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NPK ratio?

Hey Guys and Gals,
I was wondering what you have found works well in terms of types of fertilizers and the NPK ratios? This is my second year growing so I am looking to keep things on the simple side. By that I mean one fertilizer not 3 that handle the NPK seperately. I am fine with switching during different stages of growth. For example, I was thinking about using Fox Farm's Open Sesame (5-45-19) followed by Beasti Bloomz (0-50-30) followed by Cha Ching (9-50-10). I have seen in other threads some people have championed chicken poop. As a result, I was also considering Peruvian Seabird Guano (11-13-3). I don't really know too much except that if there is too much Nitrogen you will end up with healthy plants and few peppers. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh
 
Josh:

Last year I used a higher content N fertilize for the first 4 weeks after plantout, then switched to 10-10-10 for about 5-6 weeks then switched to a lower N higher P and K for the rest of the season...

IMO you can find a single fertilize to use at each stage of growth and not have to mix different fertilizers to get what you want...you can always augment your basic nutrients with other "stuff" to help them along...like give them a shot of epsom salt foliar feed every couple of weeks and what ever else the plants tell you they want/need....again this is JMO
 
Wow, those are some pretty high numbers, I don't think I would use any of those more than once in the season, and then only if I was trying to correct a problem. I sometimes worry that the Tomato-Tone is a little high, and it's only 4-7-10.
 
Pam...does frequency of watering impact the strength of fertilize you should use?....reason I was asking is my plants last year got nutrients every time they got water until about june then once a week with the 10-10-10...when I was feeding every watering at first, I was using the 3.5-1.5-4
 
Josh, while my plants are still in the house I just....... **** L:shocked::shocked:king around for Pam**** use a 10-10-10 Miracle Grow. When I transplant outside I pull off all the buds and all the pods from every plant (over 300 plants this year). Then I hit them heavy with a 30-10-10 and about 2 weeks later when the buds start to form again I hit them with a 10-54-10. It works extrordinarily well for me. Then they just get regular garden Miracle Gro through the drip system once or twice more in the season.

Dale
 
Josh said:
Hey Guys and Gals,
I was wondering what you have found works well in terms of types of fertilizers and the NPK ratios? This is my second year growing so I am looking to keep things on the simple side. By that I mean one fertilizer not 3 that handle the NPK seperately. I am fine with switching during different stages of growth. For example, I was thinking about using Fox Farm's Open Sesame (5-45-19) followed by Beasti Bloomz (0-50-30) followed by Cha Ching (9-50-10). I have seen in other threads some people have championed chicken poop. As a result, I was also considering Peruvian Seabird Guano (11-13-3). I don't really know too much except that if there is too much Nitrogen you will end up with healthy plants and few peppers. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh


foxfarmfeeding.jpg


I've used fox farm nutrients for growing things before. They work great, just follow the feeding chart. You'd want the grow big, tiger bloom & big bloom if you could only get 3, not the 3 you listed.
 
AlabamaJack said:
Pam...does frequency of watering impact the strength of fertilize you should use?....reason I was asking is my plants last year got nutrients every time they got water until about june then once a week with the 10-10-10...when I was feeding every watering at first, I was using the 3.5-1.5-4

Honestly, I think most of you guys over fertilize. You run around with your nutes and hormones and stimulants, measuring this and measuring that and plotting graphs for maximal growth; and peppers just don't need that much fussing. What I do is probably overkill, but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
 
sht...

that chart just gave me a anxiety attack....

i think i am way over my head with my first true grow season...

grrrrr ! so many options, too many different ways, ferts, nutes, lights, watts, heat levels, ph factors, humidity, mold, bugs, chili peppers, flavours, heat scales !

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH ! ! ! !
 
thepodpiper said:
Are you talking about just as seedlings or for when you have them outside.

Dale

Well I am talking about both kind of. I figure start giving them something once they have 4 true leaves or so.
 
AJ, Pam, Pod Piper, and Hotpeppa thanks for the input. I am still unsure of what to get exactly but at least now I have some guidlines.
 
Okay, when I was kid raising tobacco and to a much lesser extent toms and some veggies, we applied 10-10-10 and 33-0-0 ferts to the field in late April/early May. When we transplanted the plants, dad also added a tiny bit of Liquid Fetilizer (33-0-0 at the rate of one cup per 55 gallons of water with each plant getting maybe 4-6 ounces of water on the roots. About three weeks after the plants were up, we sidedressed them, using 33-0-0 at the rate of about 100 pounds per 10,000 plants. That was it

I'm with Pam - be it peppers, toms, beans, cukes - they don't need a weekly or bi-weekly dose of ferts (hydro exempted). With the exception of Nitrogen products added late (when the veggies are close to fruiting) I've never seen harm done, but adding stuff after a certain point only drains your wallet.

JMO,

Mike
 
Txclosetgrower said:
I've used fox farm nutrients for growing things before. They work great, just follow the feeding chart. You'd want the grow big, tiger bloom & big bloom if you could only get 3, not the 3 you listed.

Hey TX,
Yea I checked out fox farm's products because everyone seems to say they are top notch. I am curious as to why the 3 I listed are no good? Is it because they are too strong like some of the others pointed out? Are they designed more for hydroponic type of growing? They caught my eye over the concentrates because of how little room they would take up. I could stack them on top of each other. This is obviously not the most important aspect in this decision but is still something I was considering.
Thanks for the help
Josh
 
wordwiz said:
Okay, when I was kid raising tobacco and to a much lesser extent toms and some veggies, we applied 10-10-10 and 33-0-0 ferts to the field in late April/early May. When we transplanted the plants, dad also added a tiny bit of Liquid Fetilizer (33-0-0 at the rate of one cup per 55 gallons of water with each plant getting maybe 4-6 ounces of water on the roots. About three weeks after the plants were up, we sidedressed them, using 33-0-0 at the rate of about 100 pounds per 10,000 plants. That was it

I'm with Pam - be it peppers, toms, beans, cukes - they don't need a weekly or bi-weekly dose of ferts (hydro exempted). With the exception of Nitrogen products added late (when the veggies are close to fruiting) I've never seen harm done, but adding stuff after a certain point only drains your wallet.

JMO,

Mike

Hmm I wish I was growing more than one of each variety next season then I could experiment. Maybe that will be in the works for next season. Last season I kind of did what you said. I started giving them MG Tomato Food after they got a few true leaves. I gave them that once every 2 weeks. Once buds appeared I stopped for a while. After that I only fed them probably 2 more times later in the season. It worked well but as it was my first season growing I figured I could do better this year.
Thanks for the advice.
Josh
 
Oh also. I was curious about the NPK. What do the numbers indicate exactly. I was under the impression they indicated the proportion of NPK to each other; however, if that was the case then wouldn't 10-10-10 just be expressed as 1-1-1? If that is the case then how would you compare fertilizers? For example, it might say 8-7-5 and another one say 3-1-1 but if they are only proportions then the fertilizer with 3 could theoretically supply more N than the 8. I think I have something wrong here. Someone please correct me.
 
they're percentages, so its important what the numbers are relative to each other but also what the magnitude of each individual number is (meaning 1:1:1 != 10:10:10)
i like the weakly weekly approach, i think about it in terms of people food. you can eat one big meal a day or you can have several smaller meals throughout the day, both keep you fed but the latter is just a little healthier. i use dnf grow a and b at about 1/4 or 1/8th strength every other watering.
 
Josh said:
Oh also. I was curious about the NPK. What do the numbers indicate exactly. I was under the impression they indicated the proportion of NPK to each other; however, if that was the case then wouldn't 10-10-10 just be expressed as 1-1-1? If that is the case then how would you compare fertilizers? For example, it might say 8-7-5 and another one say 3-1-1 but if they are only proportions then the fertilizer with 3 could theoretically supply more N than the 8. I think I have something wrong here. Someone please correct me.

My understanding is that some are ratios, some are percentages, and they usually let you know which they refer to. A ratio can be expressed as long as all the numbers remain integers (1:1:1:=99:99:99), but 9:4.5:8 in percentage terms not only tells you the ratio (needs a smart brain to compare ratios and percentages directly, something I am lacking in in this heat), but also the concentration of elements in the mixture. If you lok into the mix more closely, you will notice that the N can take different forms-ammonium or nitrate. Ammonium will either reduce the Ph or at least keep it constant, nitrate will keep the Ph constant. Im beginning to find out there is a lot more to fertiliser than firs though.
 
Pam said:
Honestly, I think most of you guys over fertilize. You run around with your nutes and hormones and stimulants, measuring this and measuring that and plotting graphs for maximal growth; and peppers just don't need that much fussing. What I do is probably overkill, but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I agree, peppers don't need much fertilizer and they especially don't need these super-bud formulas and growth stimulants and/or hormones.
 
Pam said:
Honestly, I think most of you guys over fertilize. You run around with your nutes and hormones and stimulants, measuring this and measuring that and plotting graphs for maximal growth; and peppers just don't need that much fussing. What I do is probably overkill, but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Pam, I have to totally agree with you, this year was the first time I used any ferts while they were seedlings under lights. But this year my tomato and peppers were turning yellowish and the plant pathologist suggested nitrogen deficiency so I gave them a blast of nitrogen and it fixed the problem. So then after the initial dose of ferts I think I gave them one more blast before plant out. Growing peppers is really not rocket science.

Dale
 
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