al3tte
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Joined: Mon May 22, 2017 12:34 pm
Location: PA/NJ 5b

Help! Dyna-Gro VS. Osmocote VS. SuperThrive

I've done so much research on fertilizing/feeding in the past couple days that my head is spinning. :eek: I've narrowed it down to these three being among the most popular, each one seems to have its own devout following:

Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro (9-3-6)

Osomocote (15-9-12 or 14-14-14)

SuperThrive ("non-toxic vitamin solution. It works directly on seeds and roots to create vigorous roots and robust plants")

I couldn't put this in any other forum because I have a wide enough variety of plants in different situations and I'm trying to have a realistic maintenance level and cost-efficient feeding schedule so it seems it would be silly to buy different food for everyone. I think I could manage two if I had to - one for fruit/vegetables and one more foliage-focused. But I'd rather not go further than that if it can be helped. (I'm already getting Neem from Dyna-Gro since it's well-reviewed across the board and more cost effective than buying ready-made sprays.) I know SuperThrive doesn't quite seem like it belongs, but it can be (and often is) used for maintenance in just the same way as the others.

Can you guys help me decide which of the above to feed with? Here's what I have:

Containerized:

Basil, lemon thyme, chives, rosemary, greek oregano, italian parsley, curley parsley, aloe vera, bay laurel, sweet mint, miniature rose.

In-Ground:

Bell pepper (red and gypsy), cantaloupe, carrot, sweet corn, spacemaster cucumber, green beans (contender bush), mild jalapeno pepper, crimson giant radish, brandywine heirloom tomato, catnip, cilantro, more oregano/rosemary/chives/parsley, a mum, a primrose, and several roses that were already planted when I moved in.

Thank you in advance :mrgreen:

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Dyna GRO I am not familiar with, but I assume it is a foliar fertilizer similar to miracle grow. It is a liquid fertilizer so it should be okay. Herbs like rosemary do not need as much fertilizer than some of the other plants.
Osmocote 14-14-14 comes as a type100 or type 200 or 180 I forget which, Osmocote is a good slow release fertilizer. Type 100 is for 100 days ad type 200 has larger pellets and is supposed to be good for about 200 days, but I don't get that one.

Here is the catch the release is temperature sensitive. If the temperature exceeds 80 degrees it releases faster. In summer osmocote will only last about 4-6 weeks not 100 days. It will have release information on the back of the package. In summer you use half as much and apply monthly. In cooler months it will last for the entire 100 days. I do use osmocote in potting mixes since it is slow release and does not keep seeds from sprouting. I would have problems if I tried to do this with a granular fertilizer since it releases immediately. It works with any soil based plants.

I prefer nutracote 13-13-13 type 180 since it is not temperature sensitive and lasts 180 days. So pretty much one application is good for the year. It was developed in Japan. It is more expensive but it is worth it for long term container plants.

For short term plants I use the osmocote type 100 in the potting mix and I use a granular fast release fertilizer in addition depending on the plant. Tomatoes (1/2 cup of 9-12-12 + micros) adding to soil with transplant and a monthly supplement. Corn (1/4 cup of sulfate of ammonia per 100 sq ft), Potted plants, either get a slow release osmocote or citrus food 6-4-6 with slow N, monthly.

I used to use miracle grow, 3 packets for my entire yard. But now that water and fertilizer are so expensive and I found out I don't need that much fertilizer, I only use miracle grow mostly for the orchids since they are hard to fertilize when they are in baskets.

Superthrive is a growth stimulator. One drop per gallon. Too much and you will kill your plants. The nursery industry uses this a lot to get their container plants growing lush quickly. It can be used in 1:10 dilution. on a Q-tip applied to a node to stimulate growth (used on orchids), If you want to stimulate bloom you can use superthrive once a year or life cycle. (1 drop per gallon), but only use it on healthy plants that are not pot bound and are well fed. It will force growth and maturity and the plant need to have the growing space and food or it will burn itself out. If you use it on vegetables, it will increase the size and weight of the yield. It is not organic but it is non-toxic. Some of the ingredients are synthetic. It can be mixed with fertilizer. In fact it should not be given to a plant that is starving, it needs to get fertilizer at the same time. Do not rinse or water for 24 hours.

Superthrive can be use to help establish roots with transplants and sometimes to try to save a sagging plant, by trying to stimulate root growth. It can only work if the plant still has some reserves so it can't save everything.

In pots I use MG potting soil, I also add about a half a cup of slow N fertilizer to the large pots only (18 gallons). I too, like to limit the different kinds of fertilizer I have around, so I use vigoro citrus food 6-4-6. I found that low numbers under 10 are better than high numbers if you over fertilize. You also will pay more for fertilizer with higher numbers.
If I plant seeds in a pot, I don't fertilize until the plants have true leaves.

In the ground, I have my soil tested. It is high in just about everything, and very high in phosphorus. I do add compost so phosphorus cannot be avoided entirely, but my recommendation is for only small amounts of nitrogen and not much else. pH is 6.0 which is perfect for my soil type, but I did add dolomite lime to keep it from going lower since the only nitrogen I have is sulfate of ammonia. I have only needed to add nitrogen for the last 5 years. I use complete fertilizers and slow release in the potted plants since they need to have all of their nutrition supplied. I do not reuse potting soil. I have it sterilized and put it out in the garden or mixed with new potting soil and put back in the pots.

I suggest you get your soil tested. It saved me a lot of money on fertilizer I did not need. You will get recommendations on what fertilizer and how much you need. It beats guessing. Over fertilizing in the long run is bad for the environment and bad for the garden. So is adding appreciable amounts of dolomite lime without a soil test.

I used to have all kinds of fertilizer, and I still do. But I haven't bought a lot of fertiliyzer in a long time because I haven't used much of it in the last 5 years except on potted plants
1. Soil test was for nitrogen only. I only have sulfate of ammonia. ( I have had the same bag for three years and I am have only used a quarter of it.)
2. I just recently bought a small bag of dolomite lime to lime my acidic garden. I can also raise the pH by using chicken manure and compost. The local compost last tested with a pH of 8.13.
3. I have sulfur for the alkaling plots (pH 7.8)
4 My main granular fertilizer is vigoro citrus food 6-4-6 with micros. It has slow N so I use it for most of the potted plants
5. Osmocote, nutracote slow release for potting mixes and orchids. I do use a lot of this. 50 lbs will last a couple of years.
6. Miracle grow water soluble- used rarely now but mostly for the orchids in baskets. I prefer foliar 62 but I have a hard time finding it now. ( I rarely use this now, I probably should use it more, my orchids look sad)
7. Some other fertilizers I had bought previously and still have around. It may take me a while to get through them since I don't need a lot of fertilizer, even in pots.

pepperhead212
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Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

As imafan noted, these are 3 totally different fertilizers, so you would want them for different applications.

I do use Dyna Grow - it is designed for hydroponics, for herbs, greens, and other non-flowering plants, and it works very well. I also use it in very dilute solutions (1/4 tsp/gal) when growing seedlings, since it has all of the micro-nutrients, and I don't want flowering until I have them in the garden.

al3tte
Full Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 22, 2017 12:34 pm
Location: PA/NJ 5b

Awesome, thank you, guys. :mrgreen: So it kind of sounds like I should eventually add all three to my arsenal for different reasons. Since I've got everyone potted up or planted for the season at least I think I'll start with the Dyna Grow and go from there depending on any rooting/other potting or planting that I decide to do.

I'm so happy you both responded, I'm quite the lurker and your posts are usually among my favorites along with applestar :P

Edit: I found this while googling for answers, you guys may find it interesting, it's very long and science-y, but a super interesting take: Fertilizing Containerized Plants

imafan26
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Posts: 13993
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Interesting article and one that was also confirmed by research in Michigan. It is why most orchid growers have switched to a low phosphorus fertilizer for orchids. The study asked if phosphorus actually improved bloom and the result was that it was the relative lack of nitrogen not the dirth of phosphorus that really made the plants bloom better. If the plants get too much nitrogen, they make more growth and leaves and fewer fruit and flowers. It was also found in other papers that too much of anything is not good. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus leaches into the water table and eventually pollutes lakes and oceans. That is why Michigan actually banned some high phosphate fertilizer and why phosphates which made Tide make clothes whiter were taken out since they ended up polluting the lakes and causing oxygen sucking algae blooms which hurt marine life by blocking out light and cutting the oxygen in the water.

It is why I am an advocate of soil testing rather than blindly adding fertilizer, because eventually it does catch up to you and you will find that your soil is toxic and so out of balance that it will be difficult to fix it. It is why I have switched away from the higher numbers of synthetic fertiizers like 10-20-20 or 10-30-10 which used to be recommended a lot by the local extension because of our phosphate binding soil. My soil test revealed a phosphorus that was off the chart >2000ppm, and I have not had to add any phosphorus fertilizer to my ground for years. I found that I also did not need high numbers in pots either so I went with a complete fertilizer with micros that had slow N that covered most of the plants I grow. That was vigoro citrus food 6-4-6 with slow N. I add compost to feed the soil carbon. Soil microbes and plants don't care where their nitrogen comes from, but soil organisms are not going to work for what they can get for free. I cannot control the phosphorus in the compost so I keep gaining phosphorus and the compost is alkaline and keeps my plot alkaline. By using only sulfate of ammonia on the ground, I am not adding any more phosphorus in fertilizer and I have had a net loss over the years. I can use more compost in my acidic plot to bring the pH up. I don't like to use most of the organic fertilizers, there aren't very good organic nitrogen fertilizers (I don't want to wait 2 years for it to release), and I don't like to use animal byproducts. Besides according to my soil test compost and a little nitrogen are all it needs. The organic fertilizers don't work all that well in potting mix in pots.

I stopped using miracle grow every two weeks routinely years ago, but my orchids have been shrinking since I rarely fertilize them at all, so I may have to go back to feeding them once in a while and MG is actually the easier thing to use since many of the orchids are in baskets with no media so the fertilizer must be fed directly to the roots.

al3tte
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Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 22, 2017 12:34 pm
Location: PA/NJ 5b

Yes, I found it fascinating. That guy should write a book! I think I will look into testing if not this year then next, I've never done that before but I would be interested to see how it comes out - plus we drink well water (though we have a filtration system in the house) and it might be good to know!



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