Seaweed & Fish Emulsion Liquid Fertilizers ?

[SAM]

Greets,

Any good results using both or either one of this sort of fretilizers ?

Any recommended dosages ?

Regards.

[templegatejohn]

Hi Sam,

The fertilisers you mention are as good as anything in the short term and will certainly make your plants grow. But in the long term they do not contain the trace elements needed by all cacti for strong and healthy growth.

However it would be an interesting experiment to monitor growth rate in the short term against more conventional fertilisers.

It is difficult to overdose on these type of fertilisers, but always err on the cautious side. Perhaps half a tea spoon full to a litre of water.

Cheers, John

[KactusKathi]

I never use a fertilizer on my cactus as they do not get any in the wild and I do not use a cactus soil either. I plant them in plain old dirt and they grow by leaps and bounds.

[ihc6480]

I plant them in plain old dirt and they grow by leaps and bounds.

Ditto

The only fertilizer mine get are from a dog or cat trying to walk through the rock garden of cactus

[daiv]

I think there are some other factors we might want to consider on this topic…

Cacti grow throughout the Americas and surrounding islands. Soil conditions can vary greatly from one area to the next. When growing opuntia or certain cerei, you'd find the greater challenge is how to kill them as they are extremely hardy. In contrast Melocactus prefer a soil with more organic content, whereas most Turbinicarpus prefer almost zero organic content.

"Plain old dirt" where I live is almost pure clay. Most cacti in clay will either simply survive or die. They will not produce the healthy growth or proper flowers that they would in their native soils with the exception of the Opuntia and Chollas that are native to my area.

Although cacti in the wild do not receive artificial fertilizer, there is a constant cycle of regeneration which does not often occur in our gardens. In nature, many varieties of plants grow together; they reproduce and die. The dead vegetation replaces the nutrients. In comparison, most gardens have fewer plants in a given area and the dead vegetation is not allowed to decay in place to renew the nutrients in the soil.

More likely, however, you are dealing with potted plants and I wouldn't doubt if you were growing them indoors too. If that is the case, then the rules change again. The definition of "Plain old dirt" here is whatever you put in the pot. A trip to any nursery will quickly reveal a large array of soil compositions to choose from. Regardless the soil used, in potted plants the nutrients will eventually leach out will not be replenished without either repotting or adding fertilizer. You'll want to do some research on soil ingredients for best results.

I use Osmocote for all my cacti whether in the ground or in pots, terrestrial or epiphytic. I am quite certain that this is not absolutely necessary, but am convinced by the results that it is very much appreciated. I haven't any experience with the type of fertilizer you mentioned, but I would recommend that you give it a try on some of your plants that you can afford to be risky with. After all finding out what works best is half the fun!

[ihc6480]

Well put Daiv. The natural soil around the KC area is good for growing about anything. Hadn't really thought about different soil conditions. Although I should have since I'm originally a native of Oklahoma where the soil also has a high clay content.
Might have to try some of the fertilizer you mentioned to see if my Opuntia and Cholla can actually do better

Later, Bill

[daiv]

Yeah, I like the Osmocote because it is time-released. Last about 6 months or so. I only started using it on a whim, but am glad I did.