I don't think you can derive accurate NPK ratio from the amount of NPK in plant tissue. Plant isn't storing nutrients in the same ratio as it consumes them. Here is NPK formula based on most (commercial) hydroponic systems I've seen: N 200-300ppm P 20-50ppm K 300-500ppm Considering mycorrhizal fungi, it's essential in organic growing (unlocking P) but plants don't need it when enough soluable P is availabe to them (salt based fertilizers / hydropopnics). They're actually smart enough to refuse to feed and attract these fungi because it's not worth wasting their energy. While I agree with the premise of your video it's also true that plants need higher amount of P during formation of flower bases and K during bulking/fruiting phase. I would say the trick here is that these manufacturers intentionally make basic fertilizers with incorrect ratios (lower P/K) so they can sell you another product to increase your P/K which will actually work as a "bloom booster" but it's a scam from the start.
Interesting 🤔 The bloom boosters I'm most familiar with (I live in VT) contain supplements like PGRs (plant growth regulators). They typically also contain some essential nutrient content and are listed on the package as NPK values -- _however, additional supplements; such as PGRs and microbial inoculants, aren't normally _*_explicitly_*_ listed on commercial product packaging...as they tend to be geared more towards ornamentals (e.g. orchids)._ The *plant supplements* in the bloom boosters I've used in the past have all worked well for me when it came to increasing a plant's natural reproductive responses, while also supporting their rhizosphere with micro/macro *plant nutrients* 💐.
Thank you from a sandy soil gardener with very hard well water. I have noticed though that everything jumps growth for me after a rain. I will need to check my well water ph. Sometimes my weddings struggle too. Always enjoy your videos.
Sounds like the best recourse is to not fret so much about the health of a particular plant, but to do whatever you can to ensure the general health of your soil by adding more organic matter on the regular.
I really appreciate this theoretical explanation and it makes sense to me. I'm curious if you (or anybody) can point me to some data specific to tomato and pepper growing that can actually concretely back this up to show that the yield of these plants is not increased by using a fertilizer higher in phosphorous while the plants are fruiting (as per the common advice). I'm also curious how we know about this 3-1-2 ratio. If its purely by looking at what the plant stores (in a leaf for example), how can we be sure this is correlated with the amount of these nutrients the plant actually uses, or that the ratio has anything to do with what is necessarily present in the soil to achieve said ratio? As another commenter stated, "I don't think you can derive accurate NPK ratio from the amount of NPK in plant tissue. Plant isn't storing nutrients in the same ratio as it consumes them." Is this a valid caveat to the basis for the 3-1-2 argument? I would appreciate more info on other ways we know that 3-1-2 IN THE SOIL is the eay to go. Maybe its more difficult for the plant to access one nutrient over the others and so higher soil concentration is required? Maybe the plant stores one in greater volumes due to lack of reliability and less do to the quantity is uses? If the nutrient profile of the fruit and vegtables themselves is so varied, how can this 3-1-2 be universal? Overall I'm just really curious how this value of 3-1-2 was settled upon besides measuring the amount in a leaf! I'm sure that some of these questions are easily answered by a better understanding of plant biology, but this is one of the most thoughtful sources I've come across when it comes to fertilizing and seems like a better place to ask that the reddit forums where everyone is so certain of their method because they've "had success".
I think the NPK approach to fertilizing plants is old and outdated. Plants require other additional minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, etc. Recently a few of my tender salvia plants were just not thriving, so I conservatively fed them some liquid iron (iron sulfate) and I saw noticeable fast improvements in the plants (they got darker green and started flowering more). Ultimately I know that composting the plants and adding bone meal and blood meal will boost plant health, but I have not had the chance given how busy this summer has been (taking down dozens of dead ash trees). I wonder if commercial farms are only using npk fertilizers for food production; it could explain why some people end up with medical conditions because they think they are eating healthy commercially grown vegetables when perhaps they are not.
I don’t disagree with the premise, however, If those products were causing issues with raising phosphate levels enough to create problems they wouldn’t be able to sell them. People have success using them regardless of whether the ratios are ideal and which element is most useful. If plants use phosphate doesn’t it get depleted? Does everyone live in Minnesota? I use a balanced low level organic fertilizer when needed.
I just want to point something out here.. there are plenty of products out there that cause problems and yes they are still able to sell them.. " Cough Vaccines " cough junk food... There's a never ending list.. I believe the only way to find out is doing side by side tests..
It does seem odd that a lot of pepper growers feel the need to use 3-5-3 or other such fertilizers. Meanwhile my containerized overwintered peppers are growing in a mix of native soil and compost and occasionally fertilized with diluted urine, all of which are low in phosphorus and potassium, and the large fruited (4-5oz) varieties have 10-20 fruits growing on them, medium fruit varieties 1.5-3oz) have 30-80 fruits growing on them, and small fruited (0.5-1oz) varieties have 100-150 fruits growing on them, and it's still early in the season here in southern Ontario zone 5. Clearly they aren't having any issues flowering or developing fruits. Yeah, there are some flowers dropping, but that probably has to do with the fact that the plants have a lot of stem nodes due to pruning related to winterizing, and they aren't going to be capable of holding over 10 lbs of fruit (as they would if all the flowers turned into full sized fruit).
Half truths become “science” when people make observational claims based on suppositions. “if I put x nutrient on my plants and my plant grows fine then it must be working so it’s what I need to do every year with every plant.” If I leave my plants alone only giving water they do just as well as when I fertilize. Now veggies during heavy summer production times is a different matter
So what do i use to make my petunias leaves not so yellow. In 20" hanging baskets. They are blooming. I was getting ready to buy a new brand of bloom booster again. I have been using old fish tank water from my weekly fish tank water changes for the last 10 weeks. It"s hot here. today is june 30th.
@gardenfundamentals1 Hey brother, I love your videos. You provide a lot of great information. I'm not sure if you are aware, but there appears to be a lump on the left side of your neck when you speak. Hopefully, it's nothing. You may want to have that looked at. I'm just looking out!
Uh oh… I’ve been switching to miracle grow tomato when the plants start producing vegetables. Npk is 3-3-3.5 I haven’t noticed anything negative. I’m going to switch to all 3-1-2 and not use the tomato stuff and see how it goes. Thanks for the info.
@@ivahihopeful Those are just ratios. General fertilizer I use is 24-8-16 Tomato is 18-18-21 Bloom booster is 15-30-15 If 8 is good enough and 30 is too much… 18?
@@instantsiv It can be a bit of a complicated subject lol Because different plants absorb different nutrients at different rates depending on the PH around their roots. Which is why you can feed a 30-8-8 *_and still_* have a nitrogen deficiency if the PH is too high/low for the plant to absorb enough of that nitrogen. When you're growing in soil -- you can end up with different ratios of nutrients around your plant's root ball and not all of those nutrients will be in bioavailable forms that plants can use. _(like how nutrient salts tend to accumulate overtime in potting soils and forms that funky surface crust)_
@@instantsiv gotcha, and I don’t know. I use my fertilizer much more diluted. What has worked in my garden has been to apply a balanced fertilizer at planting time, use higher nitrogen liquid fertilizer (usually fish fertilizer) as the plants get larger, and to use the other types you mentioned later in the season ...and then to only add more nitrogen (ratio) through organic fertilizer when/leaves are yellowing (not disease) or less green. But if I were using the levels/numbers you do (which I do), I dilute it and make it 3-4 times weaker. So, there’s not much build up, regardless. Because there’s only the extra P and K toward the end of the season, and it still doesn’t add up to the level of N I’ve put in. So, overall, I’m probably getting more nitrogen, and overall, I’m not using a ton of fertilizer. I’m sorry if I’m no help. Just stating what is working in my garden.
I don't think you can derive accurate NPK ratio from the amount of NPK in plant tissue. Plant isn't storing nutrients in the same ratio as it consumes them. Here is NPK formula based on most (commercial) hydroponic systems I've seen:
N 200-300ppm
P 20-50ppm
K 300-500ppm
Considering mycorrhizal fungi, it's essential in organic growing (unlocking P) but plants don't need it when enough soluable P is availabe to them (salt based fertilizers / hydropopnics). They're actually smart enough to refuse to feed and attract these fungi because it's not worth wasting their energy.
While I agree with the premise of your video it's also true that plants need higher amount of P during formation of flower bases and K during bulking/fruiting phase. I would say the trick here is that these manufacturers intentionally make basic fertilizers with incorrect ratios (lower P/K) so they can sell you another product to increase your P/K which will actually work as a "bloom booster" but it's a scam from the start.
Interesting 🤔
The bloom boosters I'm most familiar with (I live in VT) contain supplements like PGRs (plant growth regulators).
They typically also contain some essential nutrient content and are listed on the package as NPK values -- _however, additional supplements; such as PGRs and microbial inoculants, aren't normally _*_explicitly_*_ listed on commercial product packaging...as they tend to be geared more towards ornamentals (e.g. orchids)._
The *plant supplements* in the bloom boosters I've used in the past have all worked well for me when it came to increasing a plant's natural reproductive responses, while also supporting their rhizosphere with micro/macro *plant nutrients* 💐.
Thank you from a sandy soil gardener with very hard well water.
I have noticed though that everything jumps growth for me after a rain. I will need to check my well water ph. Sometimes my weddings struggle too. Always enjoy your videos.
I'm cutting way way back on the phosphorus. ... The comments about mycorrhizal fungi is very interesting
Sounds like the best recourse is to not fret so much about the health of a particular plant, but to do whatever you can to ensure the general health of your soil by adding more organic matter on the regular.
Bloom boosters feed you buds to make them denser and they work but you neeed to watch the dosage less is more
they emphatically work, the science repeatably supports it
This is great stuff! I’m going to ask for some of your books for my birthday!
I really appreciate this theoretical explanation and it makes sense to me. I'm curious if you (or anybody) can point me to some data specific to tomato and pepper growing that can actually concretely back this up to show that the yield of these plants is not increased by using a fertilizer higher in phosphorous while the plants are fruiting (as per the common advice). I'm also curious how we know about this 3-1-2 ratio. If its purely by looking at what the plant stores (in a leaf for example), how can we be sure this is correlated with the amount of these nutrients the plant actually uses, or that the ratio has anything to do with what is necessarily present in the soil to achieve said ratio? As another commenter stated, "I don't think you can derive accurate NPK ratio from the amount of NPK in plant tissue. Plant isn't storing nutrients in the same ratio as it consumes them." Is this a valid caveat to the basis for the 3-1-2 argument? I would appreciate more info on other ways we know that 3-1-2 IN THE SOIL is the eay to go.
Maybe its more difficult for the plant to access one nutrient over the others and so higher soil concentration is required? Maybe the plant stores one in greater volumes due to lack of reliability and less do to the quantity is uses? If the nutrient profile of the fruit and vegtables themselves is so varied, how can this 3-1-2 be universal? Overall I'm just really curious how this value of 3-1-2 was settled upon besides measuring the amount in a leaf!
I'm sure that some of these questions are easily answered by a better understanding of plant biology, but this is one of the most thoughtful sources I've come across when it comes to fertilizing and seems like a better place to ask that the reddit forums where everyone is so certain of their method because they've "had success".
Thank you Mr. P. 🌸💚🙃
It does make sense to use bloom booster like big bud 0-1-3 in little doses if your'e using nutrients that are high on nitrogen
Thanks for clarifying this! I'm still wondering: is there any truth to the idea that extra nitrogen will actually reduce blooming?
Yes.
Thank you so much for educating me!!!
I think the NPK approach to fertilizing plants is old and outdated. Plants require other additional minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, etc. Recently a few of my tender salvia plants were just not thriving, so I conservatively fed them some liquid iron (iron sulfate) and I saw noticeable fast improvements in the plants (they got darker green and started flowering more). Ultimately I know that composting the plants and adding bone meal and blood meal will boost plant health, but I have not had the chance given how busy this summer has been (taking down dozens of dead ash trees).
I wonder if commercial farms are only using npk fertilizers for food production; it could explain why some people end up with medical conditions because they think they are eating healthy commercially grown vegetables when perhaps they are not.
Another pearl of garden wisdom. Yes I will admit I fell for the Booster scam more than once! Thx 🎉
I don’t disagree with the premise, however, If those products were causing issues with raising phosphate levels enough to create problems they wouldn’t be able to sell them. People have success using them regardless of whether the ratios are ideal and which element is most useful. If plants use phosphate doesn’t it get depleted? Does everyone live in Minnesota? I use a balanced low level organic fertilizer when needed.
I just want to point something out here.. there are plenty of products out there that cause problems and yes they are still able to sell them.. " Cough Vaccines " cough junk food... There's a never ending list..
I believe the only way to find out is doing side by side tests..
It does seem odd that a lot of pepper growers feel the need to use 3-5-3 or other such fertilizers. Meanwhile my containerized overwintered peppers are growing in a mix of native soil and compost and occasionally fertilized with diluted urine, all of which are low in phosphorus and potassium, and the large fruited (4-5oz) varieties have 10-20 fruits growing on them, medium fruit varieties 1.5-3oz) have 30-80 fruits growing on them, and small fruited (0.5-1oz) varieties have 100-150 fruits growing on them, and it's still early in the season here in southern Ontario zone 5. Clearly they aren't having any issues flowering or developing fruits. Yeah, there are some flowers dropping, but that probably has to do with the fact that the plants have a lot of stem nodes due to pruning related to winterizing, and they aren't going to be capable of holding over 10 lbs of fruit (as they would if all the flowers turned into full sized fruit).
Half truths become “science” when people make observational claims based on suppositions. “if I put x nutrient on my plants and my plant grows fine then it must be working so it’s what I need to do every year with every plant.” If I leave my plants alone only giving water they do just as well as when I fertilize. Now veggies during heavy summer production times is a different matter
Mentally sick people don’t realize they are mentally sick
Thank you, excellent!
Is the same true if you are growing in a potting mix?
So what do i use to make my petunias leaves not so yellow. In 20" hanging baskets. They are blooming. I was getting ready to buy a new brand of bloom booster again. I have been using old fish tank water from my weekly fish tank water changes for the last 10 weeks. It"s hot here. today is june 30th.
A common cause of yellow leaves is a nitrogen deficiency. I would increase nitrogen levels.
I've always found a shot of bloom booster has helped produce more flowers. I'm not so sure anymore. Everything here makes sense.
😮High phosphate levels in Minnesota only.
*Other states do 😮have phosphate deficiencies.
Great video! You just saved me a lot of money.
Does this information apply to plants in pots, containers and grow bags, where nutrients are leached out with watering?
The ideal ratio of NPK for most plants are 3-1-2. That should give you great results in a pot.
@gardenfundamentals1 Hey brother, I love your videos. You provide a lot of great information. I'm not sure if you are aware, but there appears to be a lump on the left side of your neck when you speak. Hopefully, it's nothing. You may want to have that looked at. I'm just looking out!
Uh oh… I’ve been switching to miracle grow tomato when the plants start producing vegetables. Npk is 3-3-3.5
I haven’t noticed anything negative. I’m going to switch to all 3-1-2 and not use the tomato stuff and see how it goes. Thanks for the info.
Those numbers are not high with either one. I wouldn’t imagine either product would have a negative impact when used as directed.
@@ivahihopeful Those are just ratios.
General fertilizer I use is 24-8-16
Tomato is 18-18-21
Bloom booster is 15-30-15
If 8 is good enough and 30 is too much… 18?
@@instantsiv It can be a bit of a complicated subject lol
Because different plants absorb different nutrients at different rates depending on the PH around their roots.
Which is why you can feed a 30-8-8 *_and still_* have a nitrogen deficiency if the PH is too high/low for the plant to absorb enough of that nitrogen.
When you're growing in soil -- you can end up with different ratios of nutrients around your plant's root ball and not all of those nutrients will be in bioavailable forms that plants can use.
_(like how nutrient salts tend to accumulate overtime in potting soils and forms that funky surface crust)_
@@instantsiv gotcha, and I don’t know. I use my fertilizer much more diluted. What has worked in my garden has been to apply a balanced fertilizer at planting time, use higher nitrogen liquid fertilizer (usually fish fertilizer) as the plants get larger, and to use the other types you mentioned later in the season ...and then to only add more nitrogen (ratio) through organic fertilizer when/leaves are yellowing (not disease) or less green. But if I were using the levels/numbers you do (which I do), I dilute it and make it 3-4 times weaker. So, there’s not much build up, regardless. Because there’s only the extra P and K toward the end of the season, and it still doesn’t add up to the level of N I’ve put in. So, overall, I’m probably getting more nitrogen, and overall, I’m not using a ton of fertilizer. I’m sorry if I’m no help. Just stating what is working in my garden.
@@NeonCicada yes, and I feel the organic stuff is more forgiving. When I use synthetic, I have to greatly dilute it, or my plants are not happy.
There are so many marketing gimmicks for gardeners.
Once again I fell for a marketing gimmick, thanks for the coarse correction.