Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

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Aquaman
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Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by Aquaman »

I have been growing Japanese Maples from seed for about 10 years.

I regularly add Osmocote slow release fertiliser and I water with Powerfeed and Seasol every other week. But I often wonder how much difference these products make.

So I decided to do a little experiment with 4 Japanese Maple seedlings, to test the impact of these products.

From left to right:
Seasol, Slow Release, Control, Powerfeed.

Image

All 4 trees came from the same seed and germinated at the same time. They are all in the same size pot and have the same soil (approximately 60%/40% organic to inorganic).

The trees are all roughly the same size except the Control plant has a few more leaves, so has a bit of a head start.

I will water all plants daily and at least once a week I will apply Seasol and Powerfeed to the appropriate trees.

The Slow Release tree has a good layer of Slow Release fertiliser on the surface of the pot and 2 fertiliser baskets, which I will keep topped up.

The control will just get water.

I'll report back every few months.
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TimS
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by TimS »

I’ll be following this with interest! I’ve wondered a few times how much good my liquid feeding is actually doing compared to fertiliser cakes
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by one_bonsai »

Great idea to test these things rather than just assuming they're doing something.
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treeman
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by treeman »

I'm just so pleased to see you using the word impact as noun and not a verb. :tu:
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by Greg F »

Looking forward to the results. Excellent idea.
Thanks for sharing this.
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by MJL »

Hey Aquaman ... any initial updates on your test. Perhaps a bit early to see any difference


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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by Padawan »

Hi Aquaman,
As we are now in Autumn, how have the maples travelled?
I have a couple of seedlings and planning on potting up more in spring, plus a heap of trident seedlings that will be due for repotting.
Any feedback will be welcomed as planning activities start to include actions for spring.
Thanks,
Sisto
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by Miikeboyle »

Hey. Just wondering what the end results were for this experiment.
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples

Post by KIRKY »

He hasn’t been on here since 2019 so you guys may not get a reply
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