Fertilisers and Soil conditioners.

[Bretts]

Although we have talked about fertilisers alot I thought it might be a good idea to get a list of what fertilisers and soil conditioners people are using in one thread. Maybe this could then be condensed down for use in the wiki later?
I see the AB Wiki has a definition of Fertilisers which can be seen here
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... ser_basics

I don't see anything for soil conditioner so I took this from Wikipedia

A soil conditioner, also called a soil amendment, is a material added to soil to improve plant growth and health. A conditioner or a combination of conditioners corrects the soil's deficiencies in structure and-or nutrients.

I would add to this that a Soil conditioner can be recognised by having no Typical Analysis of the NPK value. That is because a fertiliser must have that on the container by law in most countries. But it is not a necessity with a soil conditioner which often has very little nutrient content.

You could put as much or as little information about the products as you like but lets get those products that you found useful listed.

I will start by listing a few common ones I have used.
Fertilisers

Nitrosol NPK = 12.2 : 2.9 : 8.5 They seem to promote it as an organic Fertiliser but I believe it is some what chemical as well. Soluble liquid. A good balanced all round fertiliser with trace elements added. I think we can even use this on our Phosphorus hating natives ?

Thrive Soluble All Purpose Plant Food NPK analysis: 27 : 5.5 : 9 A fast acting strong Nitrogen chemical fertiliser with trace elements added Soluble powder.

Thrive Soluble Flower & Fruit Plant Food NPK analysis: 15 : 4 : 26 Another fast acting chemical fertiliser that I am told is good for our natives.Soluble powder

Charlie carp N: 10.0 P: 2.0 K: 6.0 A great organic fertiliser, I believe it is balanced with trace elements added. Soluble liquid

Also a new one I picked up today B&B Liquid Blood and Bone NPK=10:4:7 Sounds like a great organic fertiliser but will have to wait and see. Balanced with trace elements added. Soluble liquid

Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food NPK analysis: 3.7 – 2 – 1.8 Reported as one of the best inventions ever. Organic based pelleted/granular fertiliser. Many uses in Bonsai culture from mixing in with soil to putting various amounts on top of the soil surface but if used on your display trees it may be best to use cages as it can end up looking very ugly.

Soil conditioners

Seasol seaweed extract Australia's most popular soil conditioner/ health tonic. So many uses from general soil and plant health disease/pest resistance to helping recover from root loss/transplanting. Use it at a light dose of 25ml per 9 litre can for general health ( a little often is said to be best) to 100ml (or even more) per 9L for transplant shock or any sought of rot regeneration application even cuttings.

Life-Force Instant Humus Increases moisture and nutrient retention, promotes beneficial soil life and increases nutrient uptake (their words) But basically that is the idea. I backed off using this some to concentrate on the basics but sure it is good stuff and will start incorporating it again. Humus is basically an organic compound that sounds too good to be true.
https://goorganicgardening.com/garden-ma ... onditioner

Ok what else are others using?

[Bretts]

Guess no one else uses fertiliser

[Luke308]

Yates fish emulsion N 9.0% Recommended by my local bonsai nursery because it is organic
P 2.0%
K 6.0%
Miracle gro MAXFEED all purpose N 15.00% Recently recommended by Peter Adams to use weekly for short periods during growing season eg 3 weeks at a time.
P 13.1%
K 12.4%
Miracle Gro MAXFEED Azalea, Camellia, Rhododendron N 28.0% Recently recommended by Peter Adams to use weekly for short periods during growing season eg 3 weeks at a time on conifers & pines
P 1.8%
K 10.00%
Growth Technology Rose Focus N 2.0% I used this in Autumn as it was the lowest Nitrogen fertilizer i could find.
P 0.50%
K 3.0%
I have also just started using WORM JUICE but i have no idea of the possible NPK analysis

[Bretts]

Thanks Luke that's a great effort, much appreciated.
I reckon that Miracle gro MAXFEED all purpose is good stuff. I just bought a small packet today. But when Peter gave advice on one of my hornbeams he said only feed with organics otherwise the tree will fatten up to much
Can't say I have followed that all the time liking a chemical feed at times.

I tended not to worry about dropping the N at the end of the year but I did grab a PK fert last Autumn to try and harden up tallow tree for the Winter. Not sure it worked but with a full growing season to experiment this year it definitely won't hurt
I will get the name of that fert tomorrow as it seems like a good quality high PK fert.
Thanks again

[cre8ivbonsai]

Great list Bretts and Luke, I can only really add slow release (Osmicote) as a good backup cos I can be a bit slack with the liquid stuff. If maxfeed is a recommend I might grab some tomorrow as I just finished off the seasol powerfeed. I'd love to see a pole set up for this ... great thread idea though cos I'm always bamboozled with the multitude of options available.
Cheers, Ryan

[kcpoole]

Great idea Brett. We can update the wiki with all this info too
Neutrog " Sudden Impact for Roses" -9:4:12 – plus the full range of secondary nutrients and micronutrients in a natural form along with boosted levels of Iron and Magnesium. Pelletised Chook poo like D.L. but much milder so that Azaleas and Camelias Like it too. Does not break down as fast as DL.

Dynamic Lifter Advanced for Camellias, Azaleas & Rhododendrons Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK analysis: 7 : 2 : 5). Used this one before Neutrog and I think I prefer it as it breaks down a little faster ( 5 weeks)

Also Charlie Carp, Seasol, And Miracle Grow for Azaleas in rotation about ever 2 - 3 weeks
Have been adding Osmocote this year during potting as recommended by Grants tests

Ken

[Luke308]

Although I have not used this personally, I found this in Maiban Bonsai's store on EBAY http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Superthrive- ... 27bc61a0c5 It comes in various sizes. Has anyone had any experience with this?

[pommie_mal]

Although I have not used this personally, I found this in Maiban Bonsai's store on EBAY http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Superthrive- ... 27bc61a0c5 It comes in various sizes. Has anyone had any experience with this?

I've used Superthrive for the last 10 years or so. Never lost a tree after root-pruning or transplating when I've used Superthrive.
There are some who believe it is all BS and has no benefits but personally I think it's great stuff. Unfortunately, it's now banned in Australia due to the company not disclosing it's contents (it's a "secret" formula). I bought 5 bottles of remaining stock when the ban came in which should last a couple of years but then I'm at a loss.

[Bretts]

That's a funny one Luke
Often brings up lots of debate.
See here viewtopic.php?f=12&t=742
and here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3338
But the most factual debate I have been involved with this stuff would be over at Bnut with Brent Waltson, see here
https://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread. ... uperthrive

After reading the threads about it it might be best to ask any further questions in one of those threads otherwise this thread could become quite long and complicated as always.
Basically it is very similar to seasol

Psst Pommie the ingredients aren't really a secret that is an urban myth. Auxin, B1 and organic comounds that are most likely humic acid. Very concentrated.

[pommie_mal]

Psst Pommie the ingredients aren't really a secret that is an urban myth. Auxin, B1 and organic comounds that are most likely humic acid. Very concentrated.

Sorry Bretts, I was commenting tongue-in-cheek regarding the secret formula. A bit like Coke & KFC. Simple chemical analysis will reveal all the ingredients.

[Petra]

Great thread Brett,
i hadnt noticed it wasnt mentioned in Wiki, i use everything thats been mentioned.I reckon
they are all much of a muchness, ATM. But if i really gave them all a good run induvidually id have a
prefered one also. Your idea of sett-n it all out like this just puts it in perspective for confused people
like me. Well done.

[Luke308]

Thanks Brett, I didn't mean to open a can of worms. Being new on here, it is overwhelming just how much info and how many threads there are. Its nigh impossible to check them all to see if my queries have been covered before in other threads. But the more I use this forum, the less this will happen. Thanks again mate,
Luke

[Bretts]

No worries Luke it is an interesting subject, no need to apologise I still remember when I first started reading bonsai forums so much to take in

The PK fertiliser I bought last Autumn is
Proganics PK13-14 So the NPK= 0:13:14 Used at the end of the growing season to halt any growth and harden the tree for Winter. Not sure how effective that theory is but I am sure it can't hurt and I bought it to try and solve issues with Chinese tallow losing branches through the Winter.

[Bretts]

Thanks Petra, I was tireing of always buying fertiliser by the litre and decided this year to buy in bulk. I wanted a chemical and organic fertiliser that was tried and true so it gave me the idea that we should list all the good ones in one place.
The Blood and Bone liqued feed I went with is not really main stream but it does seem good. I could have had good old charlie carp but I couldn't help myself trying the B+B as I knew it had been sitting around for a while and got a few dollars of the floor price

I haven't been able to find a bulk chemical fertiliser yet, does anyone have any ideas for that

[Jamie]

gday guys

its interesting as to what people are using. recently in the past couple of years I havent been phased with brands and only occasionally checking the NPK values. mostly they are around the same. I do agree that some will do better than others and other will do something else again. what I have found though going from once a really strict fert program which I worked out to what I figured was a good regime, was a liquid fert (miracle gro, aquasol etc) every 5 days. seasol every 2 days. slow release on top. DL in there too. I was getting explosive growth thats for sure.

now being able to do it less makes things a little different. I still use all of the above but find I have a more controlled growth which is what I need as I cant be pruning every day over the stocks that I had. aquasol is a once a weekend job. seasol every time I can, I reckon this stuff is great, I havent got yellowing leaves or anything like the sorts. DL is all over grow on stock, ontop of the medium and through it, I probably overdose but havent had to much in bad effects (read nil).

I was an avid user of superthrive loving the stuff for repoting and shock work to trees was great, even found a supplier on ebay a while back that would sell the bigger bottles for around 8-15 bucks. which compared to some nurseries charging upwards of 60 its a joke. there is also another product which is pearler as a replacement for ST and that is auxinone, same ingredients but I dont think it is as concentrated which doesnt matter as a litre or litre and a half of auxinone is around 20 bucks.