Which is the better Started Fertilizer.

[greenthumbomaha]

My local specialty shop was closed today so it was off to a big box for me. I was trying to purchase the Espoma water soluable fertilizer, as was recommended in another posting. There was no fish emulsion available. This is what I came home with, and I would think only one will be enough. The seedlings are eggplant (oldest) , tomato , pepper and vary in age between a month and a week. I will be starting another few flats of the above soon. Please help me choose :

Schultz Starter Plus 9-10-5
Jobes Organics Natural Water-Soluble Fert for Tomato and Vegetables 3-0-4 w Microorganisms

Well I just answered my own question, Schultz is for transplanting.
My revised question is with respect to the Jobes product. Is this an appropriate formulation for a starter? Thank-you.

Edit : I add a small handful of high quality organic manure compost (bagged) produced locally in Nebraska at potting up into 4X4 containers. The peppers don't seem to be growing at a fast rate, but the tomato ntransplants are loving it.

[walkinggin]

I've never used either of the products you mention but the Jobes NPK seems a bit off or at least I haven't seen a similar product. Do they have a suggested application rate for seedlings? With the Scultz I would try it at 1/8 or at most 1/4 strength at first. Its easy to burn seedlings.

ginny

[willyb]

I use a starter fertilizer with higher P for root development. 4-12-4 at 1/5 strength.

[greenthumbomaha]

http://www.fertilome.com/product.asp...2-0100fa14f341

My local garden center carries the Fertilome brand. They have a 9-59-8 soluble plant food for blooming and rooting. I thought I was seeing things. I didn't buy it but I will now.

Of the two products I purchased over the weekend, neither stated it was a starter formula. They were purchased at Menards, which finally has a decent real time website.

Last week I grabbed the wrong bucket and started seedlings in my potting-up medium of standard pro mix, 1/5 composted organic cow poo , and a sprinkle of tomato tone for good luck. It must have worked because they had fantastic germination, a little delayed but looking great now. I started a back up tray so now I have a bunch of back ups to experiment with.

Edit : that bucket is $30

[greenthumbomaha]

[url]http://www.menards.com/main/lawn-garden/lawn-plant-care/vegetable-tomato-water-soluble-organic-fertilizer/p-1727055

Ginny, that is the NPK printed on the back of the package. Quite different from the Fertilome formulation. Yes, it does look off. I wonder if it is a misprint. I am holding off opening the package based on the recommendation from Willyb for a high P for root development. Is the Fertilome too much of a good thing?

Oh darn page not found but search Menards.com for jobes. The product I am referring to is Menards® SKU: 2639065

[willyb]

The numbers on your fert are probably right. I would use it. Not too much. 1/6 or so of the recommendation on the pack. The attached pic shows the results of high P and high light

[greenthumbomaha]

wow what a root, make room for lots of big juicy tomatoes -

you sold me on the Fertilome

[willyb]

I see the product you like below, recommended - Container grown: 1 teaspoon in 1 gallon of water

I wouldn't give my baby's more than 1/6 teaspoon per every gallon water of Fertilome. Even less until they get their 2nd set of true leaves.


I use miracle grow 4-12-4 at a rate of 1 tablespoon to about 4 gallons of water. I also add a crushed cal-mag pill to 4 gallons (Had some old ones laying around)

I am not promoting miracle grow, just like the NPK ratio.

Brad


Blooming and Rooting Soluble Plant Food 9-59-8 (8 oz)

Use on Most Plants as a Soil Application, Foliage Feeding or as a Rooting Solution.

A highly concentrated plant food hat helps promote vigorous blooming, root development, larger blooms on flowering shrubs, trees, Roses, Orchids, Tomatoes and all blooming and fruit bearing plants.

Application Rates:

• Container grown: 1 teaspoon in 1 gallon of water.
• Foliage feeding: 1/4 teaspoon in 1 quart of water.
• Outdoor plants: 2 tablespoons in 1 gallon of water.
• Foliage feeding: 1 tablespoon in 1 gallon of water.

Brand: Fertilome

[dice]

That high-phosphorus starter fertilizer is legacy farmer stuff. The more
modern system is to use minimal phosphate ferilizer and let mycorrhizae
make less soluble forms of phosphorus in the soil available and transport
the phosphorus into the plant. That way you get less phosphate runoff
into water bodies in the environment, less leaching into aquifers, etc.

Some legume winter cover crops and buckwheat (a summer cover crop
sometimes grown in rotation in between spring and fall crops) exude
enzymes from their roots that enhance phosphorus availability to crops
as well.

Growing in containers, you can use either approach: lots of fertilizer and
ignore the soil microorganisms or organic fertilizers with just enough
P and try to replicate a soil microorganisms environment in your
container media.

[dice]

A document on fertilizing bedding plant seedlings:
http://extension.umass.edu/floricult...lant-seedlings

It only mentions tomatoes in the context of growing seedlings at low
phosphorus levels and the effect of tomato seedlings themselves on
grow media pH. Recommendations are given in parts per million of
nitrogen probably dissolved in water in a greenhouse watering/fertilizing
system. A fertilizer parts per million calculator:
http://www.firstrays.com/fertcalc.htm

The idea that tomatoes seedlings will develop fine at low phosphorus
levels is a result of relatively recent research. I remember reading a
document on growing fresh market tomatoes for Iowa farmers
that recommended a starter fertilizer at transplant into the field similar
to the 9-59-8 stuff that you found. But that was probably written before
the research on starting tomato seedlings with minimal phosphorus and
the effect of soil phosphorus levels on mycorrhizae had been done.