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Purpose of "Non-plant Food Ingredients"

patrick

patrick

Picked up a box of Foxfarm Peace of Mind Fruit and Flower fertilizer and was wondering about the non plant food ingredients. I know about fillers and preservatives and such but there is a list of 20 different ingredients associated with Mycorrihizae content and bacterial specifications. If these things are not plant food then what are they feeding? Is it the micro organisms and beneficial bacteria and such that reside in growing mediums?

Anybody use this stuff or anything similar? What are the benefits of feeding the non plant stuff?

Thanks.
 
How's it going Pat! I don't have experience with that specific product but do use the FF Happy Frog Tomato/Veg fertilizer. If you look on their website the Happy Frog line seems to be the exact of the Peace of Mind line. It has the same nonfood ingredients. I picked up this product for my in-ground plants since the myco and other beneficial organisms help break down organic matter in soil and make nutrients more available to the plants. People claim by going this organic approach you can worry less about soil pH and fertilizing as long as there's plenty of organic matter in the soil to keep the soil foodweb sustainable. Well I'm putting theory to practice and have never checked my ground pH.

Here's a pic for you Pat. This is a 7Pod from seeds you were kind enough to send out beginning of the year. The plant's around 3 months old and transplanted with dose of Happy Frog once. I'll probably give another dose since it's starting to flower. Kind of been neglecting this plant when it comes to watering and general care overall. It gets what mother nature gives it or when I'm kind of enough to remember. I think it's doing alright on its own. Can't wait for the pods now :) Thanks again Pat you da man

bs7pod01.jpg
 
Patrick,

I think what it is is stuff that the plants themselves do not use but as tch posted, contribute to making it easier for plants to absorb the nuits they need. Tomato-tone fertilizer also has a bunch of this stuff in it and I have found the fert works wonders - unless you want tall plants with mostly foliage - which I don't. I like plants like the above: short, lush and green.

BTW, I'm glad to see his 7-pod doesn't seem to have a 'heart' either. I feared a cat had ate mine but it must be a trait of the plant.

Mike
 
Hey tch! Good to hear from you bro. Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of the relationship with pH. That sounds fine to me as I think the problems I had last year had a lot to do with that.

That 7 pod looks great! I would love to have mine looking that thick and bushy. You've got a centerfold working there.

Thanks to you to wiz.

I'm not familiar with the term "heart" when it refers to something associated with a pepper plant, sorry.
 
In nature, plants only grow in an appropriate environment; light, moisture, temperature and food. All living things need a balanced diet to be healthy. The proper environment is a combination of "everything" necessary for for health and that's not just "food"; it includes micro-organisms (bacteria). Even we humans are infested (maybe bad wording) with bacteria, without which, we'd die or at best live a sickly life.
The same is true for all living things and that's probably why compost is the single most important thing for terrestrial (in the ground) growing of plants. Lacking good compost a really complete fertilizer is the next best thing. Vermicompost (worm castings) is a good source of these bacteria also. That's basically what organic gardening is all about.
My 2 cents worth. Cheers.
 
We may not be actually aware of it but the human diet also consists a lot of beneficial bacteria and probably even microscopic fungus that helps our bodies chug along properly.

Dairy products are just filled with all sorts of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt and cheeses most especially. Sadly most milk nowadays have been processed to death that all the good stuff has been taken out.

Anyway, sorry to stray from the topic. If people rely heavily on these things for their existence. It wouldnt be so strange that plants would too.
 
Besides how would you feel paying all that money for couple of small vials containing just the good stuff, they have to make it so everyone thinks its the hole big bag they bought and its all good stuff.
 
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