FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss fertilization techniques here. For advanced growers only!

Moderator: Matt

User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#367328
If I have a spray bottle of (example numbers)

...5-5-5 of maxsea or,
...5-5-5 of miracleGro or,
...5-5-5 equivalent homemade fertilizer...

would they all be safe to use on a sundew?

i have a lovely member sending me a sample of MaxSea; i'm waiting for ingredients for a home made hippy dippy fertilizer; and recently bought a bottle of miracle grow 1-1-1 hoping to revive a non-CP i re-pot into nutrient poor soil.


can i just use 1 one of those fertilizers to accomplish all the stuff i'm trying to do?

...fertilize air roots of vine plants
...feed my sundews
...fertilize nutrient poor peat moss soil i bought for CP, but used it to re-pot a non CP houseplant (if any of you smarter people are about to mention pH levels, i did not consider it. don't electronically hate me).
User avatar
By murrkywaters
Posts:  638
Joined:  Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:39 pm
#367329
Yes and no. You can think of npk as being -very- roughly analogous to micronutrients i.e. carbs fats and proteins. Sure without them your body would cease to function, but you also need micronutrients like selenium, iron, molybdenum, and potassium. However too much of these micronutrients would poison you. Fertilizers contain both macro and micro nutrients for plants, some of these will be toxic to your carnivorous plants, but not to most houseplants and crops. Magnesium is a great example of a plant nutrient that can be beneficial or toxic to plants based off of the environment they evolved to survive in.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

User avatar
By Apollyon
Location: 
Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#367332
Found it has less to do with the NPK ratio and more about other compounds that affect plants differently. NPK ratios are used by growers in order to know what fertilizer to use for different effects. Top Growth, Root Growth, Flowering. Balanced fertilizers are often used in a day to day but a grower may decide to up the phosphorus to quickly establish a solid root base in a plant. Which will in turn provide a good foundation and supply the plant for rapid growth. People do that kind of thing a lot with crops. I tend to do it on aroids and "rooted cuttings" to get them going. I found Maxsea doesn't work on some legumes. I wanted to do the same thing as you, a one stop shop. At first people said to look for "Urea free" fertilizers for carnivorous plants. Used to think Maxsea and Orchid fertilizers were the only options. Recently I've learned that people use Dyna Gro on Cephalotus though so I am curious about others. I've been considering using it on one of my plants to see what the word is. Homemade may possibly be a safer play than Miracle Gro. I've considered using Bio Gold, which is an organic fertilizer used for bonsai. One of my bainskloof sprouts is also going to be a guinea pig for GA3. Maybe someone else can chime in on the other stuff. Maxsea would likely work on your other plants. I only had one adverse reaction out of 100 species.

As far as enriching soil goes for plants, the easiest way to do that would be a slow release like osmocote. People tend to think dosing it once or twice is all that needs to be done but a plant will take in all the nutrients in the pot within weeks. It takes little time, particularly if it has an impressive root system. That is why continuous fertilization is necessary for potted plants. If you don't dose them, they will stagnate unless it is say a legume and produces its own nitrogen. Osmocote or something like it makes it a lot easier. Sprinkle some on top of the soil (or mix in top layer) and as you water it'll trickle nutrients through the soil over the course of months. Liquid based fertilizers help to "blast" a plant needing nutrients immediately but shouldn't be done all the time. Unless you're using something like Dyna Gro. I've used Dyna Gro often in daily watering based on the needs of the plant and had good results.
By jose
Posts:  153
Joined:  Fri Oct 09, 2020 8:18 pm
#367334
NPK are the most important nutrients but how they are composed or made up of is what makes the difference. One fertilizer can be the equivalent of McDonald’s and the other the best burger you’ve ever had yet have the same NPK numbers
User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#367377
ah awesome. thanks for all the input. i guess there is a purpose to the 3 bottles of fertilizer i will now have :lol:

i just learned about foliar feeding so i guess i'll have some fun with the spray bottles :)

as for my re-potted plant that looks half dead... it seems to be hanging in there, because it's not touching the ground, but it's not quite at full strength. all its leaves are rich green, none of them turning yellow or brown. no brown tips. i hope it perks up soon.
Last edited by P A U L on Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By Apollyon
Location: 
Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#367387
Give it time. Don't fertilize a plant recently repotted with liquid fertilizers. Slow release is alright but wait until you see new growth in the plant before you spike it with fertilizers.

After a repot of a regular plant, I usually bring it into the shade for about a week or so to let it adjust before I put it back in its original spot.
User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#367390
i gave it 1 squirt of miracle grow because i took it out of nutrient rich soil...and stuck it into nutrient zero. i mixed in about 15 pellets that i had left at the bottom of my osmocote bottle. it's a shade plant already, so it remains in the shade. i did put it in an empty container, and that empty container sits in the bathtub hoping to increase humidity for it. fingers crossed.
Re-introduction

Thanks so much for sharing this great information![…]

You know, it kinda hits you different when you onl[…]

Piese originale Ford S-Max 2015-2020 alegerea pi[…]

https://www.pieseford.ro/piese-auto-ford-s-max-20[…]

Hello!

Welcome

Chilly in LA…

I've got a friend in Harvey, but that looks like […]

1 year old cape!

My cape is being evil. It died back when I did I[…]

The Sphagnum Yacht

We all love cotton...blue jeans, t-shirts, underwe[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!