Any input on this Alaska dry fish fertilizer?

greenthumbomaha · January 9, 2017

Alaska® by Pennington® Pure Dry Fish Fertilizer 8-5-0

3 lb.
For Colorful Flowers & Blooms

Made with 100% Pure Fish
Dust-Free Pellets—No Mixing
Contains Slow Release Nitrogen

What do you make of this product-they don't feature the fact that it has calcium. I was jumping for joy. I picked 2 bags up for a dollar each at Menards. Comes in a shiny blue (for the sea?) bag. Its a closeout item and I never noticed it before , got the last two. I'll be tickled not to have their liquid product in my nostrils indoors for a week, and to not pay $15.99 for the hydrolyzed equivalent.

- Lisa

AKmark · January 9, 2017

Lisa, it is missing K which is the most important element for growing tomatoes, then N, then Ca, MgSO4 then P, they also should have micronutrients too. It may work, but that is my two cents.

maxjohnson · January 10, 2017

I think some application early on is okay, but too much nitrogen later on will give you lots of leaves and less flowering. Might need to add some potash maybe. Of course, it also depends on what your soil already have.

Cole_Robbie · January 10, 2017

I stopped using fish ferts for seedlings because I get stem rot and pythium from them, which is really my own fault for letting my plants get so cold at night. It would work fine if I didn't let them get below 50F or so.

greenthumbomaha · January 11, 2017

Its very odd and possibly a misprint. I stopped in another Menards scoping out deals (it isn't really considering the large bags are actually cheaper for large scale growing). There I bought a bag of Alaska All Purpose reduced to 94cents from $6.98. It's formulation is 6-1-1. I see online stores sell a version that is 6-4-6 with basically the same ingredients in the same order.

I used to buy Fox Farm but its very costly now. I didn't have any troubles with rot, but I wasn't using the cold treatment at that time. Hopefully the house won't get under 50 at night this year!

I've fallen into the too much N situation when I used Espoma Vegetable instead of Tomatoes formulation. They had lots of green for a long time. I was wondering if I'd ever get fruit but it did catch up and produce well. Peppers didn't care - they exploded when it warmed up.

As Mark pointed out, the bags are missing a critical component for plant metabolism, particularly tomatoes. I wonder if its' too slow release for something fast growing like container lettuce.

- Lisa

FourOaks · January 11, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I stopped using fish ferts for seedlings because I get stem rot and pythium from them, which is really my own fault for letting my plants get so cold at night. It would work fine if I didn't let them get below 50F or so.

Hmm... oddly enough the last 2 years, I had some stem rot as well. Oddly enough the last 2 years are the only 2 years that I ever used fish fertilizer.

I never put 2 and 2 together.

January 9, 2017	#1
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Any input on this Alaska dry fish fertilizer? Alaska® by Pennington® Pure Dry Fish Fertilizer 8-5-0 3 lb. For Colorful Flowers & Blooms Made with 100% Pure Fish Dust-Free Pellets—No Mixing Contains Slow Release Nitrogen What do you make of this product-they don't feature the fact that it has calcium. I was jumping for joy. I picked 2 bags up for a dollar each at Menards. Comes in a shiny blue (for the sea?) bag. Its a closeout item and I never noticed it before , got the last two. I'll be tickled not to have their liquid product in my nostrils indoors for a week, and to not pay $15.99 for the hydrolyzed equivalent. - Lisa

January 10, 2017	#3
maxjohnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: OH 6a Posts: 592	I think some application early on is okay, but too much nitrogen later on will give you lots of leaves and less flowering. Might need to add some potash maybe. Of course, it also depends on what your soil already have. Last edited by maxjohnson; January 10, 2017 at 02:32 PM.

January 11, 2017	#5
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Its very odd and possibly a misprint. I stopped in another Menards scoping out deals (it isn't really considering the large bags are actually cheaper for large scale growing). There I bought a bag of Alaska All Purpose reduced to 94cents from $6.98. It's formulation is 6-1-1. I see online stores sell a version that is 6-4-6 with basically the same ingredients in the same order. I used to buy Fox Farm but its very costly now. I didn't have any troubles with rot, but I wasn't using the cold treatment at that time. Hopefully the house won't get under 50 at night this year! I've fallen into the too much N situation when I used Espoma Vegetable instead of Tomatoes formulation. They had lots of green for a long time. I was wondering if I'd ever get fruit but it did catch up and produce well. Peppers didn't care - they exploded when it warmed up. As Mark pointed out, the bags are missing a critical component for plant metabolism, particularly tomatoes. I wonder if its' too slow release for something fast growing like container lettuce. - Lisa Last edited by greenthumbomaha; January 11, 2017 at 12:37 AM.

January 9, 2017	#2
AKmark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Wasilla Alaska Posts: 2,010	Lisa, it is missing K which is the most important element for growing tomatoes, then N, then Ca, MgSO4 then P, they also should have micronutrients too. It may work, but that is my two cents.

January 10, 2017	#4
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I stopped using fish ferts for seedlings because I get stem rot and pythium from them, which is really my own fault for letting my plants get so cold at night. It would work fine if I didn't let them get below 50F or so.