N-p-k


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Old 01-31-02, 11:03 AM
T
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N-p-k

Fewalt

The nitrogen promotes green growth, such as Scotts lawn fertilizer(26-3-3). The phosphorous will produce more blooms in flowers. I used super bloom (12-55-6) to finally get my cacti to bloom last year. And the potassium is mainly for good root growth.

According to this, the bigger the number the better if we want to grow bigger plant or flower?

Thanks
 
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Old 01-31-02, 01:33 PM
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Tran,
Generally the arger number does mean a higher concentration of that element. As info though, I only use 10-10-10 for my veggies, and I only resort to a fertz for flowers if I have a problem plant.
A general gardening book will help advise you of what the nutritional requirments are for a specific plant
good luck,
fred
 
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Old 01-31-02, 05:53 PM
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Hello Tran & Fred

My .02CDN$'s worth...

A well balanced fertilizer will also contain trace amounts of other elements as well such as Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfer, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Boron, Copper, Zinc, Chlorine and Colbalt - all play a role in different aspects of the plants' development and growth.

It is too easy to overfertilize a plant to the point where you will stunt it's growth or even kill it. To avoid this, I prefer to fertilize at half or even 1/3 the recommended strength, but slightly more frequently than recommended on the label. It's always easier to add a little more than try to take away... You can monitor the plant's development and adjust dosage and frequency accordingly.

As with many things in life, bigger ain't necessarily better

Howie
 
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Old 02-21-02, 03:19 PM
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the numbers on the bag (ex. 10-10-10) stand for the percentage of that material in the bag.
so in a fifty lb. bag of 10-10-10 you would have 5 lbs. of each.
as far as fertilizing goes you should have a soil test done before fertilizing(here in ct. soils are typically very high in phosphorous so i usually use numbers like 24-5-11.
you need to be carefull esp. with nitrogen.
excessive nitrogen can turn into a salt compound and burn/kill plant material...bigger and more is not always best.
if your not real sure about the whole fertilizing thing i would recomend using products that contain slow release nitrogen to help avoid any damage.
some catch phrases to look for on the fert. bag which indicate slow release are things like S.C.U.(sulfur coated urea),polymer coated,or mesa....I can go on for days about fertilization...but i wont bore you with all the little details if you have any questions give me a shout.
-ct. arborist.
 
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Old 03-06-02, 06:49 PM
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One of the most misunderstood facts about fertilizers is the rating system we use. While 10-10-10 is indeed the amount of NPK in the mix, only the N is expressed as percent of nitrogen. The P and K are actually percentages of phosphorous oxide and potassium oxide, respectively. Cut and paste to read all about it.

http://www.overgrow.com/faq/browse.php?qa=59
 
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Old 03-12-02, 12:06 PM
ByronB
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another factor that you really need to dig around for is that high nitrogen is bad for veggies esp.

At NMSU and NCSU there were some web pages recommending feeding plants just a little over mim required for the plant. IE The min for tomato is 2.5N and 1.5P , Therefore tomatoes shoud be fed somewhere around 3-2-2

High nitrogen, can cause BER, fruit cracking, increased aphids, whiteflies, hornworm and cinch bugs.

High nitrogen causes weak cell walls because plants grow too fast.

In lawns snow mold and tip burn are from high nitrogen..


Byron
 
 

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