I was talking with someone from the Hoya forum at Daves Garden today and they are using a homemade recipe for fertilizer. I went there and copied the recipe. People are saying good things about this recipe. Thought I'd see if anyone uses it and if not...the recipe is here for you to try if you would like to. I also read that if you don't have the Superthrive, you can just dissolve human's Vit. B12 tablets into the mix. Just a couple of them. I have no idea how this works myself.
12 oz beer
1 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup ammonia
2 cup water
1/2 cup molasses (I use black strap)
4 tbs bloom booster
vit B12 (I use 250-500mg) (This would be Super Thrive in the plant kingdom.)
You use 1 tablespoon mix per gallon of warm water.
I have used the following mixture which is very similar
12 oz beer
1 cup Epsom salts
2 cup water
4 tbs bloom booster
1/4 cup ammonia
1/4 cup Shultz tomato fertilizer
tsp Superthrive
1/2 cup Kelp meal
I use 2 tablespoon of mix per gallon of water.
I really hate sharing my beer with the brugs, I will do it!! LOL! I have to share it with the slugs too to keep them off my plants!
I rather share with good company, but you have to do what you have to do!!
What do you think the molasses does?? I have not heard of that
I asked the same question today, but didn't get an answer. Guess I'll go looking around. Thanks for your recipe. Oh, another question I had was...can this recipe be used for foliar feeding?
I found this online and forgot to get the URL.
You can add molasses or brown sugar to your teas also. Sugars are high carbon substances that not only can cause speedy microbial growth, but also sugars are an excellent natural deodorizer.
ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5
This message has been edited by ChSam on Nov 1, 2006 8:27 PM
Wow, this is so interesting.... certainly worthy of a trial. My brug log is getting so full of information that I am going to have to index it if I ever expect to pull all these formulas out.
Thanks Shirley and Linda ---- I am going to give it a try.
I've used it on my epis& hoyas.None of my hoyas have bloomed yet,but my epis do good with it some of the thanksgiveing cati have 3-4 buds on the tips of the same leaves.I did use it on the frosty pink brugs in 2003.I used as foliare too.I also misted my seedlings with it,but not on a regular basis,cause once they went in ground they got the other brugs fertilizer. If I didn't live in a dry county....I might do my whole yard.I still think the Tequilia sunrise I split in my one epi is what made it bloom.And come to think of it.....masterpiece rose may have been helped by it,cause in the past its only bloomed once a year& I've had 4 different blooms this year.It would have been oversprayed when doing the orchiad cacti (but it didn't get any tequilia sunrise,but did cause the accident.I smelled rose...stood turned& walked into hanging plant& spilt drink.but plants do make good drink holders.)
Georgia on GW has a chemical chart shes posted in the past in brug forum.you can see what each does for a plant& its PH.I can't find my copy.Its on a disc somewhere's.The chart can also help you figure the amounts for mixing also.
If anyone runs across that information, would you please put the URL here? I'd love to read it. Thanks and thanks Joy. Good information in your post too. I had wondered about the foliar feeding.
This sort of sounds like a Jerry Baker recipe, but I couldn't find my Jerry Baker booklets to confirm. He always says "plants have a sweet tooth" when he talks about adding molasses or cola to one of his formulas.
the sugar in molasis or clear corn syrup helps feed the bacteria in the soil the more bacteria there are in the soil the faster they can break stuff down after all you feed the soil not the plant. the bacteria turn organic mater and fertilizers into forms the plant can absorb and use. thats why i never use cheap fertilizer it contains allot of chlorine as a filler sure 1.99 sounds good but is it.chlorine kills bacteria in the soil and can burn plant roots as those of you with pools have found out. thats why i try to use slow release that has very little chlorine in it. just my 2 cents lol its more expensive but worth it
in gardening there are no failures only learning experiances unless of course you give up mikey in fl
This message has been edited by mikeyinfla on Nov 4, 2006 12:01 PM
Some very good advice, Mikie. Something we don't always take into consideration when buying fertilizers. Will have to read the labels more carefully from now on. Linda, great website by Jerry Baker. for posting it.
Gals.
