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nutrients What nutrients should I use?

T

tehhotpepper

My plants are a few months old. I think they may be starting to use up the nutrients in the potting soil. Would it be smart to start feeding them some plant food?
 
 
 
if so what foods would you suggest? They are in 7 inch pots and I like to water them once a week. 
 
Peppers and tomatoes are in the same family. The guy at the plant store told me I should use tomato food. It was a lot easier than buying my calcium and magnesium separately. The thing you want to avoid is too much nitrogen, which increases the amount of leaves but cuts back on your flowers and peppers. Bone meal takes a long time to absorb. I wonder if you could just use chalk or Tums (calcium carbonate) and epsom salt (magnesium sulphate). Epsom salt is supposed to be good for triggering flowering.
 
If you used Miracle grow potting soil, be careful with the nutrients.  That stuff is full of fertilizer already.  What ever you decide to use, maybe at half strength until you get a feel for it.  I am a fan of using compost tea on indoor plants.
 
Be careful that you are not adding anything that is not needed as you can do more damage than in not providing what is needed.
 
A few months old is very vague and does not aid in what the plants may be needing. more info on your growing conditions would be more helpful. pics as well.
 
This if you want a good all around fert that is simple.
 
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ajdrew said:
Damn you guys and your chemicals frighten me.
Click to expand...
 
heh yeah - have to agree.
If you don't want of need to make your own tea (most don't) then look for the stuff made from things like bat guano or worm castings. Don't always jump to the chemical version.
 
Well, I like what pretty much everyone has said above.
 
Just want to reiterate, as AJDrew suggests - use half strength of anything you buy (if feeding based on the packaging directions), you can always go up in nutrients if the plants are liking it and/or need it.
 
***Be careful not to overdo it or you will be searching the internet on how to flush (and I'm not talkin' toilets here) :)
 
 
Also, as Inedible mentioned - peppers and tomatoes grow incredibly similar, you can use any food from one to the other (for the most part, of course)
 
 
I use Floranova in my soil plants, very simple and ph balanced so there really isn't anything to worry about and not much to do besides just pouring the correct amount per volume of water. Floranova comes in two parts, one for vegging and one for fruiting. 
 
If you have the time and desire, organic is great. But if you're like me and need healthy plants, but have a lot to do in life, I suggest an easy to use nutrient. The floranova is super easy to use and the set of veg/flower bottles lasts me all year.
 
What I do about the amounts... I bought an EC meter and read the ppm of the solution I mix up each time. If it is the first time feeding and the soil had been feeding the plant by itself for a while, I would go safe with around 500-700ppm. The most I would feed my plants at any given time is about 1300ppm (which is a lot if your soil already has nutes, but it isn't too much when the soil is already very low on nutes).
 
 
 
And again, like mentioned above, it will take some getting used to any which way you decide to feed your plants. But feeding is a must once your soil nutrition value fades. The best indicator is always the plant itself. Learn the plant language and all will be fine!
 
 
PS: I am not a spokesman for floranova... lol. I have just tried a lot of different brands and this fits my needs the best. You  just need to find what fits YOUR needs now.
 
It's my first year.  I had a similar problem and they looked sickly!  I got a test kit from the gardening store and found out I was low on Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but high in Potassium.
 
So, I used miracle grow because I had it and it worked very well.  They grew like weeds!  After that, I wanted to use more natural stuff and a longer term solution.  I used liquid fish fertilizer every two weeks and I mixed in Happy Frog tomato and vegetable fertilizer to the soil. 
 
Next year I plan to start of with more nutrients in my soil and test it before planting because t's so easy to do with the soil testing kits.  good luck!
 
i swear by the espoma products. granulated organic fertilizer.  their formulas arent too different from each other but tomato-tone would be the best.  liquid ferts wash out everytime you water. granulated breaks down over time meaning less applications.  i also always use a rockdust of some sort in my soil, azomite being my preferred.

ajdrew said:
Damn you guys and your chemicals frighten me.
Click to expand...
Agreed!
 
Topsmoke said:
i swear by the espoma products. granulated organic fertilizer.  their formulas arent too different from each other but tomato-tone would be the best.  liquid ferts wash out everytime you water. granulated breaks down over time meaning less applications.  i also always use a rockdust of some sort in my soil, azomite being my preferred.

Agreed!
Click to expand...
 
 
I too use azomite dust in my recycled soil :) Bought a 44lb bag from a garden supply place. Will last me YEARS. I think it is a big help too. Some people may not agree though. But I have seen some side-by-side grows where there seemed to be an obvious increase in growth with the azomite enriched soil.
 
But I don't really agree that liquid ferts get rinsed out each time you water. In fact it depends on the substrate you use in your soil. Example: peat moss holds nutrients very well (liquid or not). On the other hand, sandy soils don't hold nutes very well at all. But even then, it takes a few waterings and/or flushings to clear out everything you put into the soil from any given feeding. 
 
If it were true that ferts get washed out, then there would never be a salt build up issue and people wouldn't ever need to flush soil. (this is coming from a MJ growing point of view as we really max out the amount of nutes a plant can take; the best MJ growers are very in-tuned with what a plant and its soil can take/hold/needs)
 
This can be proven by reading EC levels of run-off, which I have had to do countless times... ugh
 
That being said, aint nothin wrong with granulated ferts! I use Osmocote for my outdoor (older) pots that I'm not ready/willing to re-pot.
 
IME peppers like more nitrogen than tomatoes.  General rule of thumb: 3:1:2 or a multiple thereof. 
 
And I agree, don't assume that fertilizers are required at all.  If the soil pH is okay, the plant will be able to get what it needs directly from the soil for several months, even in a container.
 
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