I think your conclusion is spot on. It is not that Urea is a bad fertilizer to use but rather leads to waste. If you use it as a foliar feed to correct or supplement low nitrogen levels it works well. But if you use it as a main source of nitrogen in the fertilizer water you are not getting good value for money spent. Also because the nitrogen leaves the media as a gas you never really know what is available for the roots to take in.
Urea as fertiliser
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I think your conclusion is spot on. It is not that Urea is a bad fertilizer to use but rather leads to waste. If you use it as a foliar feed to correct or supplement low nitrogen levels it works well. But if you use it as a main source of nitrogen in the fertilizer water you are not getting good value for money spent. Also because the nitrogen leaves the media as a gas you never really know what is available for the roots to take in.
This is getting interesting! Thanks for the info. Perhaps foliar feeding is something to consider additional to regular feeding?
IF you have a deficiency, sure. Otherwise, it seems doubtful that it's worth it.
K
keithrs
Guest
I foliar feed every watering and I haven't seen any promising results on healthy plants..... I have noticed that plants that are struggling via root lose or be div. have seem to have jumped back alot faster. Maybe a fluke? Not sure.....
Actually Keith, I would think that's totally consistent. A plant with severe root loss is bound to be deficient in something, not having a good way to take up nutrients, so would be more likely to be responsive to the foliar input.
phals have been shown to be grown quite well (hybrids in a test), with foliar feeding on the undersides of the leaves. so much so, that some had considered not fertilizing the pots at all and just using a fogger to get the mist under the leaves.
if you have decent nitrogen levels but don't have as much calcium in there, you can help the plants a lot by foliar feeding with calcium. at work when we still were growing poinsettias, we had to spray at least once a week with pharmaceutical grade calcium on the developing bracts (red leaves) because they were growing so fast that the calcium available couldn't move to the growing edges, and they would get leaf edge burn. coating the entire upper area of leaves prevented this from happening
if you have decent nitrogen levels but don't have as much calcium in there, you can help the plants a lot by foliar feeding with calcium. at work when we still were growing poinsettias, we had to spray at least once a week with pharmaceutical grade calcium on the developing bracts (red leaves) because they were growing so fast that the calcium available couldn't move to the growing edges, and they would get leaf edge burn. coating the entire upper area of leaves prevented this from happening
Rick
Well-Known Member
Calcium does not exist as a stable element, so what was the anion.
Nitrate, glutonate, chloride, EDTA, sulfate, sulfonates?
doesn't matter; it's at work and I won't be there for a few months
pharmaceutical grade powdered calcium
pharmaceutical grade powdered calcium
Rick
Well-Known Member
Could be the anion thats actually doing the work rather than the calcium?
We have lots of discusions where people want to add "just calcium" to there programs, but there is no way to do that since purified elemental calcium is explosive.
lol I think that you're getting a little too technical here (smile)... someone must have pressed your professor button!
I remember the pharm formula or description on the label had 'waters' on it, but since we haven't had poinsettias for a few years and I haven't picked up the carton, I don't remember the exact state of formulaic calcium
I remember the pharm formula or description on the label had 'waters' on it, but since we haven't had poinsettias for a few years and I haven't picked up the carton, I don't remember the exact state of formulaic calcium
K
keithrs
Guest
I don't use urea N so maybe thats why I have not seen results from foliar feeding......
Rick
Well-Known Member
My P button:clap::clap:
Anyway on Wikipedia it sounds like "pharm grade calcium" is washed and powdered calcium carbonate.
I was straining my brain last night and this morning, and don't quote me but it might be calcium chloride di-hydrate, and I think it's higher than pharmacy grade. I think I remembered pharmacy grade because there was some sort of listing on the side of the container that had 'pharm' on it. I thought it had more waters, but searching online for calcium chloride pentahydrate doesn't really work... so probably di-hydrate. very soluble, very safe to use and we used 16 ounces per 100 gallons (the most we were told that could be safely used on poinsettia bracts without burning)
now I'm wondering if there is somewhere I can buy small amounts of urea fertilizer that I can use for foliar feeding, so that I don't need to put as much fertilizer around the roots
now I'm wondering if there is somewhere I can buy small amounts of urea fertilizer that I can use for foliar feeding, so that I don't need to put as much fertilizer around the roots
K
keithrs
Guest
Hydro stores sell 16-0-0, 16-1-1, 16-1-2 depending if you want calcium, seaweed, and other trace elements. They basically cut synthetic urea in half with water and humic acids.
sounds like that would be good... are there any particular brand names for this version? I'm asking because the last time I went into a hydro store to look for humic acids, there were tons of bottles and many didn't want to be overly descriptive about what was inside of them (just a lot of fancy graphics and such)
K
keithrs
Guest
Humboldt Nutrients has a very good product called Verde...... They also have humic and fulic acids. Humbolt is 8% humic acid and flavorful is a humic acid derivative..... its 8% fulic acid
thank you lance and keith for info about the urea fertilizer. I still have fulvic acid, and believe it or not I found miracle gro 'orchid fertilizer' that is 30-10-10 and 27% is urea. the standard miracle gro there at lowes was also high urea but the orchid one was a little smaller so got that for $3 and change. definitely not three pounds though but no shipping! I'll try it out either tonight or tomorrow morning with some fulvic acid I have to see if things 'happy up'
I'll try it out either tonight or tomorrow morning with some fulvic acid I have to see if things 'happy up'
H
Hera
Guest
Charles, what strength are you going to use??? I have some MG and my babies could use a little greening. Should it be 1/2 or 1/4 or ???????
Rick
Well-Known Member
I don't use urea either and grow things pretty good IMHO
Granted, using the MSU pure water I have there is a small percent of N that is from ammonia.
Did you read the Bill Argo article I linked earlier?
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