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Question about fertilizers.
On Wed, 25 May 2011 08:32:58 -0700, Billy
wrote: In article , David Hare-Scott wrote: On Tue, 24 May 2011 22:26:20 -0400, "DogDiesel" wrote: I've got burn questions about fertilizers. I've got a lot of old liquid fish mixes and micro nutrients , From my hydroponics . I used them last year in my outdoor soil garden . The bottles of fish mix say they wont burn. One is 5-1-1 and the Alaska starter fish mix is 2-1-1 . I know they are only 100 % ground fish mixed with water , It looks like syrup and stinks. Last year my garden did very good on it. I put about a half a shot glass with about 2 gallons of water and hand water the plants. Maybe three times for the summer. My soil was N deficient. Just so you know .It wont burn. No matter what. Or how much. What's the reason some fertilizers wont burn,. Is it just because its dead fish. Or natural or something. And if it wont burn, Why isn't non burning fertilizers available in the big stores. What else could be used as non burning fertilizers? Thanks Diesel. Fertiliser burn is caused by high concentrations of soluble salts, typically this is nitrogen salts because they are found in most fertilisers and they are very soluble but you could get the same from say potassium salts. The dehydrating effects of salts (chemical fertilizers) are well known and not restricted to fertilizer salts. It is also for this reason best to avoid chemferts, because salts have a deleterious effect on soil organisms and ecology. Regardless of what Wikipedia says, fertilizer burn with organic fertilizers comes from the pH raising effects of ammonia, How do you know this? which is released as the proteins in the organic material breaks down. (I was able to quite handily fry some potted plants with alfalfa [lucerne] meal quiet easily, no salts necessary.) How do you know there are no salts in lucerne meal? Did you actually measure the pH? Why is this pH effect not seen when liming? Chicken and rabbit manure can be toxic to plants, as can alfalfa meal, or fish emulsion, if not added according to directions. Concentration is everything. Agreed. Manure Chicken Diary cow Horse Steer Rabbit N 1.1 .257 .70 .70 2.4 P .80 .15 .30 .30 1.4 K .50 .25 .60 .40 .60 Manure Sheep Alfalfa Fish Emulsion N .70 3 5 P .30 1 1 K .90 2 1 The burning is not specifically related to natural versus synthetic, you can burn plants easily with manure straight from the chicken which is about as natural as you can get. The reason that it is common with synthetic, store bought, fertilisers is that they are highly concentrated having little or no fibre or water (unlike natural fertilisers) and they are mostly or entirely soluble, so it is very easy to over dose. If you want a no-burn fertiliser get a horse. On the other hand pay close attention to the content of whatever you are applying and don't exceed the recommended rate of application. If your soil is very deficient it will be less risky to apply several small doses several weeks apart through the growing season rather than one big one. David David |
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