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To fert or not to fert...

MrOneEyedBoh

MrOneEyedBoh

As most of you know I've been asking a ton of questions, and some of you get a little ehh when I ask too detailed questions. And that's fine.

What I want to know is that, since these peppers popped up ALOT faster than I anticipated and even popped the soil alot faster then planned. So I had to go local and get some MG Cactus soil, I did not want to do that, but I had NO time to order the coco coir that I wanted to use.

None the less, I cannot switch to something else now. Now, do I have to add fertilizer to these peppers, or is the already added fert( Fertilizer Analysis = .12-.04-.08 ) enough for growth?

If not when and what should I add to the pots once transplanted outside?

thanks a bunch!
 
I am assuming that the MG Cactus grow is a 90 day feed is it not? Says something like feeds for up to 90 days.

If that is the case, you will get a lot of nitrogen early on when using this and as the 90 days go by, you will get less and less N. The P and K I think is used at a constant rate...this is what the MG people told me in late 2007 when I was using their peletized fertilize (that was PP (Pre-Pam)). Remember, high levels of Nitrogen draws aphids son be on the lookout for those little nasties.

Last year, I used standard non-fertilized potting mix I got from my local nursery and was very happy with my harvests.

Using a nonfertilized growing medium allows you to control what nutrients your plants get at what time during the growth cycle.
 
Oh I know, but this is all that I have around me ( major chains, lowes and Home Depot ) I have almost no local nurserys around me.

How/what is the best way to rid of those aphids?
 
all out nuclear war or napalm... :lol:

Pyrethrin sprays, neem oil, safer soap. I really like the safer soap but you have to absolutely drench the plants, tops and bottoms of the leaves...
 
right Dale...forgot about lady bugs...but they are hard to control indoors..

safer soap is an insecticidal soap that kills the aphids by clogging up their breathing system...you should be able to google safer soap and get a lot of hits since it is a patented name...I get it at my local nursery
 
Been there, done that...I set 22.5K loose in my garage last year thinking they wouldn't get in the house and boy was the wife aggrevated...
 
ladybugs would be nice but... haha

I'll check out that safer soap, thanks for the tip..

Is safer soap the most natural way? or is tehre a more natural way to control them.
 
that's why they call it "Safer" ***J/K*** :lol:

I have my concentrate sitting right in front of me and it says: "Safer Brand, OMRI Listed, Organic Materials Review Institute, For Organic Gardening". I think pyrethum and neem may both be listed by OMRI too but I have not checked.
 
ok so its organic, and seems safe :D I just have to apply liberally.


Oh, I never got an answer to the original question :) What kind of fert should I use after the MG ferts are all used up? Thanks!

Here is an excerpt from the Cactus soil bag.. It says after 3 weeks. That seems super short for their ferts to run out...

 
I probably sound like a Botanicare commercial...that's all I use the first part of the season...concentrate that is added at the rate of 1/2 Tbsp per gallon of the vegetative formula until 2 weeks after they have germinated, then I go to 1 Tbsp per gallon of the vegetative (3-1.5-4) until the flowering starts, then I switch to the fruit/flower formula (2-4-5) (I use ProGro. I use this for every watering so the plants are getting nutrients pretty regularly....
 
I usually add something along the lines of 5-10-10 (this year, it will be the organic equivalent) the first time they need watered after germination.

Mike
 
MrOneEyedBoh said:
alright. Is there anything organic that I can use?
Click to expand...

Try a Google Search - they are hundreds of products you can buy on-line and it's possible a store near you may carry something similar.

Mike
 
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