I am doing my feeding by mixing concentrated fertilizer, like MiracleGro, with water, and dumping into the pots or onto the soil. Now, I'm finding out there is a whole world of foliar spraying out there I know nothing about!!
I would like to ask how do you fertilize your brugs, all of them? Don't want to know with what you fertilize but you can throw that in there if you want!! ;- )
Foliar spraying?? Why is this best?
Watering mix into the soil? Why do you do it this way?
Thanks for any help you can give me to understand the difference.
Brenda B
Feeding your babies, large and small!
I use Miracle Gro or generic to bottom water until they get to a good size & then I switch to bloom booster. I fertilize once a week until they start growing like weeds & then twice a week. I have been foliar spraying them with "the recipe" & they seem to really like it. I spray the garden veg's too & most of my houseplants.
Linda
I have used regular miracle grow or Peter's 20-20-20 with good results..
This year, I got quite frustrated with brugs to the point I wanted to quit.. so they haven't gotten fertilized but about 3 times this year!
I recently filled the hose end sprayer with Fish Emulsion and soaked everything.. leaves and all... I have more buds now than I ever have this time of year.. That is the only thing that I have done different.. so I'm gonna hit em again!
I used the Recipe for a foliar feed.. and I've used just Age Old Kelp and a bit of Superthrive. It's great during winter when it's too wet to water them.. it's also a great "pick me up" for them. The foliar feeding is taken in immediately like a human responds to an inhaler.. It's not as long lasting as root feeding, but keeping the leaves healthy helps deter mites.. It's more like a snack than a meal. LOL
That's my 2cents! :)
I use Miracle Grow because it is easy to get. Every so often I throw in some epsom salt. I have used hibiscus fertilizer because it is closest to what Monika Gottschalk recommends be used, but it is much more expensive and not found locally. I have to buy it whenever we are in Houston. I used the first batch of the recipe that I mixed, but it took so long to use the sprayer that I haven't mixed up any more. Maybe if someone came up with a better way to apply it besides using a one gallon sprayer, I might try it again. I have some fish emulsion. Joyce, did you spray the fish emulsion on the leaves as well? I got the best growth when I used Bayer's 2 in 1 on the larger plants. I may experiment with plants in smaller pots to see how much 2 in 1 they can handle.
i like that zz.... foliar feeding more like a snack..now THAT i understand!
I can't remember who.. or where.. but it was said that the 2 in 1 is very dangerous and not to use it. I quit using it.. it's so toxic.. I am trying so hard to get away from the real harsh stuff.. as much as I can anyway.. I use Forbid in May, July and September.. that's it. In between, I just use the Fruit Tree Spray that is Neem based. No more constant stuff for me.
Yes, I did soak everything with the Fish Emulsion.. and I'm gonna do it again this weekend. I'm thinking with the low numbers, it's probably safe to use much more often.. but it smells like a bait shop here.. LOL The flies come, but they won't land on you.. They stay on the ground..
LOL Annie! Yeah.. Brugs are such fertilizer hogs... :)
I have a big grasshopper problem. I had been rejoicing because I hadn't seem any nymphs. After two years of having to deal with hordes of at least twelve grasshopper species, I was looking forward to a grasshopper free summer. Then near the end of May, adult grasshoppers began to move in. Too late for NOLO. So I need a systemic of some sort. What are left of my Brug leaves are beginning to look like Swiss cheese.
I think it was Kell who said it, but she didn't say what the danger was. This is what I have found so far.
http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=2021002
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts65.html#bookmark05
http://www.speclab.com/compound/c298044.htm
http://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/partial/t-pv2105-01-8707-ch/t-pv2105-01-8707-ch.html
This one looks really scary, but no empirical data is provided so I question its validity: http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=298-04-4#hazards
Thanks for helping me out!
Most folks still bottom feed, looks like. I agree on the harsh chemicals but have also been desperate enough to use them. And my first thought was the smell, when using fish emulsion but hey, you can't beat the results and the great outdoors disapates the oder pretty fast. And I have two bottles of the stuff!
I'm gonna give foliar feeding a try!
Betty, thanks for those links! Good to know!
Brenda B
How much epsom salts do you use to a gal. of water? How often do you use it?
Pleeeease?
Audrey
1 TBL. Epsom Salt to 1 gallon!
I have grasshoppers in the garden area.. I'm worried cause I see a ton of tiny ones now.. I have about 40 brugs in the ground over there!
OMG, the plagues of summer are decending!!! So sorry about the grasshoppers- what will you do? How tall are they? I have about 40 seedlings in an area 25' x 22'- what size is yours? Can you cover them with sheer curtains or some lightweight material that lets thru light and rain?
I was out in July last year squishing those green catepillars- so gross!!! I'm gotta order BT, and see if it works! But I did notice they did not eat too much on the fuzzy-leafed seedlings.
Um I really don't know how big it is.. It's the neighbor's property.. I haven't planted the whole thing yet.. It's a big area. I have veggies on one side and my brugs on the other.
See? That's the different areas and different caterpillars.. Here every single brug that had fuzzy leaves was devoured to nothing. Then Whiskers, (my fav for scent) the poor thing is a cat magnet.. I get the ones that are tiny and bore a hole in the bud and eat the insides.. they are terrible!
So far, the grasshoppers haven't bothered the brugs in the garden.. and they haven't migrated over to the house yet.. LOL Strange how it's so different in different areas.. or not really strange, but fascinating to me!
The odor of the fish emulsion reminds me of a bait shop.. it's not really that bad and it doesn't last much more than a day. I like to fish, so it doesn't bother me at all.
Here is a pic
I'm getting itching just listening.
Time for the big guns (organic)
but what are they(neem oil?)
Harsh hosings off!
LOL Annie.. :)
My big guns are Forbid... I have to.. I have too many brugs to be all organic.. but I do stick to a rigid schedule of only 3 times per season and use Neem in between..
Calamine Lotion.. LOL
ZZ when you say you filled tthe hose end sprayer....did you dilute the fish emulsion???
ZZ I am sorry I just have to sing it...oh lord stuck in Lodi again!
Its a chore to remain organic,but If i feed my flowers the chemicals,it runs right into my veg garden,and from there the runoff goes down the street and drains into the bay.So I see very clearly that my Yard is just a tiny picture of the world.But if one of my beloved broogsies needed it i would bayer (whats forbid???.)after every other possible organic defense. I'd rather toss a rose plant then use chems. Ive seen people treat scale with chemicals ,when a paper towel ,a bucket and water is often the only defense needed. I do use Bayer once a year on my Joseph coats or they would long be dead instead of the envy of the neighborhood . :-)
I recommend this site
http://www.groworganic.com/default.html
for some great organic remedies as well as (back on topic!) organic foliar foods!! Sorry to rant. feel free to kick me off my soapbox.
:-) A.
Forbid is a very expensive mitecide. It works wonders on white fly too. I cost over $25.00 and ounce, but it worth every penny. I get by with twice a year if at all, but if I see mites I do resort ot it.
I use mostly homemade fetrtilizers, "the recipe" plus additivres accoring the what stage my plants are at. I do foliar feed the recipe using a pull behind rechargeable sprayer. I mix up a batch ever Saturday and let is srt over night to make sure the epsom salts are dissolved and feed it evey Sunday. This week I top dressed and worked in milorganite, next week might feed fish emulsion, I try to change the mid week feeding each week. My plants are thriving and we just checked almost every plant with a jewlers lope, no signs of critters yet, but lots of buds and even a few blooms.