best general liquid feed?

[Al]

hi all,

i'm currently using miracle grow on all my plants, and have done for many years, but i am thinking of switching to a tomato feed.

what do you guys recommend?

all advice and replies welcome.

thanks in advance,
Al.

[GaryW]

Standard Miracle Gro is ok for bedding plants only - no magnesium !!??? Chempak or Phostrogen are complete feeds as is Miracle Gro Ericaceous or Azalea feed or whatever it's called now You don't need to be too 'OCD' about ratios as a general feed. I use MG ericaceous or Phostrogen ericaceous for acid lovers and Chempak no 4 or std Phostrogen for everything else. Seaweed extract every week or two and job's a good 'un !!

[Kristen]

i am thinking of switching to a tomato feed.

Wouldn't have called that "general purpose" though ... fine (in fact "good" I would think) for flowering / fruiting plants, but less good for things not yet at that stage, or leafy plants.

If you have a small garden, and thus the amount you use is small and thus-x2 the cost difference probably negligible, you could look at more specialist fertilizers (such as Chempak, or perhaps a slow release one like Osmacote).

For Tomato fertilizer suggest you buy cheapest Brand-X, the posh brand are much more expensive and I've never seen any difference in ingredients worth the extra money. Watch out for "how many gallons" they mix up to though, no sense buying one 50% weaker for only half the money.

[Dave Brown]

I use Miracle-gro, as it has a higher nitrogen ratio, which is good for big leaves. I didn't realise it did not have any Magnesium, just checked the pack, and Gary is right, it doesn't. It doesn't make any difference to me though, as I give Epsom Salts every couple of weeks, to gether with a generous helping of Maxicrop seaweed extract. Particularly as I bought 10 litres of it

Tomato feed is overpriced as for a specific purpose. If I want high Potash I use Wilkinsons own which is good for flowers. Particularly Brugmansia.

[The Codfather]

dave, whe do you get your epsom salts from....? I have used all me dads.... and which one of these do you all use http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... ed&_sop=15

last year I used Chicken poo pellets with MG mulitpurpose plant food, Epsom Salts, tomatoe feed (form the £1 shop) and when I feed my lawn I over spray into the boraders with MG lawn feed for a mad Nitrogen feed (Normally twice a year).

[Kristen]

whe do you get your epsom salts from....?

Garden Centre much cheaper than Chemist - but GC sells KG packets and you might not want that much (if you are spraying its only a teaspoon or two per Gallon (from memory) so you don't need much.

[Al]

went to homebase after dinner and picked up some phostrogen.

i'll give this a go and see if it betters the MG i use.

while there, i picked up another canna and a coleus. couldn't resist

[photonbucket]

I never know how often to feed plants, when to start and finish during the year, how much to give.

I just do it when can be bothered!

[GREVILLE]

Used phostrogen for years and occasionally the Chempak range. Using standard Miraclegro now but alternating with a liquid feed that has a reasonable level of magnesium. Haven't seen any phostrogen, this year

[GREVILLE]

PS, it's not in my local GC nor Homebase, either

[Mr List]

what is the issue with miracle grow not having magnesium in it?

[GaryW]

what is the issue with miracle grow not having magnesium in it?

Other than the NPK it's needed by plants in larger quantities than the trace elements, but std MG doesn't contain it whereas the ericaceous version does. Long term you may end up with a deficiency if you rely on that alone.That, plus the blue dye that stains your fingers and the fact it froths over if you use a watering can are the reasons I won't use it. So to answer your question I don't know what their issue is, seems totally daft to me

[Kristen]

what is the issue with miracle grow not having magnesium in it?

I think Magnesium is key to the uptake of Potash (or maybe its the other way round, Potash feeding then prevents the plant taking up Magnesium that it needs for something else).

I wonder why they left it out of M.G. ... easy enough to put back using Epsom Salts (now that I know, thanks chaps )

[kata]

We used Phostrogen on our allotment, nice its still around,

You can't really overfeed with it either. Use it neat around plants or in a can of water.

[GREVILLE]

I'm no scientist, but I studied food science and nutrition aeons ago and the simple logic of supplying all your nutritional needs through a balanced diet surely works the same for the needs of plants.

If a product like Miraclegro 'produces twice the growth' responding to a greater intake of nutrients, when one of those minerals is absent the existing levels of that mineral will be depleted twice as fast.All we have to do is top it up. Whether we use a feed that contains everything or a booster that requires supplementing the choice is ours.