help with fertilizers!

aimeruni · April 16, 2014

I posted this in soil building initially cause I thought it would be the best place for it. I am reposting it here because this mix is used in container gardening; unfortunately I didn't realize there was a subforum for container gardening on this forum until after I posted it in the soil building forum.

I make my own soilless mix; I know it's not technically soil, but I figured this was the best place to post this, as my question is about something going into the mix I make.

The mix I make is listed below; it's a large batch, and each lg. batch makes 30-35 gallons.

2-3 cubic feet pine bark fines/pine bark mulch
5 gallons spaghnum peat moss
5 gallons perlite

The 'recipe' also says 2 cups of slow release (a.k.a. time release fertilizer).
Normally I mix in Osmocote; however for my peppers and eggplants, this fertilizer is too much for them...I get huge plants and no fruit.

I want to mix in a granular time-release fertilizer, but will this work with a container gardening mix?

The two I've found are dynamite (which is balanced and it's for veggies and flowers) and Tomato Tone. Are these time/slow release? Would they work for container gardening? Could I just mix them directly into the soil when I make my mix?

Below are links of what the fertilizers I'm considering using look like...

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/dy...Fa5DMgodRyIACA

http://www.amleo.com/product.aspx?p=...Fe87MgodVxgA-w

I would prefer not to do surface fertilizing; I would prefer to just mix the fertilizer into the soil when I mix it...it will just make things simpler and easier.

April 16, 2014	#1
aimeruni Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brooksville FL, zone 9a Posts: 67	help with fertilizers! I posted this in soil building initially cause I thought it would be the best place for it. I am reposting it here because this mix is used in container gardening; unfortunately I didn't realize there was a subforum for container gardening on this forum until after I posted it in the soil building forum. I make my own soilless mix; I know it's not technically soil, but I figured this was the best place to post this, as my question is about something going into the mix I make. The mix I make is listed below; it's a large batch, and each lg. batch makes 30-35 gallons. 2-3 cubic feet pine bark fines/pine bark mulch 5 gallons spaghnum peat moss 5 gallons perlite The 'recipe' also says 2 cups of slow release (a.k.a. time release fertilizer). Normally I mix in Osmocote; however for my peppers and eggplants, this fertilizer is too much for them...I get huge plants and no fruit. I want to mix in a granular time-release fertilizer, but will this work with a container gardening mix? The two I've found are dynamite (which is balanced and it's for veggies and flowers) and Tomato Tone. Are these time/slow release? Would they work for container gardening? Could I just mix them directly into the soil when I make my mix? Below are links of what the fertilizers I'm considering using look like... http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/dy...Fa5DMgodRyIACA http://www.amleo.com/product.aspx?p=...Fe87MgodVxgA-w I would prefer not to do surface fertilizing; I would prefer to just mix the fertilizer into the soil when I mix it...it will just make things simpler and easier.