On 1/21/2009 10:19 AM, dave a wrote:
David E. Ross wrote:
On 1/20/2009 7:23 AM, Stephen Henning wrote:
In article ,
"David E. Ross" wrote:
Some 20-25 years ago, I bought a 5 lb bag of zinc sulfate. It was
packed by Bandini, which is no longer in business. I use only a little,
on my four dwarf citrus and on my gardenia. Now that the bag is almost
empty, none of the nurseries around me carry it.
Does anyone know of a retail source of zinc sulfate in relatively small
packages? No, I don't want it mixed with iron or boron. And I'm
looking for it in the form of dry powder or granules.
It seems that, in recent years, it's becoming harder and harder to find
single-nutrient fertilizers. All I see are combinations. However, even
the combinations are incomplete. For example, most commercial citrus
fertilizers contain no zinc although citrus is well-know to require
extra zinc. One commercial citrus food contains 0.02% zinc; 0.50% or
even 1.00% would be better.
ACE Hardware sells:
Western Organics 5 lb bag of Zinc Sulfate for $4.49
Ace#: 7194657
Manf#: LG40021
UPC#: 087818402219
http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...sulfate-p-8967
5.html
I contacted the nearest Ace Hardware (about 3 miles away). They don't
carry any garden supplies.
I then contacted another Ace Hardware (about 25 miles away). They will
order zinc sulfate for me. Thanks.
BTW, a simple Google search indicates that Bandini is very much still in
business. Of course, a simple Google search also shows a multitude of
sources for Zinc Sulfate.
I did such searches.
Bandini and the company that owns it no longer distributes zinc sulfate.
I located a number of companies that produce or distribute zinc sulfate.
Most of them market the product only in bulk. Several companies have
not yet responded to my E-mail. (This is a general problem. Companies
either list E-mail addresses on their Web sites or have Web-mail pages
for submitting message. But they never respond.) One company would
ship me a 5 lb bag for $15.
On the other hand, the Ace Hardware store in Moorpark, CA, will sell me
5 lb for $6.
Note that a few distributors of zinc sulfate obtain the product from
China. There are recent reports that Chinese zinc sulfate is
contaminated with cadmium. While this might not be a problem with my
roses, I certainly don't want to add cadmium to anything I eat, such as
my dwarf citrus.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary