AusBonsai

You can also use soybean meal if you can't get cottonseed meal. I would add some dynamic lifter too, .cheers.
James

Krusty wrote:My wife changes the water in her fish tank every 2 weeks. She has about two buckets of waste water out of it. I'm wondering if this water would be useful for my bonsai?

Was thinking of doing the same thing, but I would reckon it depends on whether there are chemicals added to the water for the fishes health or treating the water. cheers
James

Jamie wrote:hi alpine

i bought "nitrophoska" the other week and found it to turn gluggy upon watering. i dont think i will be buying it again, have you had this problem?

or anyone else for that matter?

Hi Jamie , i have not had any issue with it turning gluggy . I apply to the outer edge of the pot and back fill as with all granule ferts .Cheers

63pmp wrote:

Josh wrote:What i would like to get my hands on is a N.P.K 10.10.10 or 20.10.10

You will have trouble finding these fertilizers as these NPK ratios are in American. The Australian equivalent is 10:4.4:8.3 and 20:4.4:8.3, I'm not sure you will find these exact ratios in Australia either.

How would you use these anyway? Just curious as I'm wondering how people decide on what fertiliser regime they use.

Regards

Paul

Hi Paul i use the closest balanced fert for all my trees and plants and power feed through the growing season .I follow the directions for quantities and measures but feed Fortnightly and Monthly .With such an open mix most fertilizers are flushed out within a few waterings unless it is a slow release , which i am not particularly fond of .Personal experience and regular testing of fert and mixes gives me the knowledge of what works for me in my situation, taking into account Temps , Mixes , Climate even altitude .

The closest i can find in Aus' is Bunnings Tomaotoe and Vegetable Starter Fertilizer
N.P.K.Ca 6.3 , 3.7 , 6.0 , 7.4 .I could get a closer ratio but its only available by the tonne.Cheers Alpine

The fertilisering components seem to be covered pretty well here so I'll talk about seasons
Winter no ferts for obvious reasons
early spring very light feeding too much and you get huge leaves
late spring starting to ramp it up a bit once the leaves have hardened off
early summer the trees are getting a bit more except for a break while they recover from defoliation
late summer early autumn, this is the major feeding season. the trees are setting buds for next spring and I want heaps of them to increase ramification
late autumn slowing right down for obvious reasons
this is my routine for more established bonsai. growing on trees just get fed heaps as leaf size is not a problem, I am looking at wood not leaves.
Craig

senseijames wrote:

Krusty wrote:My wife changes the water in her fish tank every 2 weeks. She has about two buckets of waste water out of it. I'm wondering if this water would be useful for my bonsai?

Was thinking of doing the same thing, but I would reckon it depends on whether there are chemicals added to the water for the fishes health or treating the water. cheers
James

My wife does not add anything to the water, so i should be good to go. I might try it on some of my plants im willing to lose.