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Plant food just for Hoyas?

Denise
10 years ago

Have any of you seen or tried this? Found it on Amazon...

Denise in Omaha

Comments (5)

  • greentoe357
    10 years ago

    I have not seen this, thanks, Denise - I had a look now.

    http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Fertilizer-Hightech-Foliar-Fertiliser/dp/B00HZ5WF4W

    Red flag #1: marketed specifically for hoyas. Absolute majority of plants consume nutrients in the same proportions, so looks suspicious.

    Red flag #2: claims to be for both rooting and fertilizing. As I understand, these are irreconcilable things. Rooting hormones can hurt the plant if it touches something other than where roots will be forming - hence the advice not to get it on the leaves. On the other hand, fertilizer is bad for unrooted cuttings or plants with compromised roots. The fert solution will just sit there slowly burning the flesh of the stem without the means of being absorbed.

    Red flag #3: "Very rapid effects". Some fertilizers (like those urea-based) need soil bacteria and time to turn the nutes into the form usable by the plant. (Do not get those for container plants). Others have nutes available right away. The plant is going to take them as it needs water. How much more rapid can this possibly get? Sounds gimmicky again.

    Red flag #4 and the most important one: plenty of vague statements while not providing even the most basic facts about the contents, like the NPK ratio, yet alone the micronutrient content.

    I'd move on.

  • greedygh0st
    10 years ago

    Well, on the actual label (in the photo) it says its NPK ratio is 3.55-3.4-4.95 and that you're supposed to water with it every 2-3 weeks during the vegetation phase. So, I think it's not intended to be an all-purpose-fertilizer, just one for the regular growing period.

    I think some of the language in the Amazon description is to promote this line of fertilizers in general, not the Hoya fertilizer specifically.

    Not that I'm voting for or against it. It doesn't seem like a crazy fertilizer, just an ordinary one. I couldn't see anywhere where they explained what made this fertilizer "more readily available." Unfortunately I wasn't able to pull it up on the manufacturer's website.

  • vermonthoyas
    10 years ago

    I think that it is probably a fine fertilizer, but more importantly shows how seriously many of the European countries take their Hoyas. I can't imagine a manufacturer in the U.S. ever trying to market a product for a plant that almost no one has ever heard of. It makes me happy that there is enough interest in Hoyas in some parts of the world to have a company take a chance on marketing a specific fertilizer for them.

  • greentoe357
    10 years ago

    > on the actual label (in the photo) it says its NPK ratio is 3.55-3.4-4.95

    It's funny, I did check the photo, but was so conditioned to look for whole numbers that I missed this obvious part. Thanks for mentioning it, GG.

  • greentoe357
    10 years ago

    There was a conversation in HOYAS 101+ group on facebook about this fertilizer as well.

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=717468124970297

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