AusBonsai

hey all

just wondering at what rate do u mix ur liquid ferts am going to try seasol powerfeed but the instructions a bit vague to me all help appreciated

cheers mick

i just put whatever actually never really measure

I don't really measure either, but I suggest the normal rate as specified on the packet.

Cheers

Depends what you are fertilising - be careful with the Powerfeed on Natives. As it is a chemical fertiliser the phosphate may affect and even kill if you were to use it at higher than the recommended doses. I killed about 6 Banksias from an very ambitious fertiliser regime which included Powerfeed at nearly twice the reommended dose. I would suggest you start at about half strength and work up from there.


Tony

I like to use 1/2 strength regularly, don't feed them too much in the spring or the leaves will get huge.
Craigw

I'm with Craig, half the strength, twice as often.

I mix at 1.5x recommended strength for most of my trees

Michael wrote:hey all

just wondering at what rate do u mix ur liquid ferts am going to try seasol powerfeed but the instructions a bit vague to me all help appreciated

cheers mick

on the back in application rates for trees it states 90ml per 9 ltrs of water would u class our bonsai as full on trees or ease back friends ie says 10ml per 9 ltrs for ferns. thanks for the advice tony re natives did not know that.
so when do suggest to start a good feeding regime peoples interested in all ur thoughts.


cheers mick

i also apply half strengh when using liquid fert, also i read somewhere to only use liquid ferts that have a low nitrogen level?

Hi Michael,
Please be very careful what you use on natives. Natives should have a phosphorous level of 2.0 or less. Charlie carp has a level of 2.0 and Powerfeed has a level of 1.4. I alternate between Charlie carp and Powerfeed. Both of these can be used at the recommended levels. Be careful with Seasol seaweed concentrate. I personally don't use Seasol on natives. When using it on ever greens, deciduous and figs I use it at about half strength.

Regards Ray

Mackray, you say be careful of Seasol, do you mind me asking what to be careful of? I use seasol on all of my trees, natives included and have never had a prolem. You have just put a small amount to doubt in my mind.

Cheers

ive always gone by the rule of thumb,that it should look like a weak tea..
Better to under fead a little and learn to give it a bit more than to over feed and burn your tree...It hasnt let me down as yet.
All the best
dave.

hey all

good advice all round but i think an actual mixing ratio would help many of us say if using powerfeed concentrate at what ratio do u mix.maybe same for say aquasol if thats your preferred or list what u use and to what ratios once again i find this of great interest as i think others would.it is not to be taken as solid advice bye no means but general advice to make decisions on what is suggested.hope this makes sense guys and gals see how we go.


cheers mick

I personally don't believe in mixing at half rate doses and do not understand the reasoning behind why some people do this. Bonsai are trees, and u should fertilize them at the correct recommended dose not half doses,

Hutch11 wrote:I personally don't believe in mixing at half rate doses and do not understand the reasoning behind why some people do this. Bonsai are trees, and u should fertilize them at the correct recommended dose not half doses,

Half the strength but also twice as often is the same amount of fertiliser. Just applied more gently and more evenly. I guess its different if you are force feeding growth or just maintaining an established tree.

I'm also interested in seasol. I wish I had shares in that company. It seems that everybody is using it all the time. Sometimes I wonder if we don't just fall for all the hype and advertising. I do remember reading someones post a little while back questioning why we would want to be messing about with the delicate balance of something like root producing hormones in an established plant. I can understand using it on cuttings or newly root pruned trees just to stimulate some extra root growth but that post did make me wonder if it needs to be poured on all our trees every week.

neal.