Mineral fertilizer

[Dimovi]

Does anyone know of or recommend mineral supplement WITHOUT any nitrogen?

I have alkaline soil, which I am trying to acidify, but meanwhile I would like to be able to add mineral supplement without the fear of fertilizer burn.

Iron is easy to come by at the local garden store.

Epsom salt is a good source of Magnesium, but how about the other minerals that palms need such as Manganese, Boron, etc.

[Darold Petty]

Here is an appropriate product, all the good stuff, but no NPK.  Perhaps you can find it, or something similar near you.

https://www.groworganic.com/products/cascade-minerals-remineralizing-soil-boost-10-lb?_pos=1&_psq=mineral &_ss=e&_v=1.0

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Azomite, Rock dust, particularly anything from Granite or Cinder ( Volcanic rock ),  may help acidify the soil a bit also.... Langbeinite ( High Potassium ( K ) ), Green Sand.. Have used /  use all of these, in pots though.. The Sul-Po-Mag product put out by E.B. stone is an excellent product as well, if you can find it there in Austin.. Have never had issues ( burn, etc.. ) when using it.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Amazon has several choices. 

[joe_OC]

+1 for Azomite

[Dimovi]

Thanks, I'll look into getting some Azomite. 

Researching Azomite just gave me the idea to dilute clay in water and apply as a solution. I've heard clay is full of minerals.

[sonoranfans]

soil acicity is best adjusted with sulfur, that way you arent causing changes in Mg/Ca ratio the way you do with epsom salt.  And sulfur is a slow process that will never burn uur plants the way a fast pH soil adjustor like Aluminum sulfuate will.  Sulfur is (slowly) degraded by microbes to sulfuric acid, so it takes longer, but it won't knock off the soil chemistry of a good ferilizer and wont burn the roots with an excessively fast pH change or temporary over correction.   Remember wwhen you add an acid salt like aluminum sulfate, there is no guarantee it mixes or is didtributed, "acid "hot spots" can a dn do occur in different soil types.  I always use garden lime which has a fixed Mg/Ca ratio which is what the plant wants. If either one is out of ratio it tends to cause deficiencies in the other.  Epsom salt can be good if you want to give a shot of magnesium in high calcium soil.  Otherwise, I'll use the sulfur pellets to shift the pH more gradually by without messing up soil chemistry.  It will require a few years to complete the shift.  I did this in my Az house after deficiencies were obvious and I checked soil pH was around 8-8.3.  Many micros are not available at that pH including Fe, Mn, Ca.  Magnesium also becomes less available at higher pH but not as quickly as Ca, so adding epsom makes little sense since Ca becomes less available as pH goes up than Mg does.  Here is a link, the pH/bioavailability chart is on 2nd page.  If you want to help your plants while the soil is being shifted, humic acid is a chelator so it can make those elements available at higher pH than they would be otherwise.  Keep adding the humic 3-4x a year while th e sulfur is broken down and shifting the soil pH.  https://www.horiba.com/fileadmin/uploads/Scientific/water_quality/Documents/Application_Notes/HIS/22_-_Soil_pH_and_Nutrient_Availability.pdf

 https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/1994/4-6-1994/ph.html

 

[PalmatierMeg]

If you need the minor elements/minerals I suggest Southern Ag's Essential Minor Elements in granular form. You can get it in sizes from 1lb to 40lbs.

[joe_OC]

4 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

If you need the minor elements/minerals I suggest Southern Ag's Essential Minor Elements in granular form. You can get it in sizes from 1lb to 40lbs.

Meg,

Have you used this?  It was a toss up between this and Azomite.  I went with Azomite because I was able to get a 40lb bag for $28.  EME looks like a really good product too.   An equivalent bag would have cost me around $65.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, joe_OC said:

Meg,

Have you used this?  It was a toss up between this and Azomite.  I went with Azomite because I was able to get a 40lb bag for $28.  EME looks like a really good product too.   An equivalent bag would have cost me around $65.

Yes, I've bought 25 lb bags for about $40 from an internet seller in Punta Gorda, pick it up myself and pay cash to save money. I've never used Azomite.

[Dimovi]

7 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

soil acicity is best adjusted with sulfur, that way you arent causing changes in Mg/Ca ratio the way you do with epsom salt.  And sulfur is a slow process that will never burn uur plants the way a fast pH soil adjustor like Aluminum sulfuate will.  Sulfur is (slowly) degraded by microbes to sulfuric acid, so it takes longer, but it won't knock off the soil chemistry of a good ferilizer and wont burn the roots with an excessively fast pH change or temporary over correction.   Remember wwhen you add an acid salt like aluminum sulfate, there is no guarantee it mixes or is didtributed, "acid "hot spots" can a dn do occur in different soil types.  I always use garden lime which has a fixed Mg/Ca ratio which is what the plant wants. If either one is out of ratio it tends to cause deficiencies in the other.  Epsom salt can be good if you want to give a shot of magnesium in high calcium soil.  Otherwise, I'll use the sulfur pellets to shift the pH more gradually by without messing up soil chemistry.  It will require a few years to complete the shift.  I did this in my Az house after deficiencies were obvious and I checked soil pH was around 8-8.3.  Many micros are not available at that pH including Fe, Mn, Ca.  Magnesium also becomes less available at higher pH but not as quickly as Ca, so adding epsom makes little sense since Ca becomes less available as pH goes up than Mg does.  Here is a link, the pH/bioavailability chart is on 2nd page.  If you want to help your plants while the soil is being shifted, humic acid is a chelator so it can make those elements available at higher pH than they would be otherwise.  Keep adding the humic 3-4x a year while th e sulfur is broken down and shifting the soil pH.  https://www.horiba.com/fileadmin/uploads/Scientific/water_quality/Documents/Application_Notes/HIS/22_-_Soil_pH_and_Nutrient_Availability.pdf

 https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/1994/4-6-1994/ph.html

 

Thanks for the info. I applied 60lb of sulphur last year over several thousand square feet. Still waiting for the soil to acidify. It was around 8 last year and it is still 8. The water that I irrigate with from my natural spring is also around 8, tap water is over 9. Maybe there is a bunch of lime in my water.

[joe_OC]

14 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Yes, I've bought 25 lb bags for about $40 from an internet seller in Punta Gorda, pick it up myself and pay cash to save money. I've never used Azomite.

How often are you applying EME?

[PalmatierMeg]

To (valued) palms that show mineral deficiencies. I can't afford to apply it to every palm I have. It's much easier to deal with than liquid concentrates that stain everything they touch. Right now I'm out and we're quarantining so I won't be replenishing for a while.

[sonoranfans]

apply sulfur everey 3 months as directed in the link, dont over apply.  Its important to apply every 3 months.  It took me 2 years of this to get the pH in the low mid 7 range where my palms didnt need me to chelate the nutrients.  I also dug it in to the top 2-3" of soil to prevent runoff.