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bradflorida

Did I make a mistake?

bradflorida
12 years ago

I decided to apply minor elements liquid as well as fish emulsion liquid to my fruit trees. I mixed both up in a plant waterer in a 1 tablespoon to 1 gallon of water ratio. I then went about watering the trees as I normally would, but this time the water had these two products in it.

Was I supposed to spray the minor elements on, and apply it to the leaves instead?

Did I overdo it? I put maybe 1/3 of a gallon of this water mix onto each citrus tree (each of which is in a 14" clay pot with citrus soil).

Thanks!!

Brad

Comments (2)

  • johnmerr
    12 years ago

    If your trees are growing well and have good color, you didn't cause any damage... except maybe putting fish emulsion in pots; it's generally not a good idea for a number of reasons, the container experts here will likely tell you why. I don't use fish emulsion anywhere for citrus; but I am more of a chemical farmer. As for the essential elements, if your leaves have good color, you can put it in the ground. Generally foliar foods are more concentrated and impact the leaves more quickly. For my field trees I put a chelated mineral mix in the soil once a year; for my garden trees, I find that if I apply a foliar fert with essential elements every 15 days it helps a lot in keeping good color, because they are in the ground and have to compete with grass, flowers, other plants, etc for food.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    12 years ago

    Your best option is to follow the directions on the labels. I think that you will find that fish emulsion can be sprayed OR watered in. Your minor element product will have its own set of directions. I tell people to read the label before they buy a product, before they mix it, before they apply it, before they store it, and before they dispose of it. That way, you will NEVER have to ask, "What did I do wrong?" or "Did I make a mistake?"

    One needs to be careful, as a general rule, when using combination applications. In this case, I see no problem ....but some products shouldn't be mixed together. I'll remind you that any fish emulsion product I have seen contains minor elements. That's part of the reason why some people use it from time to time. The minors are called that because they are used in miniscule amounts by plants. VERY little is needed. The FE will probably do the job for you.

    Anyway, read and follow the directions for each of the products...you will simply be using the same gallon of water.

    Hopefully, you water your plants well BEFORE applying the fertilizer mixture. 1/3 of a gallon per plant doesn't seem like very much to me, in terms of thoroughly drenching the soil volume of a 14 inch pot. Watering in advance, watering with the fert. solution will insure that your product will distribute itself throughout the container.

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