChemPak brand at some garden centres,
else both under trace elements on www.gardendirect.co.uk.

They may have it here but I haven't seen it.

The chelated iron is what, I think, gives those expensive snake-oil pond
fertilizers from the pond shops the deep purple/brown colour.

brevity snips

That they charge pond owners so much really galls me. I seldom buy anything
for "ponders."


RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
ISP: Hughes.net
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