do we under fertilise??

[Jamie]

would a water salinity tester give similar results to a soil salinity tester??? this could possibly be way off but i think it would at least show some form of result there that we could work on, for arguments sake, it is in the liquid ferts and waterings that the salts are coming from??? maybe if we could refine the water of salt completly then we could overcome this problem, but in all honesty, that is just going way over board IMO anyways



jamie

[Bretts]

I could spend that money on a water tank and then use rain water
The Gypsum thing looks like it is feasable Jamie.
See here.
http://www.weedpatch.com/article_gypsum.htm

The trick will be to find Gypsum that is not in powder form.

[Edward Scissorhand]

Sorry to join this thread so late but I am enjoying and learning from all the information supplied.
I too have felt for years that we were under-fertilizing. First, I grow all tropicals now. Two, I use an inorganic soil. Three, I grow my trees indoors under lights only.
After various experiments I concluded given my growing conditions, soil, trees etc that I needed to increase fertilization from every two-three weeks to daily. I use an inorganic fertilizer applied with an injector system.
Once every week or two I will water without fertilizer to flush the pots. Not sure if this is needed but I do it anyhow.
I would like to use organics but due to insects mold and smell and growing my bonsai in the house, I can't do it.
I definitely noted better growth and healthier trees once I stepped up my fertilization.
So far, adding humic acid has done nothing to my inorganic fertilizer regimen. Nor has adding trace elements. Apparently my chemical fertilizer must cover some of these vital elements.
Jerry
http://www.bonsaihunk.us

Jerry, Im curious to know if you dont mind me asking what is an "injector system" of fertilising. Ive heard of an injection system where you drill small holes less than 5mm diameter into the sapwood but not reaching the heartwood and using a syringe to inject. Is this what you mean Jerry?

[Jerry Meislik]

The fertilizer injector is a simple hydraulic pump that mixes a fixed ratio of chemical into the water. In my case, I have a bucket of very concentrated fertilizer that the injector sucks up and mixes with reverse osmosis water. I use an electrical conductivity meter to test my the resulting mix every month or so to be sure that it is not too concentrated. I also use the ECM to verify that my hydroponic growing bath is the correct concentration for my bonsai.
An ECM could be used to test soil salinity by mixing a fixed volume of soil in a specific volume of distilled or reverse osmosis water and testing the conductivity of the water. This should give a relative salinity of the soil. Of course it will only measure soluble salts and not insoluble salts. My assumption is that most plants do not have problems with insoluble salts.
Jerry

[Edward Scissorhand]

The fertilizer injector is a simple hydraulic pump that mixes a fixed ratio of chemical into the water. In my case, I have a bucket of very concentrated fertilizer that the injector sucks up and mixes with reverse osmosis water. I use an electrical conductivity meter to test my the resulting mix every month or so to be sure that it is not too concentrated. I also use the ECM to verify that my hydroponic growing bath is the correct concentration for my bonsai.
An ECM could be used to test soil salinity by mixing a fixed volume of soil in a specific volume of distilled or reverse osmosis water and testing the conductivity of the water. This should give a relative salinity of the soil. Of course it will only measure soluble salts and not insoluble salts. My assumption is that most plants do not have problems with insoluble salts.
Jerry

Thanx Jerry, I appreciate the explanation. Could I ask what sort of growing medium do you use?

[Jerry Meislik]

i use 100% red lava as my soil mix for tropicals and semi-tropicals.
Jerry

[Greth]

Testing salinity
It is just easier to test salt levels in water than in soil. It is measured by the electical conductivity of the salt ions in solution, which depends on how much is dissolved into the soil water, which depends on how much soil water there is.. for example a totally dry soil would have no conductivity at all, some salts are not very soluble but will come into the solution if enough water is present.

Mains water is quite variable too, depending on where it is derived from. The underground water that was used in Port Hedland had enough salts to ruin a kettle in a month, it was nearly impossible to wash a black plastic pot without leaving a white residue. Adelaide water isn't great, especially in summer when a lot of the supply is pumped from the Lower Murray,

[Bretts]

I got some gypsum today. I will put a bit on in the morning at watering. I was hoping for the granular size but that was wishfull thinking I got the powder stuff. It has some grit in it.
Doubt I will get any reportable results but it can't hurt to throw a little bit on.

[Jamie]

let us know how you go if you do get any results mate


jamie

[The Munt]

Ok just read this thread back to front and while I’m still confused it was very helpful. Thanks everyone