AusBonsai

Gday everyone,

It is often said and read that a good fertiliser for bonsai feeding should have a balanced NPK ratio/rating, i.e 10:10:10. Many people swear by powerfeed (seasol product) which has an NPK ratio of 12:1.4:7.

This seems fairly unbalanced in my opinion. I also use powerfeed and have had no problems using it, however is there a more balanced fertiliser out there. If its true a balanced fertiliser is preferred, then why do so many of us swear by powerfeed which appears unbalanced and has fairly low phosphorus amounts?

Hi Hutch, i use powerfeed and the result are very good compared with seasol in the white bottle .I still cant find the N.P.K ratio of normal seasol .I also use the term "powerfeed" by this i mean a combination of ferts working similtaneously and weekly or fortnightly doses .We have an excellent Farmers co-op up here and they attempted to sort some ferts out for me ,unfortunately you have to buy a metric tonne of it to get any where close to a balanced Fert.

Most ferts are high in Nitrogen and Potassium and low in Phosphorus , they are blended for foliage/flower and root growth .Who wants a Sumo vegie plant or a Sumo flower bush .Some Commercial ferts are more balanced but the quantity you have to purchase doesn't justify the outlay .Good foliage and good roots produces a good balanced healthy tree .Cheers Alpine

G'day fellas, hi alpineart, here is your answer, got it from the link at bottom.
http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=67
What is the NPK of Seasol?

Seasol contains only very minor quantities of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (N 0.10% : P 0.05% : K 2%). Seasol stimulates growth because it contains naturally occurring growth stimulants that have profound effects on plant metabolism. The growth stimulants in Seasol produce strong healthy growth of leaves, stems and root systems, and result in enhanced flowering and fruiting. They also strengthen plant cell walls, thereby increasing resistance to stresses such as drought, heat and frost, as well as insect attack and disease. Seasol also contains many trace elements which are essential for plant health.
http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=67
Regards
James

Thanks for the info James .Add higher NPK as in powerfeed and we have a good fert .I certainly have found greater results using powerfeed over seasol Cheers Alpine

i use powerfeed for liwuid fert and seaweed seasol for soil conditioning, great combo in my opinion.

add a slow release and a solid fertilizer every now and then and im home and hosed.

I have noticed Don Burke suggests Nitrosol and seasol so it could also be a good combination.
Ever wonderd why they don't come mixed

Thats a really good point Bretts. Can anyone answer that, why dont powerfeed and seasol come mixed??

I think the reason they dont come mixed has alot to do with marketing and sales.

Keep em seperate and then consumers will have to buy both if they are looking for a balanced fert/feed. If they were combined we would only have to pay for one lot of packaging/printing labels ect thus bringing the price down of the purchase of one unit instead of the purchase of both units(twice the packaging.labels etc). Sneeky arnt they.

I use both seasol and the powerfeed, dynamic lifter and I also use Bloom Booster in the winter

I started to wonder why someone just didn't make the perfect fertiliser so there was no need to mix. What I found is there are all soughts of chemical reactions that can happen when mixing fertilisers. Unless the instructions say to or you know for sure what you are doing it is not a great idea.
Seasol and Powerfeed state that they can be mixed in the same application but also states when mixed it must be used straight away. There are other fertilisers out there that will actually lock nutrients and they become unusable by the plant. Other times it is simply that the structure becomes cloggy or something.
You should only mix fertilisers if you know exactly what you are doing. The best idea is wonder why the manufacturer never thought to do it!

I know of one fert created wear certain incompatible fertilisers are put together and the chemical reaction heats it up so much it boils for two days but with management they are able to combine certain fertilisers that don't usually go together. I remember It was not cheap but I might give it a go one day.

Many Bonsai people love making thier own fertiliser mix but you need to remember that unless you know exactly what you are doing you may do more harm than good.

Yeah I am hearing ya Bretts,
I will just follow the manufacturers directions and alternate fortnightly like I have done in the past.

By the way Bretts I wanted to thank you for arranging the Medium purchase mate, I finally have some great medium for my azaleas.

G'day all, I have been checking out some nutrients and fertilizers in the last day or so and some of my findings are.... (Scotts) Miracle-Gro Max Feed All Purpose has an NPK of 15 : 13.1 : 12.4 which is fairly even "as close as I have found so far anyway" to a perfect balance 10 : 10 : 10, BUT, it has a wetting agent added, and I was wondering if this would effect the absorption rate of Diatomite Etc Mediums, if people use it ( Diatomite ), because wetting agents usually make water go straight thru your potting medium. Also ( Scotts ) have a product called Miracle-Gro Seafeed 3 in 1, which has both Seaweed and Fish Emulsion in it total NPK being 1.75 : 0.46 : 0.84 which of cause isn't great, but at least you get the two major products in it as a nutrient, you can check it out here if you wish to http://www.scottsaustralia.com.au
James

No worries Archie

The closeest I found to 10:10:10 is Total cover from Nutritech not easy to find and the dosage rates are all buggerd as they converted them from farm application but a good one if you can get it.
http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/ ... lenium.pdf