Hello peeplz! Welcome to the granular fertilizer thread. I'm a guerilla grower and new to GC forums. I live in a subtropical mountainous region where we get an average of 120 mm (4.7 inches) a month of rainfall during the spring. This year the winter has been mild, so I took a chance and planted early. As of March 11, I got 5 bagseed hybrids outside at around 3-4 weeks old around 7-30 cm (3-12 inches) tall. The temps have been around 10 C (50 F) so growth is minimal, barely noticeable. The other day I got 2 kgs (4.5 lbs) of this granular fertilizer called nitroammophos with NPK ratio of 16-16-16 for about 4 bucks. Basically it looks like 1-5 mm long pink beads. On the bag it doesn't say how long the stuff takes to dissolve and release into the ground. When I visited my spot, I dun sprinkled it on the ground evenly around my 5 lil' uns but got carried away and ended up throwin down the 1 kg (2.2 lbs) bag I had with me. When I got home I started feeling retarded because I chucked the whole bag when it says to use around 25-50 grams per square meter (9 sq feet). I couldn't find any info about how long the stuff dissolves but read that it is hard to overfertilize with granular fertilizers because they are slow actin. So a week has passed and in another week or 2 I'll come back for a check up. I hope that it won't kill em, but if I'm wrong please correct me so I can try to save em before its too late. What do ya'll think? Also any info, tips, and experience with these kind of nutes will be greatly appreciated. I'll try to get some pics uploaded soon...
Hey, I am no expert but I have been told that you can over fert with slow release if you have too much added to the soil. Also my preference is not to use slow release as when it comes time to flush it is too hard to remove the residual ferts left over. Most slow release are active for three to four months......hope it helps and good luck with that grow
I screwed up my plants with that stuff last year. I'm going organic this year, which is effectively a slow release strategy, without all of the downside's of salt based fertilizers. I always assumed that organics sucked, couldn't produce, and was too hard. I didn't even bother to research it. Ignorance is bliss, and how ignorant was I! Organics makes it impossible to screw up.
I meant to say that this granular fertilizer looks like 1-5 mm long pink beads, not 1-5 cm diameter, which would make them too big.
Ausweed, Mustang: Thanks for the input guys. I would have used organic nutes, but its kind of a hassle to haul a bunch of manure or compost up the mountains to use as a growth medium. And periodically watering in liquid ferts is also not an option because I don't intend to visit the spot often. The dry fertilizer I got looks something like the pictures below: http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/235004/4395139/0/1191245198.jpg