"Seasol" plant health promotion

[KlUe]

Hi all,

I was at my local nursery during the weekend and was asking if they had a good general cacti fertiliser.

I know the guy there pretty well and he said cacti don't usually need much fertiliser at all, but after saying I was after some good growth and especially since i'm doing grafts, all he recommended was this stuff called Seasol.

http://www.seasol.com.au/gsqp.php?gsqp=ssretailrange

I think its those ones. Anyway, it says its low in nitrogen and its perfect for all plants for promoting healthy root growth, prevention of fungus and rotting and the general health of the plant. Anyways, i bought a small bottle to try it out. Does anyone know if this will be sufficient for my lophs and san pedro's?

Cheers,

KlUe

[Ace]

Hi all,

I was at my local nursery during the weekend and was asking if they had a good general cacti fertiliser.

I know the guy there pretty well and he said cacti don't usually need much fertiliser at all, but after saying I was after some good growth and especially since i'm doing grafts, all he recommended was this stuff called Seasol.

http://www.seasol.com.au/gsqp.php?gsqp=ssretailrange

I think its those ones. Anyway, it says its low in nitrogen and its perfect for all plants for promoting healthy root growth, prevention of fungus and rotting and the general health of the plant. Anyways, i bought a small bottle to try it out. Does anyone know if this will be sufficient for my lophs and san pedro's?

Cheers,

KlUe

I think most ferts are good for this sort of application - but Seasol is a pretty good all-round one afaik. I'm planning to try some out on some of my larger cacti (I almost forgot I bought some about 6 weeks ago... Thanks Klue!). I will share results if anyones interested, though it may be a while before any noticable growth is shown... If you are using it on small potted specimens, be sure to dilute it a little more than is recommended on the bottle/container and gradually increase this amount, just in case it has a negative effect (though this would be unlikely).

All the best

Ace

[SaBReT00tH]

I thought seasol was just for transplanting new plants to new pots?? I understand its's veeery good for the plants but understood that it's not meant to be used as a long term fertiliser. Anyone agree with this?

[KlUe]

I thought seasol was just for transplanting new plants to new pots?? I understand its's veeery good for the plants but understood that it's not meant to be used as a long term fertiliser. Anyone agree with this?

Taken from their website:

"Seasol is a dynamic growth stimulant and plant tonic, it is not by definition a fertiliser. Scientific trials over many years have proven its value as a means of promoting healthy vigorous growth in plants, improving resistance to insect and fungal attack, and reducing the symptoms of stress from excessive heat, frost damage and transplanting."

http://www.seasol.com.au/gsqp.php?gsqp=aboutseasol

Are there any recommended ferts that people can recommend if Seasol is not going to be suitable for long term use?

The directions say to treat plants every 2-3 weeks during watering..

[AndyAmine.]

Maxicrop from Coles/Safeway

[Dodie]

I use a mix of ferts. Seasol is pretty good for the price and i have used it a fair bit before. I also like to use Thrive for Potted plants and also some Dynamic lifter pellets.

[XipeTotec]

I think seasol is a liquid seaweed fert. A bit cheaper, and one of my favs is fish emulsion, seen a new one on the market called "charlie carp", which seem alright, not sure about cacti application though.

[Hagakure]

im using charlie carp on cacti. not too often, once in a while.

the cacti are pupping, bloody green, and very healthy.

that could be due to the perfect cacti weather in adelaide etc but i know that the stuff isnt hurting them at least.

[tobias]

Besides a bit of dynamic lifter mixed in the soil, all I use for my cacti is a mixture of seasol and charlie carp. They seem happy, fast growth, lots of pups and very green.

I've used seasol long term on many different sorts of plants and it has never seemed to cause any problems.

[KlUe]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I guess i'll give it a go

[occidentalis]

Seasol is good stuff. I use it on all my cacti, including lophs, though only ocassionally (twice a year or so).

However, as stated above, it is not a fertiliser.

Charlie carp is pretty good but I don't like how it leaves a greasy residue on everything. Fish grease, yew!

I have been using Yates cactus fertiliser which is low in P and fairly weak in everything else. Young seedlings of all kinds and adult lophs really like it. But I feel that columnar cacti enjoy a bit more phosphorous than what it supplies.

[Infinitee]

Never given it to cacti, but Seasol has always left a residual "taste" behind in marijuana grown with Seasol, even 3 week flush and you can still taste it. So i'm not sure if it's healthy to use a lot for a long time and then ingest the plant material, if that happened to be anyones plan with growing a cacti.

[KlUe]

Never given it to cacti, but Seasol has always left a residual "taste" behind in marijuana grown with Seasol, even 3 week flush and you can still taste it. So i'm not sure if it's healthy to use a lot for a long time and then ingest the plant material, if that happened to be anyones plan with growing a cacti.

At least its natural mate, imagine what all those synthetic fertilizers are doing to your brain.. But yeah the taste must be pretty bad, the smell of the stuff is so bad...

[dqd]

I prefer organic, so I use a mix of seasol, organic charlie carp and worm poo juice, all diluted to half minimum dose and only a little (a good drink but not saturated or bucket-soaked), once a month during growing season, not at all all other times, (though the trichs seem to drink it like a big fert smoothie and come back for more!!). Interestingly enough I dosed my coffee plants with the same mix and one threw it's first flowers within days .

If I ever use a peat brick I will add these 3 at the same rates to the rehydration liquid - acts as a slow release fert when watering, though again not used so much with cacti due to fungal build-up on the surface of the mix (due to peat, not fert!!), nothing major but I don't like taking chances .

[Yawning Man]

Bump

Just wondering if it's safe to use Seasol or any any other fertiliser on trich and loph seedlings. Yates cacti fertiliser got a mention but i've been unable to locate any in any of the stores i go to. Carlie carp sounds pretty good but as mentioned there's the risk of fungal growth and other bacteria. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

[DarkSpark]

seasol should be applied every 2-4 weeks. I think it is great stuff just a tad stinky... more a plant health product than a nutrient though... I wouldn't Know a good fertiliser as i generally use home-made fish emulsion, got no more fishies or worms now though so i need to find something new. Might try some store bought emulsion.

I haven't grown cacti seedlings so i am not sure exactly what they require but from my experience a dose of seasol every month and some fish emulsion every week or two works fine. a bit of this and that in between but not much.

[Yawning Man]

Thanks for that dark spark. I still dont see the difference between a 'Plant health' product and regular fertiliser tbh. I actually just thought about ozmacote (sp?). A slow release grandular fertiliser. Anyone ever used this stuff on cacti seelings? Results?

I cant see it hurting the seedlings in any serious way. Moderation is the key here i think.

cheers

[DarkSpark]

I use it on some of my regular plants around the place(osmocote) but dont know if it works too well... make sure to put the granules quite far away from the cacti incase it does burn the roots(doubtful) but i always try too keep fertilisers off/away from my seedlings.

basically it is a fertiliser of sorts(seasol) if you read it tho it says things such as protects the roots and so on, this is more what i meant by plant health

[Mr Stay Puft]

I work at bunnings and i have finished 3 years of botany at university.... i really think seasol is a bit of a gimmick, it can be useful as it has some plant hormones in it but it really has very little nutritional value...

i have grown all sorts of plants to all sorts of heights and produced all sorts of yields and i almost never use seasol (even though i have a big promo tub i was given for free)

Don't listen to their bullshit... if your looking for a good organic for lophs then use charlie carp... if its for trichs i have been using blood and bone this year and never seen em grow as quick!

If people don't agree then thats their choice but after watching so many people get sucked in to buying seasol because of garden shows and useless nursery sales people i really can't stand the stuff!

like i said Charlie Carp!!!

and as for slow release ferts... they are almost useless except for providing trace elements at slowly and for plants that really don't like a big hit of food at once... but its a waste of time to put em in a pot you are just going to hit with another fert anyhoo! (as i said almost... they are useful for a few specific situations...)

Sorry for the rant but im sick of people coming to bunnings and complaining there tomatoes are not growing when all they have fed em is osmocote and seasol because 'thats what the nursery guy told em'

Just my 2 cents!

Edited January 5, 2010 by Mr Stay Puft

[~shameless~]

Check seasol "power feeder" its the one in green bottle made by the same company and is seasol plus trace elements and better n.p.k content, than ordinary seasol.

You get the plant tonic and the feed in one bottle.

But yeah Charlie carp , good shit!

[Yawning Man]

AHAAHA @ Mr Stay Puft.

Thanks for the advice guys! Seems charlie carp gets the vote, but the blood and bone interests me. I'll do a bit of research on these two and experiment. Actually get off my arse and keep a log of what i observe, species, how much fert i use etc etc.

cheers

[gerbil]

i really think seasol is a bit of a gimmick, it can be useful as it has some plant hormones in it but it really has very little nutritional value...

Directly i don't think it was ever promoted as a soluble fert / available nutrient. They had a fair bit of information on their sites years ago which more or less promoted (bit of poetic license hehe) that it had very little available nutrient. It was more so being sold as a fortifier / supplement sorta thing with the option of including a soluble fertiliser. I'd imagine that's why they use to (and prob still do) sell them in twin packs, one seaweed, one liquid high N fert.

Not discounting the gimmick thing, whole 'nother topic.

[ethnodude]

Firstly osmocote and seasol really SHOULD NOT be used together for best results IMO. If your going to use seaweed you might as well go organic. Seasol is great for feeding microbes that help to make nutrients available. If you apply osmocote you will release toxins that will inhibit these microbes.

To get the most out of your seaweed you should really be aerating the feed for at least 24 yours with a pump. Not only does this help kick start microbe activity, it will also help stablise the feed. The issue of anerobic toxicity ie root rot will be minimised.

You should also aerate the liquid fish ect for similar reasons.

This method will also also enable you to push up the fert level without the risk of burn.

As for seedlings it is safe but you would want to make sure its nice and diluted.

[mac]

I haven't used the seasol brand so cant really comment on their product.

I do use good old aussie Maxicrop (seaweed plant food concentrate) on my cacti, safe for fruit & vegetables (food crops)

its never harmed one of my plants even @ full strength

Being a seeweed extract it has the same benefits as seasol but it also has (N)(P)(K) supposedly about 60 different trace elements they also do plenty of other good natural stuff some 100% organic ferts like slow release seweed or fish granules or your normal seweed & fish liquid ferts

this is starting to sound like a add so here is the link to some of their stuff multicrop.com.au

Edited January 6, 2010 by mac

[ethnodude]

I can vouch that maxicrop fish and seaweed ganules are the shit for cacti growing. A very good alternative to blood and bone as it doesnt burn the roots. Costly but well worth it if you love your cacti. They will love you for it.