Down to Earth fertilizers

[akgardengirl]

Our local mill and feed carries this line so I can get the products easily instead of ordering them. I am looking at a couple of products in their extensive line.

1. Liquid All Purpose 4-3-3
2. All Purpose Dry 4-6-2
3. Bio-Live 5-4-2

Anyone used these or this brand? What about the NPK numbers? My big concern is not getting those in the proper amounts. I used the Xtreme Gardening Organic feeder packs last season, 3 to a 5 gallon pot and I had a problem with yellowing and drying out of leaves and generally poor looking plants until I started adding other nutrients. I was wondering if the N of 8 in those packs isn't too high? Ami says he likes them but he was referring to his in the ground plants.
Thanks,
Sue B.

[JamesL]

Sue,
8N is not too high. With all the watering you need to do in smaller containers you were probably just washing out the nutes. Are you going to feed continuously all season?
Not familiar with the products you list. Do they have the micro nutes covered as well?
Those NPK numbers would all be fine to get going.
Do they have a separate product you could use to bump up the K once you start flowering?

[amideutch]

Sue, How many packs were you using per plant. Ami

[RayR]

The Organic feeder packs are "Organic" after all. Do you inoculate your containers with beneficial bacteria and fungi? Without soil biology, no plant food.

I have some Organic feeder packs I'm going to try in a few containers this year, but I always supplement with liquid organics too during the growing season, especially in the beginning, never granular alone which is like a slow time release.

[akgardengirl]

Ami, I used 3 or 4 (whatever the instructions said) per plant in a 5 gallon pot. James, I usually water every other day or daily if the sun is out as we live in a cool climate and I did use Ami's plant dip recipe with the micros. I did try, for the first time, the Plant Warrior Pots last season and Sherry thought that maybe since there is such a large cone opening that they washed out too much of the fertilizer. This year I am going one each of the same plant in a regular black 5 gal. nursery pot and the PW 5 gal. pot to see if that is the problem. But back to the original question, has anyone used the Down to Earth stuff and what do you think of me using the dry All Purpose 4-6-2 and some Bio Live 5-4-2 when planting and then the liquid All Purpose during the short growing season? This company has many products and it would be just handy to be able to pick them up in town. More suggestions please!
Thanks,
Sue B.

[dice]

I would think you could use the All-Purpose or Bio-live and add a
half cup of langbeinite to each container to boost the potassium
for tomatoes. (It is a slow-release mineral.)

Down to Earth sells it, so it is probably available from your local
distributor:
http://www.groworganic.com/dte-lengb...-5-lb-box.html

(Other brands in other sizes are available in general:
http://www.groworganic.com/k-mag-nat...and-50-lb.html )

You could also use 1 tbsp/gallon mollases every couple of weeks
once they start to set fruit to supply extra potassium, too. I use
this stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/Evolved-Habita.../dp/B000KOPVP0
(I paid less than half that for a gallon from an agricultural supply
a few years ago.)

I have not used the DTE All-purpose or Bio-form dry or their liquid
fertilizer.

[akgardengirl]

Thanks Dice. I will follow your recommendations adding the langbeinite to the mix. I see that this company is in Oregon so maybe not too many people have tried it. I can't mess it up too bad I guess!
Sue B.

[RayR]

Langbeinite is Potassium Magnesium Sulfate, also called Sulfate of Potash Magnesia. Pretty common as part of many organic fertilizer blends.
It is considered a slower release mineral than some others, but it is 100% water soluble.

[Tonio]

Sul-po-mag(aka langebinite?) is 0-0-18?
What about greensand?0-0-3 w/ 30 micronutrients.

I've been eyeing Down to Earth products- especially Bio-live. DTE even makes neem meal. I would need to order, and the shipping cost if brutal

[dice]

Most vendors of greensand say not to use it to try to correct
a potassium deficiency in the same season that you apply it
to the soil. So I would guess that it releases its nutrients more
slowly than langbeinite.

(I do use greensand anyway for its micronutrients in in-ground
beds, about every 5 years. And I have Down to Earth brand,
which is what the garden/farm/nursery supply had in stock
the last time I bought it. I have used their hard rock phosphate,
too.)

They seem to be pretty well known in organic gardening circles,
their stuff is simply a bit pricy. Last year I got 20-lb bags of
Tomato-tone on sale, the year before that bags of Jobes Organics
2 for 1, the year before that I used a combination of Garden-tone
and Morcrop (cheap stuff from Lilly-Miller), etc. Some years I only
use horse manure and compost. The Down to Earth All Purpose
and Bio-Form Dry simply have not hit the sweet spot for what
I am willing to pay in a particular year yet. Their quality is probably
comparable to what I have used from other manufacturers of
organic fertilizers.