best fertilizer?

[cactuscarl]

Hi all I have some flowering plants that I really want to produce big healthy flowers this year. I am just wondering what the best fert for flowering would be? They are getting fed seasol, powerfeed and since they have started flowering some liquid pottasium but I'm wanting to put the very best/ top shelf fert on them. What is the best fert? What do the commercial growers use?

Cheers

Edited November 14, 2013 by cactuscarl

[Sallubrious]

If you are feeding them powerfeed and seasol they won't need any extra potassium. they will possibly be getting too much nitrogen with that combo too (too much for good flower production)

Commercial growers use a more balance mix of NPK with a lot more phosphorus than that mix. The nitrogen is good for fast growth but most growers tend to use a much lower amount of nitrogen for flowering.

I can't suggest a brand as most ferts have changed their formula in recent years and greatly reduced the phosphorus levels.

You might be lucky to find an older azalea/camellia mix in some hardware stores that still has a good amount of phosphorus.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Sally

[Stillman]

I use these guys products I rate the triple boost pro. Also the folia drench trace element sprays. http://batphone.com.au/ from Brissy too.

[bullit]

If you are feeding them powerfeed and seasol they won't need any extra potassium. they will possibly be getting too much nitrogen with that combo too (too much for good flower production)

Commercial growers use a more balance mix of NPK with a lot more phosphorus than that mix. The nitrogen is good for fast growth but most growers tend to use a much lower amount of nitrogen for flowering.

I can't suggest a brand as most ferts have changed their formula in recent years and greatly reduced the phosphorus levels.

You might be lucky to find an older azalea/camellia mix in some hardware stores that still has a good amount of phosphorus.

i disagree with the first bit bout ''they wont need any extra potassium''

TO get shit loads of big healthly flowers use lliquid potash.. cut down ya powerfeed and hit them hard with potash..

we use [cant think which brand] this @ work to triple the flower buds on the strawberries then hit them with liquid calicum 4 sweet juicy big berries!!!!

also i do this with or my brugs ..

[Sallubrious]

i disagree with the first bit bout ''they wont need any extra potassium''

TO get shit loads of big healthly flowers use lliquid potash.. cut down ya powerfeed and hit them hard with potash..

we use [cant think which brand] this @ work to triple the flower buds on the strawberries then hit them with liquid calicum 4 sweet juicy big berries!!!!

also i do this with or my brugs ..

I know it can work to force fruit production, but it produces fruit of extremely poor nutritional quality that's not even fit for animals (in the case you quoted regarding strawberries)

I suppose it can work but I'd never do it for anything growing in my garden. Excess potassium to the point where it's unbalanced always produces nutritionally deficient food that isn't fit for stockfeed.

William Albrecht did heaps of work on this last century but most of his research has been ignored by modern profit driven farmers. Excess potassium in soils grows watery food of low nutritional value that will make people & animals sick.

From Albrecht's animals

Even in the face of plenty (of soil calcium and magnesium) excessive potassium can accumulate in the plant, thence in the herbivore's body at the expense of calcium and magnesium. An excess of one produces a "hidden hunger" for the other two. The result is a disposition toward metabolic disease such as grass tetany and milk fever...and ultimately, reduced quality and nutrition at the top of the food chain.

I know we don't base our diet on strawberries so in many ways it's insignificant to have one nutritionally depleted food source in our diet, but the vast majority of agriculture is focused this way (high yields-high profit) so most of of our food is like this nutritionally unbalanced.

William Albrecht did hundreds of experiments feeding animals food grown on unbalanced soils and he found he could create very reliable results to the point where the type of illness could be predicted based on the nutritional profile of the soil.

Maybe you can force flowering with excess potassium in cactus, I suppose if it works then that's OK, no-one has to eat it. I'd never grow anything like that.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Sally

[bullit]

yeah sally i didnt say they taste good aye ! its to push the fukers to grow heads of flowers and make $$$$$ 4 my boss LOL

i use potash on my brugs 4 the flowers i dont eat them my soil is well balanced

[2XB]

If a plant flowers in autumn or winter can you add potasium to make them flower early. Ie summer ?

[Sallubrious]

If a plant flowers in autumn or winter can you add potasium to make them flower early. Ie summer ?

No that's dependent on photoperiodic response, which is a bit of a misnomer. The length of the dark period is main factor. There are few variables associated with daylight intensity levels though.

It can easily be manipulated by extending the hours of darkness to simulate the normal flowering season until flowering is triggered & the dark perid should remain longer than the critical length or many plants will revet to vegetive growth.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Sally

[2XB]

So to continue in this vein can I manipulate light cycle to induce fflowering and then once in flowering mode increase light to give more energy to this process.... ie will it return to vege growth....?I guess this is a pretty plant specific question....

Edited November 15, 2013 by doublebenno

[bullit]

r u guys talkin bout mull???? u can trick a plant to flower any time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited November 15, 2013 by bullit

[2XB]

Haha bullit always saying what everyones thinking... no not mull that would be bogus... but for eg I if I tricked my dalhias to flower in summer would they continue to to flower when reintroduced to summer cycle... does the plant have a memory as to how many man hours it has received light energy in the past???

[Sallubrious]

Sorry to derail the discussion Cactuscarl, I'll answer this and leave it at that. I expect this will be removed by mods anyway

So to continue in this vein can I manipulate light cycle to induce fflowering and then once in flowering mode increase light to give more energy to this process.... ie will it return to vege growth....?I guess this is a pretty plant specific question....

For MJ the critical photoperiod is (for most species) is just under 12 hours. So to trigger flowering daylength is set at 11 hours to trigger a full flowering response quickly, studies have shown 11 hours works just as fast as 9 or 10 hours so there is no need to go less than 11 hours.

After about 4 -5 weeks you can increase the photoperiod to 13 hours to finish them off as THC levels peak at 13 hours photoperiod. For medical MJ around 11 hours photoperiod is preferred as it will increase the percentage of other more beneficial cannibinoids.

Once a plant has switched to full flowering mode hormone levels build up in the leaves and the plant will most times keep flowering for several weeks because of the hormone levels, but eventually it will revert to vegetive growth.

With most cactus it's a bit different as they are long day flowering or more to the point short night flowering and they grow vegetively while they are flowering. So you can extend the photoperiod (or interrupt the dark period) to trigger flowering.

[bullit]

i have a 3 year old dagga dagga [lions tail ] in full sun i have tricked in flowerin all year round not with fert but with pruning and water levels!! also with my daturas i have gave them potash no other fert and have had them flowerin like crazy in winter

anual smaual