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Fertilization Question

Mjdtexan

Mjdtexan

This morning I mixed one eighth of a tea spoon of Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food into a gallon of water and misted some of that onto the plants that have their first set of true leaves developed. I swear the plants look like they have enjoyed it. They look vibrant. Maybe its my imagination, I dunno.

My question is- how ofter are you guys feeding your seedlings once you start feeding them?
 
Last year I started with jiffy pellets and once the roots started to show out the bottom of the pellet I potted them into 16 oz cups using Miracle Grow potting mix. The potting mix has some fert already in it and I did not add any extra while they were inside (about 8 weeks).
As best I could tell they were healthy the whole time.
 
I believe they like the mist; being tropical plants they absorb the moisture quite readily. I try to mist every day now, and only water when the the soil gets so dry I see one or two little plants begin to wilt; then I give them all a good soaking from the bottom.

If the liquid nutes are weak enough you should be able to mist with them every day without problems. I only use fish based organic, so that is much safer/gentler, imo, then chemical fertilizers.

I should add that I only mist in morning or evening when they won't get direct sun until after they have dried.
 
Miracle Gro and other synthetic ferts are salt based and too localized. So, your soil ends up depleted and dead essentially because the natural biologicals can only break down organic matter. The salts literally leach the soil and your plant becomes completely dependent on the chemical ferts. They are far too localized because they are manufactured to be that way. Organic ferts are broad and enable the plant to convert nurtrients, etc. to their fullest, getting maximum utilization and overall healthier, more resilient plants. When your plants are young you should fertilize on the perimeter of the plants so that the roots have to work to get to it. Also, you should only water on the perimeter of the young plants. I've used liquid and soild based organic ferts and both work great with the former working a bit quicker. Make sure they have humic acid and myco.
 
I mix my own nuits for my seedlings. One TBSP of tomato-tone per gallon of water, aerate or mix for a day or two and bottom feed my seedlings with it one week, the next week I use only tap water that has been aerated or rainwater when available. The TT has some Nitrogen in it that is not water soluble, but I'm not a big fan of N for seedlings - I want a huge root ball. Avoiding the nitrogen also has the benefit of keeping the seedlings from growing vertically quickly.

Mike
 
I agree that chemical plant foods can hurt the soil. That's why I never use it in my garden. But, when you are talking about small plants that are growing in a small container filled with a soiless growing medium like peat or coir you have little choice but to use a water soluble plant food to give them the nutrients they need.

I feed my seedlings a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon Miracle-Gro plant food (15-30-15) per gallon of water each time I water. I begin when I plant the seed and continue until I plant the seedlings in my garden. I've been using this method for several years and I have always had healthy plants to transplant to the garden.


Alan
 
SanSoo said:
I believe they like the mist; being tropical plants they absorb the moisture quite readily..
Click to expand...

Many chile plants are not tropical and thrive in upland deserts where water is scarce.
 
+1
 
I have already planted some seedling via miralcle grow potting mix into 16 ounce cups. Would it be beneficial for me to use some type of fertilizer or should I wait until they go outside in the garden? I was thinking of mixing up a diluted mixture of miracle grow fert, like Mr_Al mentioned, but I don't want to damage the plants. I was just thinking about what to do this morning and wa la, I see this thread.
 
Southern-Pepper said:
I have already planted some seedling via miralcle grow potting mix into 16 ounce cups. Would it be beneficial for me to use some type of fertilizer or should I wait until they go outside in the garden? I was thinking of mixing up a diluted mixture of miracle grow fert, like Mr_Al mentioned, but I don't want to damage the plants. I was just thinking about what to do this morning and wa la, I see this thread.
Click to expand...

I've potted up using Miracle-Gro potting soil before and I just kept on using the 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water mixture on them and they did fine.


Alan
 
I use the miracle grow potting mix to pot up as well. As it already has a slow release fert in it, I generally don't fetilize any more until they go in the garden. I too have healthy looking plants ready for the garden if I don't mess up while hardening off. It is more or less about what you would like to do. You can get healthy plants either way. But if they start to look like they need some, I use half strength fish emulsion.

jacob
 
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