Fertilizer question

[MSX]

Hello palmgrowers! I've never fertilized my palms before. Can I use this Norwegian granulated fertilizer to fertilize my potted and in-ground palms? And how much do I need of this per palm depending on its size?

Also, I noticed a strange thing - the label in English says this fertilizer's NPK formula is 12-5-15, in other languages its 12-11-18, any idea why is this difference? Thanks

Edited May 6, 2022 by MSX

[aztropic]

Outdoor planted palms,I'd throw 3 handfulls at each palm. Potted palms,you have to be more careful - maybe a tablespoon per 5 gallons of pot. Formula not overly important as plants can't read...

 

aztropic 

Mesa,Arizona

 

[sonoranfans]

looks low in iron, Fe(0.2%) and manganese, Mn(0.02%) for use with many palms.  Otherwise it looks OK.

[Xerarch]

3 hours ago, MSX said:

Also, I noticed a strange thing - the label in English says this fertilizer's NPK formula is 12-5-15, in other languages its 12-11-18, any idea why is this difference? Thanks

 

The label in English is counting actual percentages of N, P, and K.  While the other label is counting N, P₂O₅, and K₂O.  P and K are always present in these forms in fertilizer.  If you add up the atomic weights of each element you will find the same ratio in comparing the two labels.

[D Palm]

Better than nothing. You can use some chelated iron to help with other micro nutrients.

[Collectorpalms]

I am a fertilizer junkie. It depends on what palms you have that your trying to fertilize. Looks better than most cheap fertilizers.

Just as important as fertilizer, is the PH of your water and soil, so it becomes available to your plants. Trachycarpus like PH around 5.8. You can get a range of ph of 5.5 to 6.5 is ideal for most plants and palms.

[MSX]

14 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

I am a fertilizer junkie. It depends on what palms you have that your trying to fertilize. Looks better than most cheap fertilizers.

Just as important as fertilizer, is the PH of your water and soil, so it becomes available to your plants. Trachycarpus like PH around 5.8. You can get a range of ph of 5.5 to 6.5 is ideal for most plants and palms.

Thanks I will try to get a PH meter to test my soil and water. As for the palms, I have some Washies in the ground, CIDP and a couple of Trachycarpus, they are all about the same size and age must be 3-4 years old. They were never fertilized with NPK fertilizers before, but mulched with aged manure.

  

On 5/6/2022 at 11:40 PM, Xerarch said:

The label in English is counting actual percentages of N, P, and K.  While the other label is counting N, P₂O₅, and K₂O.  P and K are always present in these forms in fertilizer.  If you add up the atomic weights of each element you will find the same ratio in comparing the two labels.

Thanks a lot for clarifying this!

  

On 5/6/2022 at 11:01 PM, aztropic said:

Outdoor planted palms,I'd throw 3 handfulls at each palm. Potted palms,you have to be more careful - maybe a tablespoon per 5 gallons of pot. Formula not overly important as plants can't read...

 

aztropic 

Mesa,Arizona

I've done some research online on dosing and here are some of my findings

1) first of all watered area. SFgate suggests https://homeguides.sfgate.com/drip-system-palm-trees-67849.html the watered area should be 5 times wider than palm trunk width. I checked out my current bermed soil rings and they're close to that.

2) Next Environmental Horticulture Department of University of Florida https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ep261 gives some information on dosing though they're using different formula in their research 8N-2P2O2-12K2O, while mine is 12N-11P2O2-18K2O.

Anyhow, using the information from the sources above I've done the math on fertilizer dosing depending on apply/watered area, how correct is that?

Larger outdoor palms

Potted palms

Edited May 7, 2022 by MSX

[96720]

Too much math for me I’ll just use @aztropic much easier!!!