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fertilizer Fish fertilizer

S

Shawn Reed

Hey everyone,

Hope the week is going well for everyone. I picked up a bottle of Neptunes Harvest Fish Fertilizer 2-4-1. Im gonna fertilize my seedlings that have two and three sets of true leaves. It was recommended to use half strength and every two weeks. Ive seen some people recommend using this every 7-10 days at half strength. What do you guys think? I was thinking every 14 days bc I dont want to overdo it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Shawn
 
I do not fertilize my plants until they are outside, in the ground or growbags, and even then, not for a couple weeks after transplant.
 
However, I do pot them up in Ocean Forest while under the lights, so they have plenty of nutrients.
 
What medium are you using for your seedlings?
 
alkhall said:
I do not fertilize my plants until they are outside, in the ground or growbags, and even then, not for a couple weeks after transplant.
 
However, I do pot them up in Ocean Forest while under the lights, so they have plenty of nutrients.
 
What medium are you using for your seedlings?
Click to expand...
As alkhall said , it depends on your medium .
 
I use 50/50 compost and coco coir and do not need ferts till they go outside .
 
Straight coco coir will need half strength fish ferts every one to two weeks.
 
With seedlings at 2-3 sets of true leaves in a seed starting mix you could probably feed half strength at every other watering. Or you could make up a weaker solution and give it to them at every watering/feed. 1/4 - 1/3 strength of their recommended application rate (15 mL/gal.) So, 1/3 is about 1 tsp/gal. or 5 mL and 1/4 would be about 4 mL/gal. 
I have some seedlings around that stage, and I have given them neptune's fish and seaweed 2-3-1. 
I use it sparingly, because I don't think it's ideal to supplement a lot of Phosphate at the seeding stage. I'm sure its a good to use occasionally, but I probably wouldn't make it their only food. I think excess P will cause them to stretch more in height. 
Instead, I sometimes feed my seedlings with compost tea, and I'll alternate with worm castings and molasses tea. Both 1-0-1.
If you're going to continue giving them that liquid feed, I recommend alternating it with another that has more soluble N and available K. Or add a nitrogen and potassium-rich soil amendment like alfalfa or kelp meal or just a slow-release fertilizer.
The only issue with using slow-release N in the soil is that, if there is too much N left in the soil during flowering it can cause blossom drop.
That being said, I think your 2-4-1 is a liquid feed ratio that would be best used in flower.
For the seedling and vegetative stage you really want to begin fertilizing by increasing soluble N and growing leaves before the plant matures and begins to flower.
During flower and fruit set, P is in much higher demand and the plant stretch that it enables is natural with the upper nodes of the canopy already forking.
I am using the same product on my mature plants that are podding up.
 
Ive seen really good results using a fish seaweed mix on smaller seedling. Growth vs not using ferts was dramatic. I think it was mostly from the seaweed. Neptunes has a fish seaweed blend. A buddy used it on his seedlings last year with great results.
 
Im pretty much sold on kelp meal or liquid seaweed for early plant growth. Wait until there are at least 3-4 sets of true leaves.
 
I've been feeding mine every time I water them. I switch between Alaskan fish(5-1-1), Alaskan step one(2-1-0), and some browns fish hydrosalate.
(2-3-1)

And ive gave them compost tea a couple times too. Diluted it and added fish and step one. They seem to like 5ml of fish and 10ml of step one per gallon, every watering. Mine were looking deficient, and now most look really good, and have outgrown the space I have for them.
 
Walchit said:
I've been feeding mine every time I water them. I switch between Alaskan fish(5-1-1), Alaskan step one(2-1-0), and some browns fish hydrosalate.
(2-3-1)

And ive gave them compost tea a couple times too. Diluted it and added fish and step one. They seem to like 5ml of fish and 10ml of step one per gallon, every watering. Mine were looking deficient, and now most look really good, and have outgrown the space I have for them.
Click to expand...
How much are you diluting the Alaskan 5-1-1?
 
Walchit said:
I've been feeding mine every time I water them. I switch between Alaskan fish(5-1-1), Alaskan step one(2-1-0), and some browns fish hydrosalate.
(2-3-1)

And ive gave them compost tea a couple times too. Diluted it and added fish and step one. They seem to like 5ml of fish and 10ml of step one per gallon, every watering. Mine were looking deficient, and now most look really good, and have outgrown the space I have for them.
Click to expand...
 
I just tried adding fish hydrolysate to a compost tea recipe. Mine has the same nutrient profile. Have you brewed tea with that yet?
 
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