hi Rick!!

I use them together when I fertilize. I try not to skip the Pro TeKt. But it does happen Every once in a while, but try to always add it In With the FP. I add ( the Pro TeKt) seperately In The watering jug and add water to the top. before I add the FP. It will bind together if you add the two at the same time. Read the instructions on the Pro teKt. . It will help you...

In The early spring, I dilute the FP ( and Pro TeKt) to 1/4 tsp per gallon and also for the trees that I feed under lights. Then when spring comes along I go To 1 tsp per gallon. Then when summer is here, I go 2 tsp per gallon and this is every Ten days I make sure the rain will flush or I will water in between. I dont worry about feeding and or over feeding using this mix.. I really love it. My trees love it too!! I slow down In The fall, but continue to give the trees the nutrients they need to be healthy. Some stop feeding in the winter, but where will they get their needs from if the are inside containers? I reduce the amount and give them a watering every ten days or so with the FP..

I never see a build up of any kind when I water with these two great products

If it worries you about the amount to use. Start with a Little then work up to a good feeding in The summer.. Your plants will thank you!!!

Good luck!!

Remember to water slowly.. I water all around the surface of the container and then when I see it starting to drain, I will go to another container and continue in that fashion. Once that is done.. I will go back and hit them just a little again, so it will get a Good light soak. Remember.. Water Slowly.. Not fast.

I also keep a plastic tray under my trees. They are lifted so they will not sit in the drained water. Some like to reuse this water, but it is full of flushed salts, so why add them back to your trees? Let it sit there and add to the humidity in the room...That is what I do... I lift my containers with water caps. Four per container to keep from sitting in the water.

Hope this helps

Laura

Interesting info Laura ;-). I always learn new things from you. Thank you for the informative and helpful info.

Chuy

Thanks Laura,
Always appreciate your help.
Glad I was able to get them through a local store.
Rick

Rick,

I've used Dyna Gro Foliage Pro and Pro Tekt in a similar fashion as Laura. However, I cannot say I saw a noticeable difference from any other fertilizer I was using. I've tried using so many different brands of fertilizer for my plants in my greenhouse experimenting to see if I could find something that worked better than another brand.

Now, last summer I began misting all my plants with a fertilizer solution and I saw a NOTICEABLE difference, darker green foliage, much more growth, and over all healthier looking plants. The reason I know that this worked...I had 5 plants hanging in an area in my greenhouse that I forgot to spray all summer long, they were the same varieties as I was spraying in other areas of my greenhouse and they had no significant new growth, not as dark green foliage. I'm not kidding at all. It was a huge noticeable difference.

In theory, I suspect that plants absorb nutrients through their leaves/foliage much more quickly than through their root system. Therefore, the tremendous results. In nature, there are times it just mists/sprinkles with no real moisture on the ground and the plants still grow and grass turns green.

In September I received a few plants from someone who could no longer care for them and they were in BAD shape. I started misting them with fertilizer and they are throwing out new growth EVERYWHERE and mind you it is the time of year where growth normally stops due to diminishing daylight and cooler temps.

I had purchased several epiphyllum cuttings and have been misting them daily with diluted fertilizer and I have a couple of them putting on flowers buds, usually people don't get flowers on cuttings the first few months, it usually takes a couple years.

oi oi oi...Enough testimonials eh? But, I am sold in believing that misting with fertilizer will produce much better results if you have the time. I've been misting daily and if I have time sometimes twice a day.

Ladylotus- what fertilizer do you use to mist that you noticed a significant difference in? Curious to know ;-)

Chuy

Rick, I am so sorry I don't want to change the subject you are posting on.

Chuy - Here is what I used:

2 cups water (rain water)
1 can of regular (not lite) beer
1 cup household ammonia
1 cup epsom salt
1 cup molasses
Fish emulsion (I did not measure just poured some in)
Super Thrive (I did not measure just drizzled some in (approx. a cap full))
1/4 cup Peters plant food
1/4 cup Bloom Booster
1/2 cup Plant Stimulator (I bought a gallon jug of this at a store called Runnings when it was on sale for $4 last summer)

I would then take this store it in a plastic container and add 1 teaspoon per gallon of water (I used rain water or pond water ONLY).

Please note, I got this recipe from another person and was very skeptical of using it. But I love to experiment and have tried every brand name fertilizer on the market throughout my gardening foray. This is the FIRST fertilizer recipe that I have seen noticeable change in my plants. I've only used it for one year now...be warned about that.

Not a problem Ladylotus, all is good and I appreciate your feedback and also your mix.
Thanks Rick

Ladylotus, thanks for this recipe! i found a similar one recommended for brugmansias (and other plants) on trumpetflowers.com but i never got around to making the mix and trying it out on adeniums. i think i will put it higher up the priority list now if you say it works on adeniums too :)

here's the recipe from trumpetflowers.com, maybe it will be of use to someone:

1 teaspoon peroxide
1 - 12 oz can of dark beer
1/2 cup household clear ammonia
1/4 cup Epsom salt
15 drops Tea Tree Oil
4 drops Superthrive liquid (optional)
1/2 white aspirin tablet, crushed
1 Vitamin B tablet, crushed
1 calcium tablet, crushed
1/4 cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup powdered or liquid Kelp
4 tbsp. Miracle Gro Tomato Fertilizer
1 teaspoon Fulvic acid (optional)
2 teaspoons Lemon dish soap liquid
Water

Using a clean one gallon milk jug, add everything except the water. When everything is in the jug, fill the rest with clean water, filtered rain water being the best. Use this for foliar feeding or add 2 tablespoons to a one gallon container of water for direct fertilizing. Same mixture for both.

Hi Pagan,
Thank you for all of your insight, much appreciated.
I am glad that I was able to find them, as Laura speaks very highly of them and then later saw that they where recommended by Al, also.
I did not think I was going to be able to find them and no Nursery here would have heard of them.
It was through 'Otis' (who lives in B.C.) that told me where to look.
I started checking the Hydroponic Stores. Found one that brought it in for me and ended up bringing in quite a bit, as they did some reading on them and liked what they read.
Needless to say, I was a bit reluctant to go into one of these stores. Thinking of what I presumed they where really growing. Silly way to think, the stigma of what you hear, I guess.
Let's just say, I did not go in the back door.
Looking forward to using them.
Rick

lol I know exactly what you mean, Rick. Although I personally support the open and taxable use of "what they are really growing".

The plant things I learn from this forum are usually irritating to locate locally so I depend on Amazon for almost all of them from pumice to BT. I'd gladly pay for shipping just to be spared from nursery hopping since I never find what I need and always come back with plants I have no indoor space for!

And so now I know gesneriads are not my friend. Sigh.

Pagan

Hello Everyone!

I visited my hydroponics store today and picked up a few things... Couldn't help to look and see if there was a " back door.. Lol". Nope.. Only the front door. My thoughts were on you all here on the forum and I will admit, when I first walked into this store... I did look at the cars in the parking lot and wondered if anyone was taking down plates.. ;-) I waltz right into the store now that I have been going in there for years and have become friends with the shops " pit bull". The gentleman even brings my large purchases to my car and I wonder if the local undercover are watching! Lol...

I can only find the Dyna Gro products here or on line. But they are a happy laid back crowd .... ;-). So I will continue to buy from the local store... I just remembered that I bought my 4 foot T -5 lights from them too! Maybe that is why the helicopter flies over my house... LMAO!!! Hmmmmm....

Chuy.. Mahalo, my friend.. Always nice to hear from you!!

Thank you as well, Rick.. I have been using this for years now and like Pagan, I have seen major improvements on all of my trees!

Al has written so many wonderful threads that I still read up on and I have followed his growing techniques for a while now. He is a very knowledgable grower of many trees and has taught me many things!

Lots of great Info here..

All of my trees are inside for the winter here in Virginia.
We actually had snow flurries the other night and had a low last night of 29 degrees. Brrrr.... Some have dropped their leaves and some have kept them . I will let them continue to decide if they want to go dormant on their own. The Plumeria are all in as well.. Some are on the same cycle as the Adenium, but most were forced to take a nap.

Have a wonderful night everyone...

Laura

We don't have hydroponic stores around here. What in the world are they growing in them that you all are uncomfortable going in them? I thought they grew tomatoes and other edible veggies.

I am glad you are all getting good results from Dyna Gro Foliage Pro and Pro Tekt. I ordered mine off of Amazon as well and might just start using it again this spring if your results are that good. Sad but I keep trying different things in hopes of a miracle elixir. Perhaps I did not give it enough time? I really do love my mix I'm using now. Everything is looking so healthy from my foliar feeding.

Ladylotus,
The Hydroponic stores here (the one I went to) do sell products that are for veggies, houseplants, etc., but I was kidding about not using the back door.
There are theories/folklore if you want to call them, that they also provide these products for medicinal pot. I don't mean your Adenium pots.
All presumption, but they do supply good products.
Rick

Lady...

;-)... They do sell to many customers for many different needs.. When I mention the grow lights, well... Some customers hide those grow lights in their homes when growing different plants for specific needs ( medicinal too!). Helicopters seek out these special grow homes... But illegal here in the state of Virginia.. That is why we joke about others watching us when we go to the store that is sooo. "Popular". It's all good!!!

Great people.. Great stores.. Great products, healthy plants!!! ;-)

Have a great day...

Laura

Thank you Ladylouts for the recipe!!
Hi Laura ;-). Well.... I have a "pitbull" ;-)
He's my Teddy Bear
Sorry everyone.... Had to show my puppy ;-)
Chuy

There are very few plants that satisfy a significant % of their nutritive needs via nutrients dissolved in water that contacts their foliage. The primary pathway for nutrient movement into almost all terrestrial plant material is through the roots. Foliar feeding is used in agricultural situations where a scarcity of one or more nutrients has been identified, and the plant is growing so rapidly that nutritive (plant) demand is greater than the plant's ability to supply (take up) isolated nutrients. Rarely is a complete fertilizer sprayed on foliage; rather, it might be a solution containing Fe, Z, Mn, or any of the other nutrients in attempt to alleviate a deficiency of an already identified nutrient, or sometimes more than one.

In containers, plants almost never grow at rates that find the plant's ability to absorb insufficient to support it's growth rate, so if you do see significant improvement in your plants growth rate or appearance, it's a fairly good indicator that something is acting to inhibit the primary pathway or the grower isn't providing all the essential nutrients at a favorable rate and ratio. If you DO provide nutrients in a favorable rate/ratio, and root function isn't inhibited by poor conditions in the rhizosphere, you should see virtually NO difference in growth rate or appearance after foliar feeding.

Also, when applying fertilizer via foliar application, it doesn't necessarily correct deficiencies. Nutrients that are immobile in the plant cannot effectively be moved throughout the entire organism, so you really are only providing a stopgap remedy. Any foliage that grows after application of immobile nutrients is still going to be deficient unless that nutrient is taken up so it enters the nutrient stream.

An excess of any one nutrient can be as limiting as a deficiency, so make it your goal to ensure all the nutrients plants normally get from the soil and that are essential to normal growth are in the soil at all times, in a ratio that closely mimics that at which the plant actually uses the nutrients, and at a concentration high enough to ensure no deficiencies yet low enough that it doesn't inhibit the plant's ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water. Conceptually, that would be the perfect way to fertilize, and it's not difficult for the hobby grower to get very, very close to getting it just right, using only one fertilizer, if some consideration is given to its selection.

Al

Ok Al, so is the recipe I listed giving my plants enough nutrients since I am both foliar feeding and watering with this fertilizer? I am not sure what I could do differently or what you indicate may be wrong with my plants? I'm using the gritty mix or 5-1-1 depending on the plants. The only thing I have not done is continue the use of Dyna Gro as I did not see marked improvement.

This is the first time I've seen such wonderful results. I've tried many fertilizers including the Dyna gro and Pro tekt ferts.

I am battling mealy bugs but mostly things are going fairly well for me with my plants. I'm just looking for the best results and I do believe foliar feeding will show results MUCH quicker than just watering with fertilizers.

This post was edited by ladylotus on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 20:25

Hi Lady...

I'll let Al address that for you.. ;-). He can explain it much better than I can.

Hope he will come around. If not ill send him a message to check!!!

Hi Chuy... What a cute little bug!! ... OMG ... What a beauty!!! So sweet! I would cuddle up with that sweet face. . Awwwwww

Thanks for posting. .. They do get a bad rap, but so do blondes. Lol ! ;-)

Have a good night!!!

Laura

LL - if you're happy with what you're doing, don't change anything on my account. My experience is that depending on homemade fertilizers usually isn't rewarding, but it's YOUR growing experience - not mine. There is no way to know how much of what you're supplying, or when the organic fraction of the supplement might be available, and I see a lot of things that don't make sense and may be problematic, from a chemical perspective. I won't list them unless you want me to.

When I make comments, they are usually offered with the idea in mind that they will reach more than one reader, so even if it seems like my comments were aimed at you, they were actually me taking advantage of an opportunity to clarify a few things about how to read the impact of foliar feeding, for anyone who might come along later. I always hope that someone will at some point in time read what I said and say, "Oh yeah - that makes sense."

Try Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 for insects, disease, and mites for the mealybugs. Don't confuse that product with the other similar product that contains fertilizer. It should clear them up quickly.

Al

Al, thank you so much for your advice. I do appreciate it and love to experiment. So, any information you provide I do try. :)

Thank you for the information about mealies. I am going to give that product a try.

Hopefully, more people will share their experience with Dyna Gro and Pro tekt as Rick's post was initially intended.