Fertilizer Testing

Bladefan · May 12, 2012

I have heard about several uncommon forms of fertilizer recently and decided to conduct an experiment to see which one is best. There are 4 kinds I am testing, with a fifth being a combination of all four. There is of course the control plant to which I am adding only water. Medium is fox farms ocean forest. The plants are some form of hybrid from last year...seed was saved by my grandfather and was not labled...

The fertilizers are as follows...

Salt - a combination of Atlantic sea salt, real salt and dead sea salt

GHFN - General Hydroponics Flora Nova which gave me great results on my seedlings this year

Golden Treasure - I have read of good results using urine and wood ash so here it is just diluted and without the ash

Rock dust - this is not any commercial product from glaciers but rather a combination of granite from around the world, quartz, limestone, travertine and marble, all from the granite shop saw that cuts granite slabs. The mud was dried and screened leaving a very fine dust of rock powder

All 4 - this is a combination of all four of the above

Control - nothing but water here

I was very interested in testing out these various alternate fertilizers and I will post the progress as time continues...the first photo was taken several weeks ago when all seedling were more or less the same size. The second photo shows the results as of today...

kath · May 12, 2012

Well, this is interesting...I love experiments and will be watching the progress. Are you making just one application of fertilizer?

Bladefan · May 12, 2012

I am applying one tablespoon of diluted solution twice a week...

Marymcp · May 16, 2012

I'll be interested in watching this thread. Thanks for the link from "Rock Dust"

Bladefan · January 16, 2013

Final results put rock/ granite dust as the most effective...general hydroponics was also good

RayR · January 17, 2013

Considering Ocean Forest is a nutrient rich and biologically active potting soil to begin with maybe some of your additives were creating a nutrient imbalance or had compounds that were detrimental to growth like the salts. The rock powders wouldn't add any significant NPK value, just a little more micros as the bacteria break down the minerals. How did the control plant with just Ocean Forest and plain water compare with the others?

Tracydr · January 17, 2013

I think your experiment should to be done long enough for plants to fruit in a medium that doesn't provide much,, like Diamectacous earth.
Also, I would think basic stuff, like NPK would need to be provided in each fertilizer to even be a valid test. Otherwise, it's bound to fail at a point and easy to know why.
Maybe start with fish emulsion or something of this sort and then add the salt, rock dust,etc for your experiment to each group. If you're not worried about organic, you could start with Miracle grow or a hydroponics formula for the NPK and then add the salt, rock dust, and wood ash to each.
Urine is providing nitrogen. If your others don't have any nitrogen added, well, it's pretty easy to know what to expect from the groups.

amideutch · January 18, 2013

Quote:

Considering Ocean Forest is a nutrient rich and biologically active potting soil to begin with maybe some of your additives were creating a nutrient imbalance or had compounds that were detrimental to growth like the salts. The rock powders wouldn't add any significant NPK value, just a little more micros as the bacteria break down the minerals. How did the control plant with just Ocean Forest and plain water compare with the others?

Agreed, Ocean Forest is considered "Hot" as far as ferts are concerned. So it isn't surprising the rock/granite dust came out on top as the aggregate had all the ferts required by the plant and was probably pretty close to the control plant in the end.

What would be interesting is how much fruit did each plant produced during the course of the testing period. Ami

May 12, 2012	#1
Bladefan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Clarkrange, TN Posts: 68	Fertilizer Testing I have heard about several uncommon forms of fertilizer recently and decided to conduct an experiment to see which one is best. There are 4 kinds I am testing, with a fifth being a combination of all four. There is of course the control plant to which I am adding only water. Medium is fox farms ocean forest. The plants are some form of hybrid from last year...seed was saved by my grandfather and was not labled... The fertilizers are as follows... Salt - a combination of Atlantic sea salt, real salt and dead sea salt GHFN - General Hydroponics Flora Nova which gave me great results on my seedlings this year Golden Treasure - I have read of good results using urine and wood ash so here it is just diluted and without the ash Rock dust - this is not any commercial product from glaciers but rather a combination of granite from around the world, quartz, limestone, travertine and marble, all from the granite shop saw that cuts granite slabs. The mud was dried and screened leaving a very fine dust of rock powder All 4 - this is a combination of all four of the above Control - nothing but water here I was very interested in testing out these various alternate fertilizers and I will post the progress as time continues...the first photo was taken several weeks ago when all seedling were more or less the same size. The second photo shows the results as of today...

May 12, 2012	#3
Bladefan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Clarkrange, TN Posts: 68	I am applying one tablespoon of diluted solution twice a week... Last edited by Bladefan; May 16, 2012 at 01:19 AM.

May 12, 2012	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Well, this is interesting...I love experiments and will be watching the progress. Are you making just one application of fertilizer?

May 16, 2012	#4
Marymcp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 42	I'll be interested in watching this thread. Thanks for the link from "Rock Dust"

January 16, 2013	#5
Bladefan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Clarkrange, TN Posts: 68	Final results put rock/ granite dust as the most effective...general hydroponics was also good

January 17, 2013	#6
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Considering Ocean Forest is a nutrient rich and biologically active potting soil to begin with maybe some of your additives were creating a nutrient imbalance or had compounds that were detrimental to growth like the salts. The rock powders wouldn't add any significant NPK value, just a little more micros as the bacteria break down the minerals. How did the control plant with just Ocean Forest and plain water compare with the others?

January 17, 2013	#7
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I think your experiment should to be done long enough for plants to fruit in a medium that doesn't provide much,, like Diamectacous earth. Also, I would think basic stuff, like NPK would need to be provided in each fertilizer to even be a valid test. Otherwise, it's bound to fail at a point and easy to know why. Maybe start with fish emulsion or something of this sort and then add the salt, rock dust,etc for your experiment to each group. If you're not worried about organic, you could start with Miracle grow or a hydroponics formula for the NPK and then add the salt, rock dust, and wood ash to each. Urine is providing nitrogen. If your others don't have any nitrogen added, well, it's pretty easy to know what to expect from the groups.