Npk

[echo]

salutations. I have used envii seaweed fertilizer which has a NPK of 0.9-0.6-0. After researching NPK it appears that that is unsuitable for my oversize strawberry's (forgot latin name sorry). Consequently i just ordered some plantafol 5-15-45. Is that to much NPK? Would i get nutrient burn? Thanks!

 

[Chuck]

salutations. I have used envii seaweed fertilizer which has a NPK of 0.9-0.6-0. After researching NPK it appears that that is unsuitable for my oversize strawberry's (forgot latin name sorry). Consequently i just ordered some plantafol 5-15-45. Is that to much NPK? Would i get nutrient burn? Thanks!

IMO you have WAY too much potassium (K). It should be about an equal ratio with nitrogen. I also think you phosphorous is a little high but nothing to worry about. 45 is an extremely high number for potassium and I don't know what it will do to strawberries.

 

[Meadowlark]

Have you had a soil test?

 

[echo]

thank you for your assistance. Hi meadow lark I've got a simple probe effort not a soil analysis kit. hello chuck I'll halve the dose from 45 to circa 20. Seems like a plan. I guess i could add,extra nitrogen.

 

[Meadowlark]

Howdy echo...Wouldn't you want to know what is in the soil now before adding stuff that you may or may not need in amounts that may or may not be very harmful to your soil?

 

[echo]

Howdy echo...Wouldn't you want to know what is in the soil now before adding stuff that you may or may not need in amounts that may or may not be very harmful to your soil?

. fair point. I've just been looking at soil test kits on ebay. I reckon I'll half the dose from 5-15-45 to 2.5-7.5-22. Are those numbers more palatable?

 

[oneeye]

If you use an equal ratio fertilizer like 10-10-10 in the beginning the plant will take what it needs and leave the rest. When I worked in the greenhouse business, we mixed our own potting soils, using time release fertilizer Osmocote fertilizers. Only for long living plants that would be in containers for 6 months or longer. It fed the plants for a long time and it didn't matter what type of plants because we use the mix for all house plants except Ferns. The time release is so slow that the pH of the potting mix stays in the same range the whole time.

When using liquid fertilizers you stand a chance of knocking the pH off, unless you have a fertilizer injector or Volumetric Injector or EC meter. We used injector fertilizers on bedding plants or anything that went out the door and in the ground quickly. The best way to monitor your TDS is buy yourself a EC meter and check the run-off everytime you water. I run an extra 150 ppm of liquid fertilizer with every gallon of water on every watering day using injector. There's not much value using a fertilizer with a ratio of 5-15-45 on any plant that I can think of?

 

[oneeye]

When using a high ratio if potassium you run the chance of raising the pH above what is needed for healthy growth.
Potassium acetate pH is 9.7

Potassium bicarbonate pH is 8.2

Potassium carbonate pH is 11.5

Potassium cyanide pH is 11.1

 

[echo]

thanks for the advice. I'm growing giant strawberries called FRAGARIA ANANASSA. More research needed. Thanks for your kind advice

 

[echo]

salutations. I've cancelled the order for the high npk fertilizer i thought the higher the number the better the fert. Thanks for educating me about soil tests and such. Kind regards!