AusBonsai

Hi there crazy kids!!! For a long time now I have been using Seasol (and I swear by it). My Horticulture teachers recently told me that they don't like or acknowledge it because (a) There are better fertilisers out there and (b) because there is no chemical analysis on the bottle. Well, unless I am going crazy, last time I check Seasol is not really a fertiliser,(Although it does contain comparatively small doses of macro trace elements), it is a toner / conditioner. Secondly, you can get a chemical breakdown/ analysis just by going to the website. Anyhow, my question is (As I do not profess to be any kind of expert on the product), what are the exact benefits of the product. My take on the product is as follows:

It conditions / strengthens the roots and for me, the key trace elements are the high proportions of zinc , iron , iodine, manganese and boron as well as a good dose of Auxins. To me, these are the key ingredients. So guys, what have I got right and wrong???

Many thanks

John

edit. I noticed that the Seasol Logo has the caption "More than just a fertiliser" .....A little misleading perhaps or am I off track again??

Hi Jester If I was you I would take the claims they make on the website to your teacher and ask him what he does not agree with for a start. Let me know what you get back I would find it interesting.

Hi Brett , unfortunately my course is via correspondence and to be honest I want to avoid any future runs ins. My priority is to get to the truth rather than showing up a teacher.

Bretts wrote:Hi Jester If I was you I would take the claims they make on the website to your teacher and ask him what he does not agree with for a start. Let me know what you get back I would find it interesting.

Hi Jester
Nothing about showing up a teacher just trying to narrow down what is in contention!

Here is a paper by Linda Chalker Scott.
She is a doctor of Horticulture. I have some issues with her works as she seems to be very biased to breaking myths. Also her work is never referenced. There is some interesting information when you learn to read between the lines.

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20ch ... tracts.pdf

I would like to believe this though.

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1805258.htm

Here is how a science study should be done! well thought out and conducted with references.
http://www.idosi.org/aeja/2(2" )09/2.pdf

I am not sure you will find a better list of reference material to continue your studies

20% sea weed extract gave the best germination and growth rate. Anyone know what concentration seasol is?

Hi Brett, thanks very much for those papers. To me it seems that the benefits of Seaweed extract are real but I did not realise just how many benefits there were. !!


Thanks again


John

Bretts wrote: 20% sea weed extract gave the best germination and growth rate. Anyone know what concentration seasol is?

An optimistic guess, is it 100% seaweed extract?

Personally, I can only take so much of the propeller head approach, I prefer to grow some plants and try things for myself, that way I don't have to wade through the BS the marketing folk want you to believe, or trudge through the counter-BS put forth by Professor X or Molecular Biologist Y.

In horticulture there is often no better truth than truth you discover for yourself, in your climate, microclimate and filtered by you own skill or incompetence. Ask yourself, if you had believed and then applied everything you had read or was told about bonsai, would you be a better grower than you are today?


Cheers,
Mojo Moyogi

Jester wrote:Hi Brett , unfortunately my course is via correspondence and to be honest I want to avoid any future runs ins. My priority is to get to the truth rather than showing up a teacher.

Bretts wrote:Hi Jester If I was you I would take the claims they make on the website to your teacher and ask him what he does not agree with for a start. Let me know what you get back I would find it interesting.

Your plants will tell you the truth jes, they never lie!

Your plants will tell you the truth jes, they never lie!

Yes I guess those doctors of science wasted all the years studying how plants grow. They should all just ask Antonio.

NO not me Bretts. the trees son

Ok thats even better do away with the scientists and just ask Antonio's trees what works

Now ya got it!!!

Hi Mojo
I guess a call to seasol Will sought the % out. But lets stipulate for the fun of it. The bottle only states seasol concentrate. Considering when we mix at the recommended rate of say 30ml to 9L we dilute at about .33% . This experiment states that 20% gave the best results. If we put faith in the seasol chemists that came up with the recommended dilution rates, that I gather came from experiments such as this, it seems Seasol is actually a concentrate as stated. Something like 60 times concentrate or 600% concentrate.

I was talking with Leong the other day and he was telling me how important it is to understand exactly what it is you are doing.It is not enough to take advice that works and not be able to explain why it works.
I could not agree more.

Just as a great chef understands how a spice works. I think we should try to understand why our fertilisers work. At least some of us anyway. It allows you to manipulate the ebb and flow of change not stagnate.

Edit:I think I see a mistake in my maths already. I think 60 times concentrate would be 6000% concentrate. This is starting to seem out of the question so maybe the dilution for seed germination is considerably higher than normal/general application rates?
Looking forward to calling seasol tomorrow

I swear by Seasol ... but I also swear when I'm not by Seasol ... make of that what you will.

Analise will paralyze , utilize will surprise . If you swear by Seasol try Seasol power feed .I dont swear by anything i test and trial everything personally . Different enviroments require different stratgies , ferts , mediums and methods .Cant beat personal experience . Chemical analysis is a laboratory indicator , i take it with a grain of salt until i see the results first hand . The moment you mix and pour it on the ground the analysis is altered and what do you do tomorrow ? dilute it with a watering .Cheers