Red said:

Good information Pat. Since you sound like an extension agent I have
another issue for your input.

I had a few elective horticulture classes a long time ago, a lot of time
gardening, many books on hand and a fast internet connection.
Also, I have a particular interest in squash.

I use 13-13-13 fertilizer for my vegetable garden and this year I ran
into a questionable issue. The bags content lists NPK as 13% each but
also sulfur 8% and chlorine 'up to 13%'. No one seemed to know why
they started adding these additional components to a 'standard'
fertilizer. I e-mailed the question to the manufacturer who forwarded
it to the plant manager. The plant manager's response was "Sulfur is
being added because of the reduction in it's emission in industrial
smokestacks due to lawsuits, and plants need sulfur.

What he's saying is that cleaner smokestacks mean less deposition of
sulfur in rain and dust, so they have increased the amount they add to
their standard fertilizer mix to make up for it, but with an industrial
spin on the 'why' of it (lawsuits, due to the Clean Air Act). "It's an ill wind
that blows nobody any good." Nitrogen and sulfur deposition due to air
pollution is bad for natural systems, but agriculture is not a natural system.


The chlorine is
the byproduct of preparing muriate of potash. It can be used in
vegetable planting but not with tobacco planting".

So my question was answered why it was added to their product but not
how it would affect vegetables. Chlorine is usually listed as a plant
micronutrient but 'up to 13%' is definitely not 'micro'. And if it is
absorbed by tobacco plants is it also absorbed by vegetables? I'm
wondering if extension service agents are aware of, or looking into,
these changes.

Probably because they changed the source of potassium into potassium
chloride. Tobacco must particularly sensitive to it.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

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