FoxFarm organic fertilizers.

[Pananep]

I have been doing a lot of reading about nepenthes and fertilizer. Stuff thrown into the pitchers, foliar feeding, feeding the roots... chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers, superthrive, epson salt, and complex mixes of all of the above.
Many have reported great results with certain formulas, and this is good to know. However, I cant find any of these ingredients here in Panama. The only thing I can find that come close to anything is MirAcid, and although said to be safe by many, most of the info I have gathered on this product for use on Nepenthes has been negative.
A long time ago I picked up a bottle of superthrive at a garden center in Panama City, I used it regularly with every watering with good results I believe (although I cant really tell hehe) and I have recently ran out and cant find it anymore. Even though my plants are grown outside, I feed pitchers every once in a while with pet store canned grasshoppers, but I really cant tell the results from this either.
I guess you see where I am going. I wanted to experiment with fertilizers, I would like to visibly be able to tell that my plants are getting good nourishment due to bigger sturdier growth and larger pitchers. I have some repeated plants that I can spare for this exp. (painfully but no worries) so I wanted to know what everybody here, especially some of the more experienced growers think about FoxFarm organic ferts. I have a friend that swears by these for his vegetable farm, and he could make them available for me. Here are the details:

Fox Farm Grow Big 6-4-4 Nutrient Quart

• Organic Based 6-4-4 Grow Big is a comprehensive blend of major, minor and micro nutrients
• Formulated to promote spectacular vegetative growth in soil based plants
• Produces instant green-up, larger flowers and color intense blossoms
• Great for roses, tomatoes, veggies, flowers, fruits, herbs, and lawns
• Extra strong, a little goes a long way
• TOTAL Nitrogen (N)6.0%: 1.5% Ammoniacal Nitrogen, 2.0% Nitrate Nitrogen and 8.5% Urea Nitrogen
• AVAILABLE PHOSPHATE (P205) 4.0%
• SOLUBLE POTASH (K20) 4.0%
• Derived from: Ammonium Sulfate, Ammonium Phosphate, Urea, Blood Meal, Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, Earthworm Castings, Norwegian Kelp, iron EDTA, zinc EDTA, manganese EDTA, copper EDTA, chelating agent, Disodium Ethylenediamine Tetra Acetate (EDTA), sodium borate, and sodium molybdate

Fox Farm Big Bloom .01-.3-.7 Organic Nutrient Quart


• Fox Farm Big Bloom 100% natural and organic liquid concentrate plant food
• Biological alive formula is an instant plant food
• Dramatically enhances flavor and fragrance
• Promotes strong extra large multiple blooms and will not burn plants
• Can be used in combination with Grow Big liquid plant food
• TOTAL NITROGEN (N) 0.01%: 0.002% Ammoniacal Nitrogen, 0.001% Nitrate Nitrogen, 0.005% Water Soluble Nitrogen, 0.002% Water Insoluble Nitrogen
• AVAILABLE PHOSPHATE (P205).... 0.3%
• SOLUBLE POTASH (K20)................ 0.7%
• Derived from: Earthworm castings, bat and seabird guano, rock phosphate, sulfate of potash magnesia (a mined natural mineral) Norwegian kelp

Fox Farm Tiger Bloom 2-8-4 Organic Nutrient Quart


Fox Farm Tiger Bloom Organic Nutrient Quart
• Fox Farm Tiger Bloom 100% natural and organic based liquid concentrate plant food
• Especially designed for both soil and hydroponic applications
• Ultra-potent, fast acting, high phosphorous fertilizer which stimulates growth and vigor
• Tiger Bloom promotes abundant fruit, flower, and multiple bud set
• Use at the first signs of flowering through harvest
• Formulated with a low pH to maintain stability in storage and keep micro nutrients available.

I was thinking of using a diluted solution of FoxFarm Grow Big. Also, I thought maybe two of these mixed together, perhaps Grow Big and Big Bloom. Perhaps alter them according to flowering maybe? Or maybe to just use one on a regular carefully scheduled basis.

I don't want to give the wrong impression seeming impatient with my plants. It's just that after what I have read about the wonderful results some people have had, and how they swear by their fert regime for their neps, I am now convinced that I have to give this a try and find out for myself.
I guess these FoxFarm products are the closest I can get to quality organic fertilizers without having to order them from online stores. I sure do hope they are nep safe. Grow Big contains urea nitrogen and elements derived from zinc and copper EDTA in minor amounts, which according to literature, are not nep friendly. However, I have done some research on other peoples formulas and found that they contain some of these elements as well yet they still work great for them.
Sorry for the long post, I really appreciate the effort of reading through this, and even more so if anyone can shed some light on these fertilizers.
Later then, hope to get some answers soon.... Thanks!

[Jonathan]

Hello...

I really dunno much about fertilizer for neps but i guess "urea nitrogen" is really not that friendly for neps although i never tried before but anyway good luck on your ultimate neps grow booster quest^^

Oh Btw i have been warn never to use fertilizer with urea nitrogen for my ceph...

Regards
Jonathan

[jgriffin]

I know a Aussie grower you uses 75% "aged" pine bark in his medium. How he ages it is he spreads urea on it and lets it settle with some water sprinking and repeats a couple of times and lets it sit for a couple of months.
Do you have a cheap plant to use as a guinea pig for experimenting with ferilizer?

Cheers,

Joe

[Pananep]

I do have a plant I could spare. It came from a group of cuttings I took a while ago. However, sacrificing a nep is a hard thing to do for me hehehe. I'll wait and see if anyone has any expert advice on the subject. If not, I don't know. I am not desperate so I might just end up ordering something that has been "proven" to work and then carry out the experiments. Thanks for your answers and taking the time to read the post though. Take care, later!

[plantlover]

If you find a very good fertiliser let me know. I'll use it on my rajah.

[Cindy]

Pananep,

You'll be happy to know that Borneo Exotics uses MirAcid on their Neps. Especially their seedlings. This is the one: http://catalog.ehgriffith.com/images/Miracid.jpg

Personally, I don't fertilise my adult plants except for flowering females. The reason is simply because I want my plants compact. However, I use MirAcid for very young seedlings...right when they have their first 2-3 carnivorous leaves. It gives them a boost in growth. I used to lose 90% of my seedlings because they grew so slowly and eventually died from fungus attack. Not anymore.

People who swear by having good results from the use of fertilisers often leave out the following points which are essential to not killing the plants from overdose. They don't do it deliberately but because the questions asked by the others are always directed at the concentration/frequency of fertilising etc, they only gave answers to those.

1. Their growing area has got very good light. In fact, more than ample light. The fertilisers are utilised when plants photosynthesise.

2. You might have seen this statement "Do not fertilise during winter" on certain websites on Nepenthes cultivation. That's because the light level can be pretty low or when the weather is too cold, the plants are not able to utilise the fertilisers. So application becomes useless and worse still, can kill the plants.

3. They flush their pots with water thoroughly after fertilising. Or their plants are in the open and receive lots of rain, to the same effect. Accumulation of fertilisers at the root region is the main cause of overdose. It is harder to kill a plant via foliar feed 'cos you can see once something go wrong.

4. The media they are using. Currently, I use burnt earth for potting up some of my plants. The amount of salt build-up is so much that I can literally collect thin pieces of crystals. For such a media, I wouldn't risk adding on more fertilisers. On the other hand, the other plants I have are in sphagnum moss and perlite. In the long run, these two are not going to provide sufficient nutrients for healthy growth. So addition of fertilisers once in a while helps to put things on the right track.

Neps are tolerant of most fertilisers if the above points are taken in consideration. The variation in N:P:K might make some difference but there isn't sufficient studies done. So a general one with 1:1:1 with trace elements would be sufficient.

It is neither bad nor good to fertilise Neps. The main thing it does for the plants is to encourage larger growth. And since the pitcher is the modified leaf and the leaf is the petiole itself, larger growth means both will get large at the same time. For someone with a big growing area or nursery, it is necessary to fertilise. Otherwise, what is there to show? But for me, I hope the plants stay small and bonsai-like, as long as they are producing pitchers. I have sold away many plants because they grow too large too fast.

My philosophy on fertilising Neps is "Give me a formula that produces large pitchers and tiny leaves. Otherwise, I won't be spending my time and money on it."

Pardon my long-windedness.

[Pananep]

Cindy, thanks once again for providing me with a great answer.
My plants are grown outside under shade cloth year round. They get plenty of sun from sunrise until about 2 - 3 PM, with bright light for the rest of the day. Here in Panama we always have the same daylength, around 12-13 hours of light. Temperatures here also remain relatively constant year round, as well as high humidity. We only have winter and summer here, and they are the rainy and dry seasons respectively. It is a bit windier in summer as well. A friend of mine who lives in the highlands here in Panama has an incredible collection, I'm talking about hundreds of plants. He told me once that "nepenthes grow best at 9 degrees south of the Equator, and Panama is at 9 degrees north." With this I am trying to tell you that I believe my neps enjoy pretty good growing conditions.
As for the media I use, it is one part of each of the following: sphagnum peat moss, perlite, orchid coco chips. Some plants have one part LFS included in their mix, and others are in a mix consisting of LFS and coco chips only. I have a few that are growin in a mix of 2 parts perlite, one part LFS, and one part peat moss. This was before I got the coco chips. Anyways, regardless of the different mixes they all seem to drain quite well, but also retain enough water for me to only have to water about once or twice a week.
I have the same box of MirAcid as in the picture you posted. It says on the back to use one tablespoon per gallon for outdoor plants, I would probably go with 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. Do you just water the soil, or did you foliar feed as well?
Anyways, I read the chemical composition on miracid and it seems that it shares some of the same ingredients that I was worried about from the FoxFarm product. I guess that answers my question hehe.
Thanks again!

[Cindy]

Pananep,

Your conditions sound great! But when you apply the fertilisers, you will have to water them the next day to flush out the excess. No longer can you only water it once or twice a week.

I foliar feed the seedlings with MirAcid but have not tried it with older plants. However since it doesn't harm the young ones, I doubt it will hurt the larger plants. You can always start with half strength before increasing the concentration.

[Pananep]

Well to day I began spraying MirAcid, a 1/4 tsp per gallon solution. I'm gonna go with a foliar misting in the morning every two weeks. I am trying this on two plants, N. ventricosa and N. ventricosa x maxima. The ventricosa is a young plant, while the vent x max is a mature basal plant with several leaves and healthy new growth but still no pitchers. It had it's climbing vine removed a while ago for cuttings. The climbing vine was pitchering nicely, but it was just getting too long. The ventricosa recently recovered from an intense spider mite attack where it lost all of it's pitchers and plenty of leaves. It is now pitchering again, however leaf shape is abnormal and pitchers are a LOT smaller than they were prior to SM attack.

We shall se how this goes, any opinions are welcome. Thanks for the helpful info.
Later