• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

fish emulsion

chilehunter

chilehunter

sorry for all these questions, but this year I want some great plants to keep. plus work is slow now :( that means I have time to pick your brains ;)
so whats the deal with fish emulsion & sea kelp, some are 90%-10% & some 10%-90%, why not 50-50 ?
is this a good thing to use or is it hype ? since general fertilizer is 19-6-12 if I remembered right. & that fish/kelp stuff is in single digits. or would this be wise to use for chiles ? or just another gimmick to get you to buy something ?
 
I find it works very well for soil based gardens. I used it last year and had pretty good results. It stinks to high heaven though so don't use indoors.
 
I have another question. is there such a thing of over doing it with the use of fish emulsion ? would every 5 days be to much ? (right now I'm using the stuff every 7 days, but the plants sometimes need to be watered more than once a week)

plus should I even bother with adding Kelp or some other kind of micro nutrients ? since I read somewhere that if you put to much in it can turn the plant toxic because of to high of certain micro nutrient in the plant = not safe to eat them.

so whats to much ?
 
chilehunter said:
...I read somewhere that if you put to much in it can turn the plant toxic because of to high of certain micro nutrient in the plant = not safe to eat them.
Click to expand...

get one of your friends to eat one of the pods first! :cheers:

is once a week or every five days too much fert.? is watering once a week enough? most growers recommend once a week or once a fortnight. I don't know for sure about fish emulsion but it sounds to me like you'd be over fertilising. if this is as high in Nitrogen as you say it is, you may end up with a lovely looking bush but reduced pod yield.
 
chilehunter said:
I have another question. is there such a thing of over doing it with the use of fish emulsion ? would every 5 days be to much ? (right now I'm using the stuff every 7 days, but the plants sometimes need to be watered more than once a week)

plus should I even bother with adding Kelp or some other kind of micro nutrients ? since I read somewhere that if you put to much in it can turn the plant toxic because of to high of certain micro nutrient in the plant = not safe to eat them.

so whats to much ?
Click to expand...

Stop the nitrogen...even though it’s organic, you can burn the plants bigtime….plus, aphids love nitrogen….the more you give, the more they can become a problem….Also, nitrogen is for vegetative growth…..your peppers will grow 8 ft tall and never produce fruit. As long as high nitrogen levels are present, pepper plants will not flower or will drop flowers.
The plants will grow tall, but at the end of the season may be weak. I had huge pepper plants my first year…they produced little and snapped like twigs because I was using emulsion every week.

You should only use the fish emulsion once every 3 weeks. I use it early in the season after the seedlings have their second set of leaves and in a 1/3 diluted form. I then hit them with more a few weeks after they are in the garden...then I stop. I switch to a side dressing of real good compost. It takes the compost a few weeks to kick in, but after it does...the plants do great.

I did do this one year.... Right before flowering I sprayed.. Seabird guano... I think I got it from Peaceful Valley. www.groworganic.com/ It is high in the middle number (Phosphorus.) This is a very important element for flowering and fruit production. Potash or potassium is the last number and it is needed for the general health of the plant.

So, remember..lay off the nitrogen, buy some seabird guano and use as a mid season fouler spray....other than that...get your hands on some great ORGANIC compost. That is the best all around fertilizer...If it has been done correctly.

I usually get a soil test as well....check you local gov.

Hope it helped.

Primo
 
the fish emulsion that I'm useing is 2-4-.5
that pellet fertilizer is 19-6-12 that would last for 6+ months
would be using both be bad ? cross country nursiers says to use fish emlusion every week then cut back to every 3 weeks. so when do you cut back on useage ? couldnt you use the stuff every week until you want them to start flowering EX I have some peppers growing right now inside & say come May cut back to every 3 weeks, these would have been growing since mid febuary.
I've been mixing 1 tablespoon of fish emulsion into 1 gallon of water.

last year I just did the fertilizer pellets that lasted for several months, but wanted to try this fish emulsion stuff out since alot of people say it works wonders for pepper plants & other veggies, so I dont know everything about it & why would it prevent flowering & producing pods if used every week ?
 
chilehunter said:
the fish emulsion that I'm useing is 2-4-.5

last year I just did the fertilizer pellets that lasted for several months, but wanted to try this fish emulsion stuff out since alot of people say it works wonders for pepper plants & other veggies, so I dont know everything about it & why would it prevent flowering & producing pods if used every week ?
Click to expand...

If I'm telling you something you already know, my apologies. The numbers on the fertilizer are its NPK numbers. NPK stands for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the three macronutrients required for plant growth. Each one is necessary for different plant functions. Nitrogen stimulates vegetative plant growth, phosphorus stimulates root, fruit, and flower growth, and potassium aids in disease resistance and the uptake and metabolism of other nutrients.

While this nutrients are all essential, it is possible to give a plant too much. It like a person taking vitamins, we all need vitamin A, but too much can lead to migraines,muscle and joint pain, and dry skin and hair loss.

Here's a page that lists some of the deficiency and toxicity symptoms http://hort.ufl.edu/teach/orh3254/DefSymptoms.htm

The reason you don't want to give a high nitrogen fertilizer up to the time you want it to start flowering and fruiting is that plants metabolize nutrients slowly. It may be some weeks after you fertilize that you see the results. The reason you don't want to fertilize every time you water is that you don't want toxic levels of the nutrients to build up in the soil. The kelp fertilizer you're using has a reasonable NPK ratio for peppers, just remember that too much is just as bad as not enough.

Ok, if this clears up some of your confusion, I'll attack organic kelp vs commercial pelleted fertilizer later. That's more of an opinion thing then a fact as both work.
 
I'm not useing kelp just fish emulsion for now, like I said the fish emulsion is 2 - 4 - .5 & the pellet fertilizer that I used last year is 19 - 6 - 12 with 4.5 sulfer. I havent added the pellets yet since I was gonna add them in when I put the plants into a larger pot & outside for the summer.

would it be a bad idea to use both, the fish emulsion & the fertilizer pellets. EX have the pellets in & use fish emulsion every 3 weeks. & would it be bad to use fish emulsion every week for another 1.5 months then kick back every 3 weeks ?
right now the plants are 2" - 3"

I just dont want to get sick from eating some chiles that became toxic because of to much fertilizer, but I also want big healthy prolific plants.
 
Ah, sorry about the confusion.

I just dont want to get sick from eating some chiles that became toxic because of to much fertilizer, but I also want big healthy prolific plants.
Click to expand...

The fertilizer isn't toxic to you, it's toxic to the plants.

Too much fertilizer will burn the plants, the leaves will literally have a fried look, and the plant can quickly die. More is NOT better. Don't put more than what is recommended on the package, and it's usually best to put a little less.

Plus, as has been pointed out to you several times, if you give your peppers too much nitrogen, you'll get big green plants with almost no peppers. I understand wanting your plants to grow real big real fast, but in gardening, patience is a virtue.
 
Strange, my fish emulsion is 5-1-1. Yours is a weird ratio which would probably need extra potassium for stronger plants if thats all your feeding. I don't know about the pellets, seems high in nitrogen and sulphur 4.5??
 
imaguitargod said:
Great words Primo. Just spot on advice there.
Click to expand...


Thanks brother...

As for as your fish-poop-juice goes. ha Looks like you have a higher bloomin ratio (Phosphorus-the middle number.) So, I would still use it only every 3 weeks to be safe. Trust me, good compost as a side dressing will take a few weeks to kick in, but when it does..it works so much better than emulsion on the spot. The emulsion has a tendency to leech and wonder with rain and watering. Nitrogen is a mobile element.

Yet, compost keeps releasing nutrients slowly through the season. I just find it's method of release is better with fewer problems and no risk of burn. Try it.

Primo
 
all you PLEASE bear with me on this please, I'm new to what these numbers mean & what would be a better method etc...
before i just threw the plants in a bucket with some ground soil & added those pellet fertilizers & called it good.

so do you think since the pellet numbers are to high or out of wack it would be better to use the emulsion instead ? as for the compost I can get some horse/cow or maybe some pig sh1t since I live in the country & mix it with some potting soil, would that be better ?
I dont want to offend anyone here with these questions, it might seem like common sense to you but for me its not, now if you need some work done on your house I'm not dumb in that area :drooling: vs growing plants
 
chilehunter said:
all you PLEASE bear with me on this please, I'm new to what these numbers mean & what would be a better method etc...
before i just threw the plants in a bucket with some ground soil & added those pellet fertilizers & called it good.

so do you think since the pellet numbers are to high or out of wack it would be better to use the emulsion instead ? as for the compost I can get some horse/cow or maybe some pig sh1t since I live in the country & mix it with some potting soil, would that be better ?
I dont want to offend anyone here with these questions, it might seem like common sense to you but for me its not, now if you need some work done on your house I'm not dumb in that area :lol: vs growing plants
Click to expand...

No problem at all...don't worry, I still ask a lot of questions...You can always learn.

The pellets prob. are not organic with high numbers like that. I'm not sure if that's something you are worried about.. Otherwise, the pellets are a good slow release and prob. work ok with the buckets. In your case, if you can't find compost that is real broken down...go with the pellets and you will not have to worry as much. I over did things my first year. Sometimes less is more.
It's all about the soil/mix. Horse/cow/or pig S&^t will be too hot and will burn your plants...that stuff would have had to be worked into the soil/garden durring the winter to avoid burning the plants. Now, you can start a compost pile for next year!! This would be my options:

1) Organic or not.
a) If Organic: Use well broken down compost, fish emulsion every 3 weeks until blooming, then seabird guano as a spray.
b) Non Organic: Pellets as directed on container near the base of plants...you could give them a treat with a higher phosphorus fert. near blooming... Peters blooming, etc.... Remember, container plants need less than garden plants...Burning the plants will either kill them or set them back.

Hope this helps.

Primo
 
ok I'm kinda understanding this more slowly but surely :lol: , but when you say compost is kinda like the best soil to use or at least have into the mix of things. I guess I'd go buy some compost to mix in with the plants BUT if I dont have to then I perfer not to spend the money on it, since the reason is that on my land I have some pretty decent soil that I could mix with the potting soil (I dont want to use just my soil only since it'd be to heavy IMO)

I had a soil test done on some spots, for a food plot, & this is the test results I got back. in PPM

organic matter - 5.1% VH
phosphorus p1 - 10 L
phosphorus p2 - 20 M
potassium - 67 VL
magnesium - 477 VH
calcium - 2529 H
PH - 6.9
cation exchange capacity C.E.C. - 16.8

percent base saturation
% K - 1
% Mg - 23.7
% Ca - 75.3

I had it done so they could tell me if I needed some fertilizer or lime which only fertilizer I added. this was a mix of soil from 2 spots cuz it was kinda open area, but I can get soil from anywhere that I'm sure organic matter will be high in any spot I choose because of the leaves & such or I can pull from more of a swampy area also.

ok you guys say phosphorus (middle #) is for flowering which would mean I'd get more pods if kept using that 2-4-.5 emulsion & say I mixed some of my soil thats been tested (numbers above) with some potting soil to have loose soil. plus if you others are using a emulsion that has 1% potassium ( K ) well my soil is 1% K
I dont know why theres no nitrogen percentage on my test ? but from learning what you all have said I'm thinking I could have a great mix if I used half of my soil & half potting soil & only used the fish emlusion I have every week for only a short time more then kick back to every 3 weeks, am I right or no ?

& with those numbers is there really any need to use kelp ?
oh yea the fish emulsion is Bonide if anyone wanted to know
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top