I once had two flower beds side by side planted with the same plants, fed one with a higher nitrogen fertilizer and one with a “bloom booster.” The higher nitrogen plants grew larger, had more foliage, but the flower to foliage ratio was small. The one with the bloom booster had less foliage, the plants were smaller, but the flower to foliage ratio was much larger.
That sounds exactly what should happen based on the current understanding of NPK ratios. I've personally seen this happen myself with tomatoes and peppers. Higher nitrogen formulas result in very tall plants with stingy production and small fruits. Giving them higher phosphorous fertilizers result in more compact, stockier plants full of fruit.
I have a 15x30 garden enclosed in a fence. I planted some morning glories at the end where the water runoff ended up. Absolutely lush green coverning the entire fence but not a single flower. Many people say nutrient rich soil, especially with nitrogen, has this effect.
@@TheMillennialGardener Hello! New subscriber here. Why not or is it even possible to do both supplements? I’ve seen on the Miracle Grow to apply every 7/14 days. Why not alternate?
Thanks for the interesting video; I did a fertilizer experiment of my own several decades ago when I was managing a cattle ranch in northern Alberta. Despite fertilizing quite heavily with nitrogen and phosphorous my hay crop continued to do very poorly averaging only 30 square bales to the acre. However I noticed that whenever I crossed an old windrow where all the trees had been burned the grass was lush and dark green; I realized this must be because of the additional potassium from the ashes, so purchased a large amount of potash fertilizer, which is nearly pure potassium and spread it on all my hayfields at the lowest setting on the spreader, about 75 pounds per acre. My hay crop that year averaged 90 square bales to the acre and in some fields the hay was over 5 feet tall! I noticed also that the seed heads on the timothy grass were 4 to 6 inches in length rather than the 2 inches I had previously seen. That showed me what a difference potassium could make in the growth of plants, in this case grass for hay.
Very interesting. My experience with potassium is this: potassium is the nutrient driving the overall metabolic health of the plant. I don't think potassium on its own is very effective, but potassium needs to be scaled with the growth rate of the plant. So, if you want the tree to put on a huge amount of new growth, you can't just give it nitrogen. You need to give it nitrogen and potassium. The nitrogen directs the plant to grow more, and the potassium provides the precursor nutrition for cellular division. The N:P ratio tells the plant how to grow, but you need to add K with it in adequate quantities to support the growth. That's my observation. You can dump all the nitrogen on the grass you want, but it won't grow big and green if there isn't enough potassium in the soil to support the growth. That's why old, sluggish forests explode into youthful growth after a fire.
Bloom booster skeptics must’ve not watched your earlier videos on how to fertilize. The Fertilizing Figs in Spring video was a gardener’s awakening and game-changer for me! As always, top notch gardening information, thank you 🙏🏼
Thank you! A lot of people don't like buying fertilizer, so there's a lot of resistance out there. I get it. It's expensive, and fertilizer companies are often responsible for a fair amount of pollution and bad news headlines, but the stuff really does work. The key is *responsible usage,* because it's harmless in a backyard setting when used as directed.
@@TheMillennialGardener that was an awesome, very informative video. Your instruction style is great, like the best teacher that throughly presents in a way that her/ his students can follow and understand. I am so impressed that I will definitely be tuning in, and following. I looking forward to having my best growing plants and garden by following your lead.
Thank you. You can't imagine how long it takes to tag every single video with timestamps and chapters 😓 But I do it because I think it helps. Glad to hear it's worth it!
My tree is in a big pot and after tons of blossoms over several seasons, still no fruit. Time to hit the phosphorus. Love the takes on Dale. Handsome boi.
@@TheMillennialGardener Meyer lemon, bought it last year and there were zero blooms all summer. Then I had it overwintering in the basement and forgot about it... found it full of blooms last November. Even hand pollinated... nada. They all dropped. Took it up to my sunroom in the early spring when it was still too cold outside, and where there's more light. Lots of blooms. Repotted it in a larger container before taking it outside. Went through several rounds of blossoms, but I didn't see any pollinators at the time. They started to fruit, but dropped. I am thinking of moving it out to my garden where all the bees are, maybe try to get more blossoms going and see what happens. It's pretty lush with green growth right now. Have not fertilized it since it was repotted months ago.
As a newbie senior citizen gardener, I found the information in this video very informative and helpful in planning fertilizer for my stubborn flowers in Florida soil. Thank you.
If you do this experiment again, start out with two similar plants. Fertilize one with a high phosphorous fertilizer and fertilize the other one with a low phosphorous but equal N and K fertilizer. Then you will be able to tell is the extra phosphorous makes a difference. With your lemon tree experiment, we don't know if the extra phosphorous made a difference or not as we were unable to know how the tree would have performed without the extra P. Maybe it would have done just as well. We can't know. Have a control tree (no extra P) and a test tree (added P). If the only difference in the treatment of the two trees is that the one got extra P and the other didn't, then you will know what the effect of the added P really was.
I can try this with annuals next year during the spring when the growing season allows, but this was a pretty immediate reaction. A controlled experiment is almost impossible to do with a tree, because they tend to grow at their own pace. It's better done with seed-grown annuals because of their short lifecycle.
To chime in 8 months later. For posterity you could also have a third plant that doesn't get any extra nutrients. Just normal ol water. Larger sample sizes provide more certain and reproduceable results.
You surely can't know if it worked by just one plant, and even when I have three identical plants, same size, seedling batch etc. put into 3 exact pots with same soil, sun and water, I often get three different plants. Sometimes one just hits a sweet spot in the soil and goes haywire while the others may be feeling things out. These tests are only valid if they are done many times over and over again. Just curious has anyone done side by sides yet on a video? Thanks!
Hi from Australia. Great work. To have definitive proof, it would be good to have a couple of control plants where you don't give these fertilizers so you can actually see a difference. That would be the ideal scientific method as you cannot fully confirm or exclude the effect without a control. Having said that though, I don't have much doubt that added phosphorous works to increase flower production.
It's too late in the season to begin an experiment like that, because it would have to be conducted over 3+ months. I've used this analogy in the past: you don't need to run a controlled experiment to know that punches hurt. If you punch someone in the arm and they cry out in pain, you don't need a separate control group to be certain it hurt. When a baby plant that has never flowered before suddenly flowers 8 days after a Bloom Booster application, that's either the world's biggest coincidence, or it's strong evidence. I may be able to run an experiment with tomatoes, but it will need to be done beginning in March here due to temperatures.
@@TheMillennialGardener it could have been a coincidence, that's why double blind tests are true science. You maybe correct in you assertions about fertilizer but this was not a scientific test by any means.
It works well. It's frustrating, because so many people think Miracle Gro is owned by Monsanto. That's not even true. It's a Scott's product, and Monsanto no longer exists. Monsanto is now Bayer, and do you have any idea how many pharmaceuticals are in everyone's medicine cabinet made by Bayer? It's funny where the hyperfocus lies.
Super informative - as always. I am amazed that I always learn facts that are totally new to me and I have been a so-so gardener for years now. THANK YOU.
Gotta admit I was a bit skeptical of the Bloom Booster idea myself, but this year started using with all my figs and have seen great fruit set. Figured I would test with my citrus as well similar to you. Switched my balanced fert on my Meiwa Kumquat to a 3-12-6 and BOOM! crazy flower and fruit set within a few weeks. So must be something there. Keep up the great work with the videos!
The same thing happened to me. I gave a feeding to my little 18 inch tall Meiwa and it turned into a bloom machine. Now, this little tiny plant is full of dime-sized kumquats. I may have to thin them. Pretty wild to see!
I have a small raised bed garden and grew half a dozen chili peppers this summer with no amendments and had quite good results. I saw this video and decided to add the bloom buster when the first crop was done. I did it just like you said (adding the fish fertilizer), once a week, and had tons of blooms after about two weeks!!! But the new peppers are about half as long and very skinny and the first dozen or so almost immediately turned red and shriveled up. The ones that are making it are only about 1/4" wide. What did I do wrong or what do I do now? Thanks!! (love this channel)
It's usually pH lockout. We have some different kinds of soil out here.. and they usually need Vitamin B1 for the most Phosphorus uptake. Vitamin C in the soil helps keep pH down. My tap water is 8.0.
It works when it's used at the appropriate time of the year and during the appropriate part of the fruiting cycle, assuming you don't have an overabundance of bioavailable phosphorous in your soil. This is true 100% of the time in containers since they're so limited, and in most soil natural soil types. It isn't something you should use all season for sure, but strategically timed, it helps me a lot.
@@TheMillennialGardener exactly , I use it at detain times of the year for my container figs and garden ! I follow your guidance on fertilizer schedule and it works great . Thanks again
Damn bro that is some awesome growth in one year on your Meyers lemon!! However my mouth is watering whilst looking at that gorgeous Avo! OMG awesome video brother thanks again!!🙏🏻
Thanks. The Meyer is looking great. I'm very happy. My Lila avocado is *really* taking its time. It's on its 3rd season, and it dropped 100% of its fruit all three years. Hopefully next year is the year it'll fruit. I have to give that tree a big haircut. It's grown too much, and I need to reduce it literally 50%.
I also agree with adding phosphorus my wife has hanging baskets they require watering twice a day every other day we put miracle grow phosphorus blooming in the same ratio you were using for those hanging flowers. we had several that we did not do that with and they don’t hold blooms as long as a matter of fact they end up just being a lot of greenery .when we went back to putting a miracle Gro on ,they came back not as strong but they did come back so whether it’s flowers or fruit phosphorus matters. Thanks for your videos and advice always great stuff.
I agree that in every side-by-side comparison that I've run, the higher phosphorous water-soluble fertilizers really do cause increased blooming, whereas the higher nitrogen fertilizers have the opposite effect. I'll try to run a more conclusive study next spring. Thanks for watching!
That Meyer lemon should not even grow in your area and the fact it’s doing so well and fruiting is pretty amazing. We use 0-50-30 water soluble as a bloom set fertilizer on a number of plants. It works especially well on melons at least doubling fruit set. I’m an advocate for using the high phosphorus type fertilizers.
You're correct - the Meyer lemon will die here without intervention. We have had back-to-back 9a winters here, but we're a Zone 8a, so the *big chill* is coming. It's only a matter of time until this tree sees 13F. The house provides a nice micro-climate alongside a plant jacket and lights, though, so I'm able to give it an extra 5-10F, but I'll have to be on my game. Glad to hear you've had similar results with the high-P. I honestly don't know how people can badmouth it, because the results are so consistent and obvious when used properly.
Plants will only uptake what they need. You can't force N-P-K on a plant if they are already getting what they need. So, If you did a soil analysis you could feed the deficiency. Love the analogy with Carbs, fat, proteins.
I personally believe the bone meal is the key, I used MG bloom booster and it promotes fruit but I really noticed a difference when I started using bone meal.
Hi! I was wondering why you used Bloom Booster on your Meyer lemon tree to demonstrate the effectiveness of a high Phosphorus fertilizer rather than running the experiment on your pepper plants, as an example? I remember from an older video you posted about citrus trees that they need a higher Nitrogen intake. I know it wasn't the point if this video, but if you had used a higher Nitrogen fertilizer, would there have been more fruit set even though your tree is young? I've been using a lot of the fertilizing information from your videos to help fix my garden and they've been extremely helpful!
My pepper plants, at this point, were many months old and already in varying stages of fruiting, which makes it more difficult to assess what's going on. My Meyer lemon had not yet fruited to date, so I wanted to see if I could force it to flower. The reason why I chose this tree is both because it's never fruited before, and because the Meyer lemon is a rare type of "everbearing" citrus that doesn't have a defined flowering season, ripening season and harvesting season (like most fruit trees do) and is capable of flowering and fruiting all throughout the year at key intervals. To answer your question about the NPK, a lot of things that I do on this channel is experimenting as I go along to find out what works best. I've only been growing citrus for a few years, so I'm still trying to figure out what works best for all these different trees. In my observation, citrus seems to be able to fruit very heavily being fed higher nitrogen at all times, but phosphorous is still a critical component in flowering/fruiting. I'm theorizing that citrus trees, for whatever reason, have a lower P-requirement, but it's still a critical macronutrient. What I wanted to see is if a sudden boost of high-P could get it to flower earlier than it wanted to be. Once the tree gets into its groove and begins to bear more heavily as it ages, it probably won't be necessary to give it Bloom Booster type fertilizers anymore, since in my experience, citrus don't need as much as something like a tomato or a fig. Don't take anything in this post as scientific fact. It's more the theories that I'm working under as I continue to evolve my fertilizing regimen.
Looking good. I have learned to add calcium nitrate if the plants don't seem to respond too much to other fertilizers. The extra calcium can make a huge difference. I
I use bone meal for calcium. Bone meal is also a fantastic source of phosphorous. I strongly recommend periodically adding bone meal into your soil throughout the season. It takes a long time to break down, so it's a good regular addition for trickle feeding the nutrients.
@@TheMillennialGardener I actually purchased some to put in my raised beds but got ahead of myself and forgot to put it out. I will amend at the end of the season.
Wow awesome video and amazing results!!! I just watered my lemon, lime and orange container trees with the MG bloom booster food so let's see what happens. The trees are super healthy with alot of deep green foliage but not much fruit so I figured it would be safe to use this at this point based on your recommendations!
Excellent. You may want to follow up with a second application after 14 days if you do not see blooms right away. If the foliage is very deep green, you may want to back off on the nitrogen, though. Very dark green implies too much nitrogen, which can cause problems. It shouldn't be too dark. Your foliage shouldn't be any darker than the leaves on my Meyer lemon in this video.
@@TheMillennialGardener the leaves look just like your Meyer....been only using the Jack fertilizer but haven't gotten much fruit at all the past 2 years. Will try another dose of bloom booster in 2 weeks...thanks for your reply and keep up the good work!!
Interesting but I would think a few experiments with some plants fertilized and some not would give you a better idea of whether or not there is a benefit.
There are always a lot of variables in backyard gardening, so it's hard to set proper controls. That being said, sometimes things are so obvious that you don't need controls. When a young plant that has never flowered before suddenly flowers all over its lower growth 8 days after being fed Bloom Booster, that's as obvious a reaction as I can provide. If that's a coincidence, then I have a bridge to sell 😂
It does work! and thanks for the video! I purchased a Meiwa Kumquat tree and it wasn't doing anything with a regular fertilizer from April to beginning of July, I started feeding it with MG Bloom booster after that I got flowers and fruits forming now , it's a young tree and I'm sure it will drop some , I will put it in my heated greenhouse if it gets too cold in the next few months here in 6B, next year I will use the MG Bloom booster from the beginning of spring.
That's funny. I purchased a very small grafted Meiwa back in March. I hit it with Bloom Booster, and it flowered profusely within 2 weeks. Now, it's loaded with quarter-sized fruits. It's such a small tree, so it's pretty wild to see so much fruit on it.
This is the best gardening channel, period. Other gardening channels: yay fruits everywhere, fun fun fun, positivity positivity positivity, I never have any problems, I'll never teach you or discuss that I spray my peach trees against PC and OFM, I don't know what slugs are, I bury dead raccoons in my raised bed. It's basically a platform for them to show of, and they sweep the practical reality under the rug. COUGH james prigioni COUGH self sufficient me COUGH. We get nothing out of it. Your videos are actually helpful man. Your organza bag and japanese pull saw recommendation are the X factor. No lie, that saw is better than even $1000 pruning shears. Can't believe my japanese pruning shears cost more than the saw. I still use the pruners for the tiny branches. But other than that, they suck. And they are ARS pruners too.
I appreciate that. I love Mark and James's channels. I actually just finished watching one of James's videos 20 mins ago, but I do wish there was more tips and tricks and how-to's versus garden tours and harvest videos. My garden is less impressive than theirs, for sure, but my goal at the end of the day is to convince non-gardeners to try gardening, and small gardeners to grow more stuff, and I think it's easier to show them how to do it. My favorite garden channel is probably The Rusted Garden because all Gary does is teach, teach, teach. It's a lot less flashy and the editing is so basic, but it's so informative and helpful. If you aren't following Gary, you absolutely need to. I told you that $20 saw is king. I wouldn't lie to you! I'm not going to get people into gardening by recommending $300 pruning products, but a $20 saw? That's cheaper than a pizza delivered to your house. I'm STILL using the original blade on my saw 2 years later. Granted, it's close to end of life, but that thing is a beast. It probably deserves its own video, because people are wasting money on expensive stuff that's inferior!
I use both, and I find them both to be fine. I also use the Walmart Expert Gardener 24-8-16, because it's half the price of the MiracleGro. I recommend buying the stuff you can get at the best price. I have them linked in my Amazon Storefront if you need a source. You can buy the Jack's in bulk. I bought 2 bags last year, and I still have 80% of it!
I never water my Meyer lemon tree in ground. Aside from the initial planting period, where I watered it for the first week or two, it has never once been watered except for these times where I've given it soluble fertilizer. There's no need to water any established tree in-ground where I live. As for the citrus in containers, they get watered every single day during the growing season. The reservoirs in the self-watering containers get filled daily, as well as the soil tops get soaked down. The avocado tree is almost as tall as my house, but it once again dropped its fruit, sadly. I will be heavily pruning it in late August to prepare for winter.
I've had three fruiting Meyer Lemon trees for over seven years and have been growing them in 30 gallon containers. The trick to container Lemon trees is to pay attention to the leaves. If they yellow... it may be too much water. BUT it may also be not enough water. My trees are VERY ROOT BOUND! If your tree blooms profusely (like mine have done) make sure they get full sun to help set the fruit. I have also found 90% of the pollinators appear to be bumble bees and a few honey bees also find the blooms. Again, too much water and some of the fruit will drop, and if they don;t get enough water, the fruit will drop. Early Spring pruning (like in mid March or early April) and then hitting them with the high phosphorus fertilizer seems to help them get the energy to set and keep fruit. I'm in central North Carolina so my trees go inside a make-shift greenhouse when the weatherman says "frost"... they stay there until mid March. Good luck.
I typically use bone meal - a small handful each week per plant. But for hanging basket/container flowers, sometimes I use Hawaiian Bug & Bloom (over 50 phosphorous!). Hey? What brand of rain barrels are you using? And how much are they?
I think the studies show that in some plants the added phosphorus doesn't do much. Cannabis is the main focus of the research and cannabis in particular will only take so much depending on root size and the microbiome in the soil. Honestly, it is probably more the microbiome that assists in the nutrient uptake that makes a big difference.
Thank you for your time and effort to create and post this useful video. I've been using Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 bloom booster fertilizer for a few years now, and your results shown here parallel my results exactly.
I’m in zone 6 and have a meyer lemon tree in a container…. I fed it heavily this yr and it flowered and I have tons of lemons on it. My question is when does the fruit mature and given that I’m in zone 6 upstate New York will the cold weather affect it? Impressive on your lemons.
Lemons take awhile to go from hard-and-green to ripe. Meyer lemons "feel" different than regular lemons when they're mature, because they're crossed with an orange. The peel is very thin and a lot less pithy than a traditional lemon, so you can tell when they're ripe by the "feel." It should be firm, but with just the right about of "give." Basically, you're going to have to figure it out over time by getting that perfect feeling. I bought my mother a Meyer lemon in a nice container last year, and she started harvesting it this spring. The lemons took several months to ripen, but that was over the cool season here. It's indoors in her sunroom during the winter. They'll ripen more quickly outdoors in the summer, but it still takes awhile. I don't think these lemons on my tree will be ready until October-ish. Meyer lemons can't tolerate temps lower than around 25F unprotected, and the fruit will be destroyed with a hard freeze (28F or colder). Young plants may be injured at warmer temps. You will need to bring it inside when the frosts begin to be safe. I cover mine in incandescent Christmas lights for warmth and throw an agricultural fabric plant jacket over it anytime I see it is going to be colder than 30F.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you for a thorough explanation, you’re a gem! I’ve had my meyer lemon now for about 7 years in a container, and to be honest with you I’ve never fertilized just water it… this year I did and wouldn’t you know it it full of fruit. 😊. If only I knew. I keep it inside my garage during the winter months. Maybe and hopefully my fruit will mature in the garage, I tend to bring it in by October . Oh , the same goes with my figs, had them a few yrs this yr I gave it fertilizer watching your channel, and I have figs….they’re small though, I hope they mature and ripen too. A million thanks to you!!
Most trees do better the second , the third, the fourth year, etc. etc. Can you credit the fruit growth on age, or fertilizer ? Did you test the soil, to see what it actually needed , first ? You can't base results, with out at least one control plant.
It's too hot at this time of year for root vegetables where I live, but I may be able to do that with beets and carrots over the winter. I don't usually fertilize beets and carrots aside from the normal refreshing of beds with compost, but I can try.
I have also found that a small dose of iron will help plants absorb and use the other nutrients like phosphorus. It behaves like a catalyst. This is probably why plants benefit from a combination of bone meal and blood meal. I believe plants are like humans; they benefit from numerous nutrients and minerals, not just the three commonly listed on fertilizer packages.
In my opinion you needed a control plant to compare results. What if the plant you used was getting ready to set flowers anyway with or without bloom booster?
I have a hard time with fertilizers. I have tried organic fertilizers and it was a disaster. It's hard for me to tell what N P or K a plant need. I have tomato plants now in 5-gallon buckets that are 3 feet tall with no blooms. I planted them in Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil.
Great video - My Meyer lemon tree is in a 5 gal. container and is starting to flower now, the 1st of August. Fall and winter, in 6b, is around the corner. What should I do at this point in time? Recommendations?
Meyer lemon trees do well indoors, so I think you should allow it to fruit and then simply bring the tree inside in front of a sunny, south-facing window when frosts start. Giving it some bloom booster right now could be a good idea to support the blossoms.
My understanding of potassium is different. Nitrogen and phosphorous are "behavioral" macronutrients in the sense that by playing with the ratio of Nitrogen:Phosphorous, I can sort of direct how much leaf growth or how much flowering the plant produces. I don't think potassium has that effect. Rather, that's the nutrient that "funds" the biological processes, so potassium should be scaled to the growth rate of the plant. The faster the plant is growing, the faster the cells are dividing, the more potassium you need to support the life processes. I don't buy high potassium fertilizer blends. Instead, I have a small bag of 0-0-60 that I occasionally add. The only plant I've found that responds well to huge doses of potassium are bananas. I think there is danger in too much potassium, but I could be wrong.
Thats a lot of fertilizer ya got there. Whats interesting to me is dilution and how it affects ratio's. The amount of ferts put on an area is dependent on the manufacturers recommendations for the amount that goes in a 2 gallon bucket. I'm not aware if there's a standard or if all manufacturers use different amounts. Miraclegro is generally 1tbsp/gallon. What does Jack's recommend?
The Jack's bag is very difficult to read. It has a huge load of instructions, including how to apply for fertilizing through drip lines. I'm currently using it similarly to the MiracleGro product.
Could you provide the titles of the research articles? I have read articles that made claims that fertilizers like Super Phosphate / Triple Super Phosphate and other fertilizers that contain rock phosphate are only able to deliver about 10% or so of their phosphorus contain each year. This is because the rock phosphate is not very soluble and takes a long time to break down and as a result it does not need to be used very often.
Certainly. Here is something to read: www.gardenmyths.com/bloom-booster-fertilizer-nonsense/ This article is absolute junk, because it is centered around a bogus premise: _Adding phosphorus to soil that already has enough phosphorus, or adding it to one that is deficient in one of the other nutrients, will NOT make plants grow better. You are just wasting a natural resource or worse, making your soil toxic._ Of course adding more phosphorous to a soil that has *too much* phosphorous in it already is bad. 1. How many people have plots of land with too much phosphorous in the soil? Hardly anyone. 2. Most forms of phosphorous found in soil aren't actually bioavailable to the plant, because it's tied up in molecular forms of phosphorous that the plant cannot assimilate. I can't get healthy levels of iron in my diet by eating chunks of rebar, because my body can't process sheets of metal! I need natural forms found in food that my body can use! Most phosphorous found in soil cannot be used, and for people that are growing in containers, they need to constantly replenish the nutrients in the container. This is why you can't trust agenda-driven articles like this, and you need to run your own experiments and see with your own eyes.
Another neat experiment would be to do high nitrogen with younger plants and then switch to a "bloom booster" midway through. And maybe compare that to a strictly only nitrogen and only bloom booster plants
I do this a lot for my plants. High nitrogen to grow a lot of leaves and then when you switch to bloom booster all of energy being produced by the photosynthesis goes into flower and fruit production instead of more leaves. I usually flip fertilizer at about the time I see the first natural bloom appear then I try to push them into a turbo-blooming phase.
In my experience, potted plants are better control groups than in-ground plantings, because in-ground plants have large root systems that can search for nutrients in the soil, whereas potted plants can only grab what's inside that pot. Therefore, I find fertilizing potted plants to be even more critical. If you're a little lazy with fertilizing and watering in-ground plants, the roots can compensate by searching out for native soil nutrients. If you're lazy watering and fertilizing potted plants, the plant will suffer immensely. Therefore, I think these fertilizers are even more valuable for potted plants.
Had an abysmal year last season, so decided I do really need to fertilise more than the slow release in the planting hole.. I went with Schultz 17-18-28 because it was readily available, and I know better than do high nitrogen mid season. Looking much better this year, fingers crossed on the potatoes!
I predict more success! Potatoes are very heavy feeders, so they need regular feedings. The slow release stuff often doesn't break down fast enough for their ravenous nutritional requirements. The key is to use them both in tandem with each other.
Apparently my flowering plants are not aware of this “ new study “ I have been using 15-30-15 fertilizer on my flowering plants with outstanding results consistently getting compliments from passersby. That’s my old school study .
I believe it was Jack’s who makes a Crepe Myrtle-specific bloom booster that you spread around the perimeter at the drip line. It was highly effective in producing more blooms. I’m proud of Dale, too! He’s such a sweet soul and his athletic skills are delightful.
@@TheMillennialGardener I searched for it and I wonder if I was mistaken. It could have been the Carl Poole crepe myrtle food- oops. It, too, is available on Amazon. It has a photo of the analysis and it is an 8-57-7! You’ll be able to find it easily if you want to see the ingredients.
@@beyekind12another I heard you never spread Jacks, you only disolve it in water, or else you burn the stems and roots. But maybe trees are so big it doesn't matter?
@@ellisjk1409 Hi. I've found you can spread Jacks or other similar types of ferts even on small plants like tomatoes, peppers, and some flowers even. The trick is go light. also, wait till the soil has dry for a week or two, that way there are no fresh roots in that top inch of soil. Water first, then sprinkle a little bit on and maybe just a light drench to activate the soil, just make sure it goes around the plants roots, not too close to the stalks. Good luck!
Hi, new sub here and really like your channel! I have not read all the comments nor the studies, but one thing I know is that if magnesium is not available, then the phosphorus won’t be absorbed. So did the studies just focus on phosphorus without the addition or magnesium? I always throw some Epsom Salt down with Phosphorus.
Hello, my friend! I would like to know how many times a season can I apply Miracle Grow tomato feed? I applied it this season twice every 14 days. I applied it for the first time because two weeks after planting my seedlings (all, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, pumpkin) my plants were anemic and I did not see any progress. After the first application in just a few days, they had a growth explosion and almost all bloomed. I waited 14 days and applied it again, now my plants are beautiful, but it looks like the peppers need some more food, after they made the first tranche of fruit now it is stagnant, and only a few have started to bloom again. Tomatoes are large, and bear fruit, but have not yet begun to ripen. I would like to give them another portion of food but I am afraid not to put too much nitrogen in the soil, I say this because I had two tomato plants that I had to eliminate because they had a necrotic stem on the inside, not much but me I took them out so that the disease would not spread to the other plants. It is the first time I do gardening and when I use this product. I need an urgent answer! Thank you very much!
It doesn’t matter how many times a season you apply. All that matters is the schedule. Someone in Miami is going to need it more times a year than someone in Minneapolis. All that matters is frequency. Usually once every 14 days is sufficient for anything except corn. Corn likes once every 7 days.
Hi Millenial, what would be a good feeding schedule for inground trees with this type of water soluble fertilizer. How many gallons would of this and how often? Thanks, great videos.
How established are the in-ground trees? And what kind of trees are they? How old they are, and what kind of tree they are, means a lot. My personal opinion is that for in-ground fruit trees, I really only use soluble fertilizers like this when they're young. If they are mature, established trees, you shouldn't have to use soluble fertilizers because their in-ground root system is so large, they should be able to find all the nutrients they need in the earth. With large, mature trees, you should be dumping loads of compost around the roots every spring, along with maybe a few cups of 5-5-5 organic fertilizer and a few cups of bone meal, then heavily mulch on top of that with shredded mulch of some type. Mature trees need healthy, nutritious soil, not so much soluble fertilizers. For young fruit trees in-ground that aren't yet established, I think the soluble fertilizers are beneficial. And, of course, for fruit trees in containers, they need soluble fertilizers regularly - around every 2 weeks or so for the heavier feeders like my figs. You'd have to provide me more detail on the trees in-ground. I only gave my Meyer lemon a big drink because it's just a baby and needs help still.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank You for the feedback. I have a few 2 - 3 year old Fig Trees. I will dump some more mulch around them and organic fertilizer. Thanks alot for responding.
To run a valid experiment, you should have had two Meyer lemon trees, one you fertilized with a balanced 20-20-20 and the second with a bloom booster like 10-30-20.
I don't have two Meyer lemon trees, so that can't happen. You can't run a true controlled experiment in your backyard. It isn't possible, so if you want to poke holes in the results, you'll be able to pick any garden experiment apart. What I can show you is a tree that had never flowered before suddenly flowered 8 days after a large dose of Bloom Booster. If that's a coincidence, that's quite a coincidence. Especially considering we're far beyond spring and not at the time of year where most plants flower naturally.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm not saying it's a coincidence, but it you had given your Meyer lemon tree, the same amounts of a 20-20-20 fertilizer, the results might have been the same. I do believe that the bloom booster works, but we don't know how effective it is compared to the balanced fertilizer. You could try the experiment with tomatoe plants or any fruiting plants. My Meyer lemon tree had fruit the first year it was in the ground and keeps producing like mad, but I am in Gilbert, AZ where it likes the climate.
@@TheMillennialGardener Love this channel and your content, though I disagree that you can't run a controlled experiment in your backyard. There are a lot of potential external factors, but that is the case with so many experiments including in a lab (worthwhile science isn't always easy!). It's important to have a point of comparison for the thing you are testing to build confidence that your prediction is true.
Hi ! Love your videos ! I used the bloom booster for my cucumbers last year ! And I will tell you, I had baby cucumbers everywhere! It works ! I will use the bloom boosters for all of my fruit and vege,s that flower and fruit ! IT WORKS ! ❤️🩹💕💞
Water soluble fertilizers and slow release granules have entirely different purposes. The water soluble fertilizers are immediately bioavailable, so they "kick in" immediately. If you're trying to force blooms based on timing of the the season, you'll need to use the water soluble types. The slow release and organic fertilizers are more like soil amendments and are added periodically. I do not use slow release or organic bloom boosters, because I believe them to be pointless. I just use 5-5-5 organics to build my soil. It's the rapid soluble stuff that's key. I've never used the isolated phosphorous, though.
I wouldn't recommend it. Trying to force a tree to flower a few months after it was planted isn't a good idea. You want the tree to grow roots the first 1-2 years. I would amend the soil with an organic, slow release fertilizer around a 5-5-5 NPK and also with some added bone meal to encourage slow root growth. I would not wait my fruit tree to set any fruit the first year, and maybe only 3-4 fruits at most the second year. The third season, you can allow it to fruit some.
It depends on the variety. I usually stop using it once I get enough fruit set and switch back to a 20-20-20, but sometimes in the fall, if I need a late flush of flowers, I may switch back to it for a couple uses.
I have a question for you= The fertiliser that you used that was high in Phosphorous....was it high in nitrogen too and specifically urea?.....I have been growing citrus for 25 years both in pots and ground and a tip i give everyone is....if you want to increase your blooms.....You need to foliar feed with high urea a month before spring burst......My gut tells me.....thats why your leaves have gone green(only nitrogen will do that) and you have bloomed big time....i do this every year with my 35 trees both in pots and inground....citrus particularly like urea as a nitrogen source but so do citrus leafminer.......I have 4 different types of liquid powder ferts that we have in the southern hemisphere...i will post soon and you can see the lean that we go by over here....you have to bear in mind...we are not allowed anything much of P in our forumlas...in fact if i tried to bring in ferts high in "P" into australia......they would not be allowed in........there is one aspect of Nitrogen that you are missing...yes it promotes leaves and branches plus chlorophyll but it also helps fruit reach its full potential...without enough nitrogen...fruits will not grow to their max size.......I used to buy a winter formula and a summer formula for citrus......the summer formula leant its side to nitrogen /low P and reasonable Potassium but the winter formula (which was when most citrus ripen) leant its self to reasonable Nitrogen ...low P and high potassium....K ....helps with the ripening and size of fruits/juice content as well......as you will see in my next post......our fruit and bloom boosters are wickedly high in potasium........i have been growing strawbs and i fed it the flower and fruit formula and it went nuts flowering and fruiting and there is virtually no Phosphorous in it at all........its the POTASH my friend..........as for the citrus....if you spray with urea one month before spring...leaves will green and it will flower abundantly and i have done that for friends.......a citrus grows in a unique way....it goes roots/top growth/roots/top growth but never together....it goes back and forth......it also grows new growth in a unique way.......It can grow vegetative growth only....it can flower only or it can grow veg and flower together....the best quality fruit is obtained when the tree grows leaves and flowers together.....citrus absorb Potash also drives blueberries nuts with fruit and sizes them up as well....Its the best form of potassium for blueberries......so i do not believe its the phosphorous thats made your tree go so healthy...i bet 50 bucks that the main source of your nitrogen in that fert is urea and your nitrogen is higher than anything else but i believe exactly what you say about your figs but i still get good crops and size but i feed high potassium....If it was all about Phosphorous my friend ...we wouldnt get any good fruit here in aussie and nz........i used to grow massive tomatos and heaps of chills in nz and here and there is bugger all Phosphorous to be had= POTASH(K). but its fascinating how you guys go another way to what we are forced too........Potassium and nitrogen do a little bit more than what you said ....nitrogen boosts fruit size too.
The NPK is 15-30-15, so it is a 1:2:1 ratio, and an N:P ratio of 1:2. It is 15% nitrogen, primarily derived from urea. I normally fertilize my citrus with 6-2-4, because citrus is one of those rare plants that like a higher nitrogen fertilizer throughout the year. However, keep in mind that a Meyer lemon is not a typical citrus in the sense that it is "everbearing." Most citrus flower in the spring and ripen their fruits in the winter, but a Meyer lemon will flower and ripen fruit throughout the season, which is a little different. Therefore, I think its lifecycle needs to be treated a little differently than most traditional citrus. That being said, this tree is a unique case because it's so young. I wanted to force it to bloom, and I think the phosphorous definitely did help. I've always given this tree a 3-1-2 ratio of NPK, but it was leading to vegetative growth primarily. This was the first time I fed it with a 1-2-1, and I'm not surprised it flushed with some blooms.
Absolutely. Once tomatoes and peppers begin to show their first flowers, or shortly before, that's when I start hitting them with the bloom booster formula. I get some pretty extreme flowers, and you can see the heavy fruit set results here: th-cam.com/video/p-rlucSV1Oo/w-d-xo.html
I think this applies to almost every plant that flowers and fruits: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelons, peaches, pears, plums, apples, figs, etc. Oddly enough, the one plant I don't give a lot of phosphorous to, in general, are citrus. They generally like a 6-2-4. However, some citrus are "everbearing," like lemons and limes, and do not have a seasonal fruiting cycle. For those "everbearing" types, I think phosphorous may be more beneficial.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks! This is something that I thought in my head may work and was going to consider doing in the future. You have helped me by providing some options. I appreciate it!
The high urea foliar spray to encourage blooms a month to 6 weeks before bud break ...i got from "Millet" on the tropical fruit growers forum......he is the master Zen of citrus growing(he is in the usa) and is the guru i most respect in the art of growing citrus.....he was formerly on the" citrus growers forum" but it transitioned to the tropical fruit growers forum.........I learnt a lot from that man.
I would argue that a high urea spray wouldn't encourage blooms, but rather encourage leafy green growth and the greening of foliage. That's certainly not a bad thing to "green up" the plant if it's a little on the yellow side, but promoting too much leafy green growth may actually adversely affect blooming. You may be telling the plant to place more energy into leafy growth at the expense of fruiting since plants only have "so much energy" to go around. I tend to not give a lot of nitrogen unless the plant is starting to lose its nice green color.
@@TheMillennialGardener Logic would make you think that but thats a tip from Millet on the "Tropical fruit growers forum"...in fact its quite well known for doing that....check it out...plus i have done it every year as well and i wouldnt tell lies.........one other thing to consider......what do all these fruits themselves have in common = strawberries....blueberries....tomatos....cucumber(yes its a fruit)...avocado...citrus...bananas ....kiwifruit?...they are all high in potassium......so it stand to reason they would have a high need for that nutrient to reach full ripeness.....none of these fruits contain a high amount of Phosphorous......imho you are getting your results from the urea ......i know citrus roots absorb npk 5.1.3 but i dont know about the stomata in the leaves....Foliar feeding has its place...particularly to supply trace elements ..esp in winter when roots are not very active.....but you have nothing to lose by trying what i suggest a month to 6 weeks out from spring or going on that forum and asking millet because he has far more experience and expertise than either of us ! p.s Nitrogen is the most important nutrient along with MG and iron for citrus.......if it doesnt get enough you will get stunted growth and fruits wont reach their max potential......its esp important its available at the roots ready for spring burst...which is what i am having now and some of my trees are going nuts...a few others are just waking up with buds....UREA is the bees knees for citrus but unfortunately......that is what the citrus leafminer look for when they appear when the weather warms up......thats candy to them....that what they seek and thats why its bad to feed them much of that in autumn burst.(thats in aussie anyway).....i can vouch for the foliar feed with high urea....ive done it and it works a treat and no doubt its good for young leaves as well....all the best....go and say hi to millet......that guys a wealth of knowledge all things citrus..........just tell him "Laidbackdood" sent you.
I also have a nice fig tree that a relative gave me last year but have no idea what kind it is. It was just a stalk but is gorgeous now and has about 25 figs. How do find out what kind it is?
There are tens of thousands of different figs out there, so if you cannot be certain of the origin, it's not possible to tell what the fig is with certainty, unfortunately. But if it's doing well and you enjoy it, that's all that matters!
An experiment without a control group is not an experiment at all. I love your channel and use your fertilizer program for my figs, it works great. However what you presented in this video is still purely anecdotal. Maybe 3 groups using fig cuttings, say RdB. Have to use more than one cutting in each group to account for variability of individual cuttings. Group 1 has three cutting that get compost and organic fertilizer only. Group 2 has three cuttings that get balanced NPK. Group 3 has three cuttings that get bloom booster. Compare growth in height and number of figs harvested. Might even be a two year experiment since fruit production in first year is more variable than subsequent years.
I would agree with you in most instances, except the following: 1. It's not possible to have a true controlled experiment in a backyard garden, because there are so many variables that cannot be properly controlled. No matter what I do in this environment, it can be picked apart by naysayers. 2. When a 1 year old tree that has never blossomed immediately bursts out into blooms 8 days after being fed a large dose of high-P fertilizer, it becomes obvious enough that a control group isn't needed. If you punch someone in the arm and the person screams, "OUCH!", you don't need a second person nearby not getting punched to be certain that it hurt. I don't think figs are realistic controls, because individual cuttings can vary so much in performance. Seedlings, I think, would be better candidates, but running an experiment like that would take, literally, a year. It's too late in the season to design an experiment like that, unfortunately, so we work with what we have available. I may be able to trial on my container citrus next season, or some type of seedling, but it needs to happen in the spring at this point.
@@TheMillennialGardener I agree with you that there are many variables, including the skill of the gardener. I don’t think it’s surprising that you have blossoms on a 1 year old tree. You’ve got one heck of a green thumb. You prepare the soil. Those blossoms could have been there whether you fertilized or not. To design an experiment you control as many variables as you can, and use a large enough sample size to blunt the impact of individual differences. It would be a large undertaking and require 1-2 years to get results. But unfortunately that is what is required. I’m surprised larger fertilizer companies haven’t done large scale studies like these, they have the money and potentially gain from positive results.
![⭐ฮิตในTikTok!! ( หมูเด้ง MooDeng ) Ver. แดนซ์โจ๊ะๆ ReMix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3krsyfWUeHU/mqdefault.jpg)
I once had two flower beds side by side planted with the same plants, fed one with a higher nitrogen fertilizer and one with a “bloom booster.” The higher nitrogen plants grew larger, had more foliage, but the flower to foliage ratio was small. The one with the bloom booster had less foliage, the plants were smaller, but the flower to foliage ratio was much larger.
That sounds exactly what should happen based on the current understanding of NPK ratios. I've personally seen this happen myself with tomatoes and peppers. Higher nitrogen formulas result in very tall plants with stingy production and small fruits. Giving them higher phosphorous fertilizers result in more compact, stockier plants full of fruit.
I have a 15x30 garden enclosed in a fence. I planted some morning glories at the end where the water runoff ended up. Absolutely lush green coverning the entire fence but not a single flower. Many people say nutrient rich soil, especially with nitrogen, has this effect.
@@TheMillennialGardener Hello! New subscriber here. Why not or is it even possible to do both supplements? I’ve seen on the Miracle Grow to apply every 7/14 days. Why not alternate?
Because growth requires high nitrogen and bloom requires high potassium and phosphorus.
😊 we
I use the miracle Gro bloom booster for my cannabis plants when they start the flower I think it works great.
Thanks for the interesting video; I did a fertilizer experiment of my own several decades ago when I was managing a cattle ranch in northern Alberta. Despite fertilizing quite heavily with nitrogen and phosphorous my hay crop continued to do very poorly averaging only 30 square bales to the acre. However I noticed that whenever I crossed an old windrow where all the trees had been burned the grass was lush and dark green; I realized this must be because of the additional potassium from the ashes, so purchased a large amount of potash fertilizer, which is nearly pure potassium and spread it on all my hayfields at the lowest setting on the spreader, about 75 pounds per acre. My hay crop that year averaged 90 square bales to the acre and in some fields the hay was over 5 feet tall! I noticed also that the seed heads on the timothy grass were 4 to 6 inches in length rather than the 2 inches I had previously seen. That showed me what a difference potassium could make in the growth of plants, in this case grass for hay.
Very interesting. My experience with potassium is this: potassium is the nutrient driving the overall metabolic health of the plant. I don't think potassium on its own is very effective, but potassium needs to be scaled with the growth rate of the plant. So, if you want the tree to put on a huge amount of new growth, you can't just give it nitrogen. You need to give it nitrogen and potassium. The nitrogen directs the plant to grow more, and the potassium provides the precursor nutrition for cellular division. The N:P ratio tells the plant how to grow, but you need to add K with it in adequate quantities to support the growth.
That's my observation. You can dump all the nitrogen on the grass you want, but it won't grow big and green if there isn't enough potassium in the soil to support the growth. That's why old, sluggish forests explode into youthful growth after a fire.
You are my favorite gardening channel on TH-cam without a doubt.
Thank you! I really appreciate you saying that. It means a lot.
Bloom booster skeptics must’ve not watched your earlier videos on how to fertilize. The Fertilizing Figs in Spring video was a gardener’s awakening and game-changer for me! As always, top notch gardening information, thank you 🙏🏼
Thank you! A lot of people don't like buying fertilizer, so there's a lot of resistance out there. I get it. It's expensive, and fertilizer companies are often responsible for a fair amount of pollution and bad news headlines, but the stuff really does work. The key is *responsible usage,* because it's harmless in a backyard setting when used as directed.
I use high phosphorus fertilizers on my cacti as well and it makes them flower profusely. ☺️ Thanks for the validation.
I'm not surprised at all by this. Thanks for watching!
It finally clicked! Thank you for that simple, layman's term breakdown of N-P-K! I'm a newbie to gardening, so this was extremely helpul!
You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful!
@@TheMillennialGardener that was an awesome, very informative video. Your instruction style is great, like the best teacher that throughly presents in a way that her/ his students can follow and understand. I am so impressed that I will definitely be tuning in, and following. I looking forward to having my best growing plants and garden by following your lead.
Awesome vid and I love how you list topic and time in the description box. You're presentation is perfect!!!
Thank you. You can't imagine how long it takes to tag every single video with timestamps and chapters 😓 But I do it because I think it helps. Glad to hear it's worth it!
* your
My tree is in a big pot and after tons of blossoms over several seasons, still no fruit. Time to hit the phosphorus.
Love the takes on Dale. Handsome boi.
What kind of tree is it, and what happens to the blossoms? Do they drop?
@@TheMillennialGardener Meyer lemon, bought it last year and there were zero blooms all summer. Then I had it overwintering in the basement and forgot about it... found it full of blooms last November. Even hand pollinated... nada. They all dropped. Took it up to my sunroom in the early spring when it was still too cold outside, and where there's more light. Lots of blooms. Repotted it in a larger container before taking it outside. Went through several rounds of blossoms, but I didn't see any pollinators at the time. They started to fruit, but dropped. I am thinking of moving it out to my garden where all the bees are, maybe try to get more blossoms going and see what happens. It's pretty lush with green growth right now. Have not fertilized it since it was repotted months ago.
Thanks for your videos on fertilizer!! They make it much easier to understand!
As a newbie senior citizen gardener, I found the information in this video very informative and helpful in planning fertilizer for my stubborn flowers in Florida soil. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful! Best of luck and thank you for watching!
I agree with you!my petunias seem to love the blooms fertilizers. AND I so love Dale! What a beautiful friend!
If you do this experiment again, start out with two similar plants. Fertilize one with a high phosphorous fertilizer and fertilize the other one with a low phosphorous but equal N and K fertilizer. Then you will be able to tell is the extra phosphorous makes a difference.
With your lemon tree experiment, we don't know if the extra phosphorous made a difference or not as we were unable to know how the tree would have performed without the extra P. Maybe it would have done just as well. We can't know.
Have a control tree (no extra P) and a test tree (added P). If the only difference in the treatment of the two trees is that the one got extra P and the other didn't, then you will know what the effect of the added P really was.
I can try this with annuals next year during the spring when the growing season allows, but this was a pretty immediate reaction. A controlled experiment is almost impossible to do with a tree, because they tend to grow at their own pace. It's better done with seed-grown annuals because of their short lifecycle.
To chime in 8 months later. For posterity you could also have a third plant that doesn't get any extra nutrients. Just normal ol water. Larger sample sizes provide more certain and reproduceable results.
You surely can't know if it worked by just one plant, and even when I have three identical plants, same size, seedling batch etc. put into 3 exact pots with same soil, sun and water, I often get three different plants. Sometimes one just hits a sweet spot in the soil and goes haywire while the others may be feeling things out. These tests are only valid if they are done many times over and over again.
Just curious has anyone done side by sides yet on a video? Thanks!
Lemon trees do good with high nitrogen until it’s time to flower
I saw amazing results after I fertilized my containers of annuals. I'm a believer.
That’s great to hear! The stuff works very well.
Hi from Australia. Great work. To have definitive proof, it would be good to have a couple of control plants where you don't give these fertilizers so you can actually see a difference. That would be the ideal scientific method as you cannot fully confirm or exclude the effect without a control. Having said that though, I don't have much doubt that added phosphorous works to increase flower production.
It's too late in the season to begin an experiment like that, because it would have to be conducted over 3+ months. I've used this analogy in the past: you don't need to run a controlled experiment to know that punches hurt. If you punch someone in the arm and they cry out in pain, you don't need a separate control group to be certain it hurt. When a baby plant that has never flowered before suddenly flowers 8 days after a Bloom Booster application, that's either the world's biggest coincidence, or it's strong evidence. I may be able to run an experiment with tomatoes, but it will need to be done beginning in March here due to temperatures.
@@TheMillennialGardener it could have been a coincidence, that's why double blind tests are true science. You maybe correct in you assertions about fertilizer but this was not a scientific test by any means.
Good job! I'm constantly doing this with my roses and other flowers. Let them hate 🤣
It works well. It's frustrating, because so many people think Miracle Gro is owned by Monsanto. That's not even true. It's a Scott's product, and Monsanto no longer exists. Monsanto is now Bayer, and do you have any idea how many pharmaceuticals are in everyone's medicine cabinet made by Bayer? It's funny where the hyperfocus lies.
I'm a Believer I've done it for 15 years now and it works for me thanks for your video
Thanks for watching!
Informative intelligent easy to follow comprehensive thanks for your work
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
Super informative - as always. I am amazed that I always learn facts that are totally new to me and I have been a so-so gardener for years now. THANK YOU.
I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching the videos. I appreciate it.
Gotta admit I was a bit skeptical of the Bloom Booster idea myself, but this year started using with all my figs and have seen great fruit set. Figured I would test with my citrus as well similar to you. Switched my balanced fert on my Meiwa Kumquat to a 3-12-6 and BOOM! crazy flower and fruit set within a few weeks. So must be something there. Keep up the great work with the videos!
The same thing happened to me. I gave a feeding to my little 18 inch tall Meiwa and it turned into a bloom machine. Now, this little tiny plant is full of dime-sized kumquats. I may have to thin them. Pretty wild to see!
Panache Tiger Fig tree for me. I agree, the proof is in the fruit-pudding!
I started a week ago using miracle grow bloom booster on my plants. I am looking forward to seeing how it works. Thank you
Any updates????
I have a small raised bed garden and grew half a dozen chili peppers this summer with no amendments and had quite good results. I saw this video and decided to add the bloom buster when the first crop was done. I did it just like you said (adding the fish fertilizer), once a week, and had tons of blooms after about two weeks!!! But the new peppers are about half as long and very skinny and the first dozen or so almost immediately turned red and shriveled up. The ones that are making it are only about 1/4" wide. What did I do wrong or what do I do now? Thanks!! (love this channel)
I use bloom buster fertilizer with excellent results!it's on flowers, vegetables and fruits, have for many years!
I've had a ton of success using it. Glad to hear you're seeing success as well!
It's usually pH lockout. We have some different kinds of soil out here.. and they usually need Vitamin B1 for the most Phosphorus uptake. Vitamin C in the soil helps keep pH down. My tap water is 8.0.
I feel like I just went to gardening class for the day. Thanks for sharing! Subscribed
I’ve been using bloom booster for the past few years and it’s true, works perfectly
It works when it's used at the appropriate time of the year and during the appropriate part of the fruiting cycle, assuming you don't have an overabundance of bioavailable phosphorous in your soil. This is true 100% of the time in containers since they're so limited, and in most soil natural soil types. It isn't something you should use all season for sure, but strategically timed, it helps me a lot.
@@TheMillennialGardener exactly , I use it at detain times of the year for my container figs and garden ! I follow your guidance on fertilizer schedule and it works great . Thanks again
Can you mix it with molasses
Damn bro that is some awesome growth in one year on your Meyers lemon!! However my mouth is watering whilst looking at that gorgeous Avo! OMG awesome video brother thanks again!!🙏🏻
Thanks. The Meyer is looking great. I'm very happy. My Lila avocado is *really* taking its time. It's on its 3rd season, and it dropped 100% of its fruit all three years. Hopefully next year is the year it'll fruit. I have to give that tree a big haircut. It's grown too much, and I need to reduce it literally 50%.
WELL EXPLAINED….knowledgeable, demonstrated & proven …. THANK YOU! DALE IS AWESOME…SUPER CATCHING - happy dog for sure!
I also agree with adding phosphorus my wife has hanging baskets they require watering twice a day every other day we put miracle grow phosphorus blooming in the same ratio you were using for those hanging flowers. we had several that we did not do that with and they don’t hold blooms as long as a matter of fact they end up just being a lot of greenery .when we went back to putting a miracle Gro on ,they came back not as strong but they did come back so whether it’s flowers or fruit phosphorus matters. Thanks for your videos and advice always great stuff.
I agree that in every side-by-side comparison that I've run, the higher phosphorous water-soluble fertilizers really do cause increased blooming, whereas the higher nitrogen fertilizers have the opposite effect. I'll try to run a more conclusive study next spring. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video.... thanks for thos video... appreciate all your time and hard-work.
That Meyer lemon should not even grow in your area and the fact it’s doing so well and fruiting is pretty amazing. We use 0-50-30 water soluble as a bloom set fertilizer on a number of plants. It works especially well on melons at least doubling fruit set. I’m an advocate for using the high phosphorus type fertilizers.
You're correct - the Meyer lemon will die here without intervention. We have had back-to-back 9a winters here, but we're a Zone 8a, so the *big chill* is coming. It's only a matter of time until this tree sees 13F. The house provides a nice micro-climate alongside a plant jacket and lights, though, so I'm able to give it an extra 5-10F, but I'll have to be on my game. Glad to hear you've had similar results with the high-P. I honestly don't know how people can badmouth it, because the results are so consistent and obvious when used properly.
Plants will only uptake what they need. You can't force N-P-K on a plant if they are already getting what they need. So, If you did a soil analysis you could feed the deficiency. Love the analogy with Carbs, fat, proteins.
I personally believe the bone meal is the key, I used MG bloom booster and it promotes fruit but I really noticed a difference when I started using bone meal.
Bone meal is a risk factor for mad cow disease in humans.
@@declanfarber no its not
@@mgstrip holy shit dude he's right! It can be absorbed into plants and transmitted to humans or animals. After this bag I won't be buying anymore.
On second thoughts it shouldn't be in bonemeal unless they used the brain and spinal cord. And bonemeal should be just bones.
Interesting because I have heard botanists say bonemeal is worthless.
From my own experience, I, too, believe in the high-P feritlizers.
Hi! I was wondering why you used Bloom Booster on your Meyer lemon tree to demonstrate the effectiveness of a high Phosphorus fertilizer rather than running the experiment on your pepper plants, as an example? I remember from an older video you posted about citrus trees that they need a higher Nitrogen intake. I know it wasn't the point if this video, but if you had used a higher Nitrogen fertilizer, would there have been more fruit set even though your tree is young? I've been using a lot of the fertilizing information from your videos to help fix my garden and they've been extremely helpful!
My pepper plants, at this point, were many months old and already in varying stages of fruiting, which makes it more difficult to assess what's going on. My Meyer lemon had not yet fruited to date, so I wanted to see if I could force it to flower. The reason why I chose this tree is both because it's never fruited before, and because the Meyer lemon is a rare type of "everbearing" citrus that doesn't have a defined flowering season, ripening season and harvesting season (like most fruit trees do) and is capable of flowering and fruiting all throughout the year at key intervals. To answer your question about the NPK, a lot of things that I do on this channel is experimenting as I go along to find out what works best. I've only been growing citrus for a few years, so I'm still trying to figure out what works best for all these different trees. In my observation, citrus seems to be able to fruit very heavily being fed higher nitrogen at all times, but phosphorous is still a critical component in flowering/fruiting. I'm theorizing that citrus trees, for whatever reason, have a lower P-requirement, but it's still a critical macronutrient. What I wanted to see is if a sudden boost of high-P could get it to flower earlier than it wanted to be. Once the tree gets into its groove and begins to bear more heavily as it ages, it probably won't be necessary to give it Bloom Booster type fertilizers anymore, since in my experience, citrus don't need as much as something like a tomato or a fig. Don't take anything in this post as scientific fact. It's more the theories that I'm working under as I continue to evolve my fertilizing regimen.
Looking good. I have learned to add calcium nitrate if the plants don't seem to respond too much to other fertilizers. The extra calcium can make a huge difference. I
I use bone meal for calcium. Bone meal is also a fantastic source of phosphorous. I strongly recommend periodically adding bone meal into your soil throughout the season. It takes a long time to break down, so it's a good regular addition for trickle feeding the nutrients.
@@TheMillennialGardener I actually purchased some to put in my raised beds but got ahead of myself and forgot to put it out. I will amend at the end of the season.
Wow awesome video and amazing results!!! I just watered my lemon, lime and orange container trees with the MG bloom booster food so let's see what happens. The trees are super healthy with alot of deep green foliage but not much fruit so I figured it would be safe to use this at this point based on your recommendations!
Excellent. You may want to follow up with a second application after 14 days if you do not see blooms right away. If the foliage is very deep green, you may want to back off on the nitrogen, though. Very dark green implies too much nitrogen, which can cause problems. It shouldn't be too dark. Your foliage shouldn't be any darker than the leaves on my Meyer lemon in this video.
@@TheMillennialGardener the leaves look just like your Meyer....been only using the Jack fertilizer but haven't gotten much fruit at all the past 2 years. Will try another dose of bloom booster in 2 weeks...thanks for your reply and keep up the good work!!
@@salvatorecaruso942 thanks for watching!
Interesting but I would think a few experiments with some plants fertilized and some not would give you a better idea of whether or not there is a benefit.
There are always a lot of variables in backyard gardening, so it's hard to set proper controls. That being said, sometimes things are so obvious that you don't need controls. When a young plant that has never flowered before suddenly flowers all over its lower growth 8 days after being fed Bloom Booster, that's as obvious a reaction as I can provide. If that's a coincidence, then I have a bridge to sell 😂
It does work! and thanks for the video! I purchased a Meiwa Kumquat tree and it wasn't doing anything with a regular fertilizer from April to beginning of July, I started feeding it with MG Bloom booster after that I got flowers and fruits forming now , it's a young tree and I'm sure it will drop some , I will put it in my heated greenhouse if it gets too cold in the next few months here in 6B, next year I will use the MG Bloom booster from the beginning of spring.
That's funny. I purchased a very small grafted Meiwa back in March. I hit it with Bloom Booster, and it flowered profusely within 2 weeks. Now, it's loaded with quarter-sized fruits. It's such a small tree, so it's pretty wild to see so much fruit on it.
Excellent simple, clear explanation. Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
This is the best gardening channel, period. Other gardening channels: yay fruits everywhere, fun fun fun, positivity positivity positivity, I never have any problems, I'll never teach you or discuss that I spray my peach trees against PC and OFM, I don't know what slugs are, I bury dead raccoons in my raised bed. It's basically a platform for them to show of, and they sweep the practical reality under the rug. COUGH james prigioni COUGH self sufficient me COUGH. We get nothing out of it. Your videos are actually helpful man. Your organza bag and japanese pull saw recommendation are the X factor. No lie, that saw is better than even $1000 pruning shears. Can't believe my japanese pruning shears cost more than the saw. I still use the pruners for the tiny branches. But other than that, they suck. And they are ARS pruners too.
I appreciate that. I love Mark and James's channels. I actually just finished watching one of James's videos 20 mins ago, but I do wish there was more tips and tricks and how-to's versus garden tours and harvest videos. My garden is less impressive than theirs, for sure, but my goal at the end of the day is to convince non-gardeners to try gardening, and small gardeners to grow more stuff, and I think it's easier to show them how to do it. My favorite garden channel is probably The Rusted Garden because all Gary does is teach, teach, teach. It's a lot less flashy and the editing is so basic, but it's so informative and helpful. If you aren't following Gary, you absolutely need to.
I told you that $20 saw is king. I wouldn't lie to you! I'm not going to get people into gardening by recommending $300 pruning products, but a $20 saw? That's cheaper than a pizza delivered to your house. I'm STILL using the original blade on my saw 2 years later. Granted, it's close to end of life, but that thing is a beast. It probably deserves its own video, because people are wasting money on expensive stuff that's inferior!
I’m new and didn’t see the saw video! What’s it called??
I really like Jack’s fertilizers, but because of my location they are very expensive. Would you say the Miracle Grow is just as effective as Jack’s?
I use both, and I find them both to be fine. I also use the Walmart Expert Gardener 24-8-16, because it's half the price of the MiracleGro. I recommend buying the stuff you can get at the best price. I have them linked in my Amazon Storefront if you need a source. You can buy the Jack's in bulk. I bought 2 bags last year, and I still have 80% of it!
Man was this good! I hope I'm not gonna burn mine out because the Miracle Grow measurements are sooo screwy. Thanks again bruh..
Thanks for the video. A couple of questions: How much and how often are you watering your lemon these days? And how is your avocado doing this year?
I never water my Meyer lemon tree in ground. Aside from the initial planting period, where I watered it for the first week or two, it has never once been watered except for these times where I've given it soluble fertilizer. There's no need to water any established tree in-ground where I live. As for the citrus in containers, they get watered every single day during the growing season. The reservoirs in the self-watering containers get filled daily, as well as the soil tops get soaked down. The avocado tree is almost as tall as my house, but it once again dropped its fruit, sadly. I will be heavily pruning it in late August to prepare for winter.
I've had three fruiting Meyer Lemon trees for over seven years and have been growing them in 30 gallon containers. The trick to container Lemon trees is to pay attention to the leaves. If they yellow... it may be too much water. BUT it may also be not enough water. My trees are VERY ROOT BOUND! If your tree blooms profusely (like mine have done) make sure they get full sun to help set the fruit. I have also found 90% of the pollinators appear to be bumble bees and a few honey bees also find the blooms. Again, too much water and some of the fruit will drop, and if they don;t get enough water, the fruit will drop. Early Spring pruning (like in mid March or early April) and then hitting them with the high phosphorus fertilizer seems to help them get the energy to set and keep fruit. I'm in central North Carolina so my trees go inside a make-shift greenhouse when the weatherman says "frost"... they stay there until mid March. Good luck.
I typically use bone meal - a small handful each week per plant.
But for hanging basket/container flowers, sometimes I use Hawaiian Bug & Bloom (over 50 phosphorous!).
Hey? What brand of rain barrels are you using?
And how much are they?
I think the studies show that in some plants the added phosphorus doesn't do much. Cannabis is the main focus of the research and cannabis in particular will only take so much depending on root size and the microbiome in the soil. Honestly, it is probably more the microbiome that assists in the nutrient uptake that makes a big difference.
This guy is probably the most buff gardener in TH-cam my man lifts
Being up against that brick wall really helps with the tree being planted in 1 cold hardiness zone too cold.
I absolutely love it , can't wait to have my own garden again
Thank you! I appreciate it. Hopefully, you can build one soon!
Thank you for your time and effort to create and post this useful video. I've been using Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 bloom booster fertilizer for a few years now, and your results shown here parallel my results exactly.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
I’m in zone 6 and have a meyer lemon tree in a container…. I fed it heavily this yr and it flowered and I have tons of lemons on it. My question is when does the fruit mature and given that I’m in zone 6 upstate New York will the cold weather affect it? Impressive on your lemons.
Lemons take awhile to go from hard-and-green to ripe. Meyer lemons "feel" different than regular lemons when they're mature, because they're crossed with an orange. The peel is very thin and a lot less pithy than a traditional lemon, so you can tell when they're ripe by the "feel." It should be firm, but with just the right about of "give." Basically, you're going to have to figure it out over time by getting that perfect feeling. I bought my mother a Meyer lemon in a nice container last year, and she started harvesting it this spring. The lemons took several months to ripen, but that was over the cool season here. It's indoors in her sunroom during the winter. They'll ripen more quickly outdoors in the summer, but it still takes awhile. I don't think these lemons on my tree will be ready until October-ish.
Meyer lemons can't tolerate temps lower than around 25F unprotected, and the fruit will be destroyed with a hard freeze (28F or colder). Young plants may be injured at warmer temps. You will need to bring it inside when the frosts begin to be safe. I cover mine in incandescent Christmas lights for warmth and throw an agricultural fabric plant jacket over it anytime I see it is going to be colder than 30F.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you for a thorough explanation, you’re a gem! I’ve had my meyer lemon now for about 7 years in a container, and to be honest with you I’ve never fertilized just water it… this year I did and wouldn’t you know it it full of fruit. 😊. If only I knew. I keep it inside my garage during the winter months. Maybe and hopefully my fruit will mature in the garage, I tend to bring it in by October . Oh , the same goes with my figs, had them a few yrs this yr I gave it fertilizer watching your channel, and I have figs….they’re small though, I hope they mature and ripen too. A million thanks to you!!
Thanks very much! Best bloom booster vlog on U-TUBE!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
I use bloom boosters , I am a believer.
It works great! Thanks for watching!
Most trees do better the second , the third, the fourth year, etc. etc. Can you credit the fruit growth on age, or fertilizer ? Did you test the soil, to see what it actually needed , first ? You can't base results, with out at least one control plant.
Please do a test bed with root veggies half & half!
It's too hot at this time of year for root vegetables where I live, but I may be able to do that with beets and carrots over the winter. I don't usually fertilize beets and carrots aside from the normal refreshing of beds with compost, but I can try.
I have also found that a small dose of iron will help plants absorb and use the other nutrients like phosphorus. It behaves like a catalyst. This is probably why plants benefit from a combination of bone meal and blood meal. I believe plants are like humans; they benefit from numerous nutrients and minerals, not just the three commonly listed on fertilizer packages.
Thanks for your video. I've learned a lot.
In my opinion you needed a control plant to compare results. What if the plant you used was getting ready to set flowers anyway with or without bloom booster?
I have a hard time with fertilizers. I have tried organic fertilizers and it was a disaster. It's hard for me to tell what N P or K a plant need. I have tomato plants now in 5-gallon buckets that are 3 feet tall with no blooms. I planted them in Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil.
Bloom booster from miracle grow definitely works for my petunias, but not my potted dwarf sunflowers
It may depend upon the type of plant. I will look up the studies though
I am new to gardening. My plants are in a raised bed on my screened in patio. I’ve been using blossom set spray. Is that basically the same stuff?
Couldnt agree more 😊
I've switched peppers especially to Neptunes Harvest Bloom. Great results.
I wish I could find that stuff locally. It's so expensive online. I'm sure it works well, though! It's High-P!
@@TheMillennialGardener Fert is Fert IMO.
Great video - My Meyer lemon tree is in a 5 gal. container and is starting to flower now, the 1st of August. Fall and winter, in 6b, is around the corner. What should I do at this point in time? Recommendations?
Meyer lemon trees do well indoors, so I think you should allow it to fruit and then simply bring the tree inside in front of a sunny, south-facing window when frosts start. Giving it some bloom booster right now could be a good idea to support the blossoms.
Another great video and information, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Now how do you feel about high potassium fertilizers like they make for tomatoes and vegetables?
My understanding of potassium is different. Nitrogen and phosphorous are "behavioral" macronutrients in the sense that by playing with the ratio of Nitrogen:Phosphorous, I can sort of direct how much leaf growth or how much flowering the plant produces. I don't think potassium has that effect. Rather, that's the nutrient that "funds" the biological processes, so potassium should be scaled to the growth rate of the plant. The faster the plant is growing, the faster the cells are dividing, the more potassium you need to support the life processes. I don't buy high potassium fertilizer blends. Instead, I have a small bag of 0-0-60 that I occasionally add. The only plant I've found that responds well to huge doses of potassium are bananas. I think there is danger in too much potassium, but I could be wrong.
Thats a lot of fertilizer ya got there. Whats interesting to me is dilution and how it affects ratio's. The amount of ferts put on an area is dependent on the manufacturers recommendations for the amount that goes in a 2 gallon bucket. I'm not aware if there's a standard or if all manufacturers use different amounts. Miraclegro is generally 1tbsp/gallon. What does Jack's recommend?
The Jack's bag is very difficult to read. It has a huge load of instructions, including how to apply for fertilizing through drip lines. I'm currently using it similarly to the MiracleGro product.
Could you provide the titles of the research articles? I have read articles that made claims that fertilizers like Super Phosphate / Triple Super Phosphate and other fertilizers that contain rock phosphate are only able to deliver about 10% or so of their phosphorus contain each year. This is because the rock phosphate is not very soluble and takes a long time to break down and as a result it does not need to be used very often.
Certainly. Here is something to read: www.gardenmyths.com/bloom-booster-fertilizer-nonsense/
This article is absolute junk, because it is centered around a bogus premise: _Adding phosphorus to soil that already has enough phosphorus, or adding it to one that is deficient in one of the other nutrients, will NOT make plants grow better. You are just wasting a natural resource or worse, making your soil toxic._
Of course adding more phosphorous to a soil that has *too much* phosphorous in it already is bad.
1. How many people have plots of land with too much phosphorous in the soil? Hardly anyone.
2. Most forms of phosphorous found in soil aren't actually bioavailable to the plant, because it's tied up in molecular forms of phosphorous that the plant cannot assimilate. I can't get healthy levels of iron in my diet by eating chunks of rebar, because my body can't process sheets of metal! I need natural forms found in food that my body can use!
Most phosphorous found in soil cannot be used, and for people that are growing in containers, they need to constantly replenish the nutrients in the container. This is why you can't trust agenda-driven articles like this, and you need to run your own experiments and see with your own eyes.
Another neat experiment would be to do high nitrogen with younger plants and then switch to a "bloom booster" midway through. And maybe compare that to a strictly only nitrogen and only bloom booster plants
I do this a lot for my plants. High nitrogen to grow a lot of leaves and then when you switch to bloom booster all of energy being produced by the photosynthesis goes into flower and fruit production instead of more leaves. I usually flip fertilizer at about the time I see the first natural bloom appear then I try to push them into a turbo-blooming phase.
I wonder if this would work with my potted grafted avocado tree? I will try it and let you know.
In my experience, potted plants are better control groups than in-ground plantings, because in-ground plants have large root systems that can search for nutrients in the soil, whereas potted plants can only grab what's inside that pot. Therefore, I find fertilizing potted plants to be even more critical. If you're a little lazy with fertilizing and watering in-ground plants, the roots can compensate by searching out for native soil nutrients. If you're lazy watering and fertilizing potted plants, the plant will suffer immensely. Therefore, I think these fertilizers are even more valuable for potted plants.
Excellent Vid, well explained
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!
Had an abysmal year last season, so decided I do really need to fertilise more than the slow release in the planting hole.. I went with Schultz 17-18-28 because it was readily available, and I know better than do high nitrogen mid season. Looking much better this year, fingers crossed on the potatoes!
I predict more success! Potatoes are very heavy feeders, so they need regular feedings. The slow release stuff often doesn't break down fast enough for their ravenous nutritional requirements. The key is to use them both in tandem with each other.
Apparently my flowering plants are not aware of this “ new study “
I have been using 15-30-15 fertilizer on my flowering plants with outstanding results consistently getting compliments from passersby.
That’s my old school study .
I believe it was Jack’s who makes a Crepe Myrtle-specific bloom booster that you spread around the perimeter at the drip line. It was highly effective in producing more blooms. I’m proud of Dale, too! He’s such a sweet soul and his athletic skills are delightful.
Interesting. I wonder what the formula is? Dale is so athletic. He's a sweet boy. Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener I searched for it and I wonder if I was mistaken. It could have been the Carl Poole crepe myrtle food- oops. It, too, is available on Amazon. It has a photo of the analysis and it is an 8-57-7! You’ll be able to find it easily if you want to see the ingredients.
@@beyekind12another I heard you never spread Jacks, you only disolve it in water, or else you burn the stems and roots. But maybe trees are so big it doesn't matter?
@@ellisjk1409 Hi. I've found you can spread Jacks or other similar types of ferts even on small plants like tomatoes, peppers, and some flowers even. The trick is go light. also, wait till the soil has dry for a week or two, that way there are no fresh roots in that top inch of soil. Water first, then sprinkle a little bit on and maybe just a light drench to activate the soil, just make sure it goes around the plants roots, not too close to the stalks. Good luck!
Hi, new sub here and really like your channel!
I have not read all the comments nor the studies, but one thing I know is that if magnesium is not available, then the phosphorus won’t be absorbed. So did the studies just focus on phosphorus without the addition or magnesium?
I always throw some Epsom Salt down with Phosphorus.
11:48 glad to know i dont need to worry about thinning the abundance of tiny limes on my first citrus tree in a container
So informative! Thank you!
You are welcome!
Learnt so much, thank you.
7 Springs farm supply has a good assortment of specialty fertilizer etc at a good price.
Hello, my friend!
I would like to know how many times a season can I apply Miracle Grow tomato feed?
I applied it this season twice every 14 days. I applied it for the first time because two weeks after planting my seedlings (all, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, pumpkin) my plants were anemic and I did not see any progress.
After the first application in just a few days, they had a growth explosion and almost all bloomed. I waited 14 days and applied it again, now my plants are beautiful, but it looks like the peppers need some more food, after they made the first tranche of fruit now it is stagnant, and only a few have started to bloom again.
Tomatoes are large, and bear fruit, but have not yet begun to ripen.
I would like to give them another portion of food but I am afraid not to put too much nitrogen in the soil, I say this because I had two tomato plants that I had to eliminate because they had a necrotic stem on the inside, not much but me I took them out so that the disease would not spread to the other plants.
It is the first time I do gardening and when I use this product. I need an urgent answer! Thank you very much!
It doesn’t matter how many times a season you apply. All that matters is the schedule. Someone in Miami is going to need it more times a year than someone in Minneapolis. All that matters is frequency. Usually once every 14 days is sufficient for anything except corn. Corn likes once every 7 days.
@@TheMillennialGardener I’m sorry I don’t understand why the location matters? I’m a new gardener and bingeing your videos but I don’t understand
Hi Millenial, what would be a good feeding schedule for inground trees with this type of water soluble fertilizer. How many gallons would of this and how often? Thanks, great videos.
How established are the in-ground trees? And what kind of trees are they? How old they are, and what kind of tree they are, means a lot. My personal opinion is that for in-ground fruit trees, I really only use soluble fertilizers like this when they're young. If they are mature, established trees, you shouldn't have to use soluble fertilizers because their in-ground root system is so large, they should be able to find all the nutrients they need in the earth. With large, mature trees, you should be dumping loads of compost around the roots every spring, along with maybe a few cups of 5-5-5 organic fertilizer and a few cups of bone meal, then heavily mulch on top of that with shredded mulch of some type. Mature trees need healthy, nutritious soil, not so much soluble fertilizers.
For young fruit trees in-ground that aren't yet established, I think the soluble fertilizers are beneficial. And, of course, for fruit trees in containers, they need soluble fertilizers regularly - around every 2 weeks or so for the heavier feeders like my figs. You'd have to provide me more detail on the trees in-ground. I only gave my Meyer lemon a big drink because it's just a baby and needs help still.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank You for the feedback. I have a few 2 - 3 year old Fig Trees. I will dump some more mulch around them and organic fertilizer. Thanks alot for responding.
I’m a believer!
Thanks for watching!
I'm using this fir a vege pod so I can't use the whole thing can I reserve the rest for later use?
To run a valid experiment, you should have had two Meyer lemon trees, one you fertilized with a balanced 20-20-20 and the second with a bloom booster like 10-30-20.
I don't have two Meyer lemon trees, so that can't happen. You can't run a true controlled experiment in your backyard. It isn't possible, so if you want to poke holes in the results, you'll be able to pick any garden experiment apart. What I can show you is a tree that had never flowered before suddenly flowered 8 days after a large dose of Bloom Booster. If that's a coincidence, that's quite a coincidence. Especially considering we're far beyond spring and not at the time of year where most plants flower naturally.
I nominate you to do a clinical trial with 100 trees and controls etc. etc.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm not saying it's a coincidence, but it you had given your Meyer lemon tree, the same amounts of a 20-20-20 fertilizer, the results might have been the same. I do believe that the bloom booster works, but we don't know how effective it is compared to the balanced fertilizer. You could try the experiment with tomatoe plants or any fruiting plants. My Meyer lemon tree had fruit the first year it was in the ground and keeps producing like mad, but I am in Gilbert, AZ where it likes the climate.
@@TheMillennialGardener Love this channel and your content, though I disagree that you can't run a controlled experiment in your backyard. There are a lot of potential external factors, but that is the case with so many experiments including in a lab (worthwhile science isn't always easy!). It's important to have a point of comparison for the thing you are testing to build confidence that your prediction is true.
Hi ! Love your videos ! I used the bloom booster for my cucumbers last year ! And I will tell you, I had baby cucumbers everywhere! It works ! I will use the bloom boosters for all of my fruit and vege,s that flower and fruit !
IT WORKS ! ❤️🩹💕💞
So. I have a bag of granular triple phosphate….in your opinion, do you think the water soluble works better, since it is absorbed immediately? Ty
Water soluble fertilizers and slow release granules have entirely different purposes. The water soluble fertilizers are immediately bioavailable, so they "kick in" immediately. If you're trying to force blooms based on timing of the the season, you'll need to use the water soluble types. The slow release and organic fertilizers are more like soil amendments and are added periodically. I do not use slow release or organic bloom boosters, because I believe them to be pointless. I just use 5-5-5 organics to build my soil. It's the rapid soluble stuff that's key. I've never used the isolated phosphorous, though.
I planted, a mandarin tree February can I fertilize it with the bloom booster now?
I wouldn't recommend it. Trying to force a tree to flower a few months after it was planted isn't a good idea. You want the tree to grow roots the first 1-2 years. I would amend the soil with an organic, slow release fertilizer around a 5-5-5 NPK and also with some added bone meal to encourage slow root growth. I would not wait my fruit tree to set any fruit the first year, and maybe only 3-4 fruits at most the second year. The third season, you can allow it to fruit some.
3:48 how much 6-4-6 would you use? My avocado tree was planted at the same time and now the leaves are turning yellow. Still has a few avocados on it.
when do you stop using the solution? Do you stop once you have the flowers?
It depends on the variety. I usually stop using it once I get enough fruit set and switch back to a 20-20-20, but sometimes in the fall, if I need a late flush of flowers, I may switch back to it for a couple uses.
@@TheMillennialGardener i am worried if I continue use it will drop flowers?
I have a question for you= The fertiliser that you used that was high in Phosphorous....was it high in nitrogen too and specifically urea?.....I have been growing citrus for 25 years both in pots and ground and a tip i give everyone is....if you want to increase your blooms.....You need to foliar feed with high urea a month before spring burst......My gut tells me.....thats why your leaves have gone green(only nitrogen will do that) and you have bloomed big time....i do this every year with my 35 trees both in pots and inground....citrus particularly like urea as a nitrogen source but so do citrus leafminer.......I have 4 different types of liquid powder ferts that we have in the southern hemisphere...i will post soon and you can see the lean that we go by over here....you have to bear in mind...we are not allowed anything much of P in our forumlas...in fact if i tried to bring in ferts high in "P" into australia......they would not be allowed in........there is one aspect of Nitrogen that you are missing...yes it promotes leaves and branches plus chlorophyll but it also helps fruit reach its full potential...without enough nitrogen...fruits will not grow to their max size.......I used to buy a winter formula and a summer formula for citrus......the summer formula leant its side to nitrogen /low P and reasonable Potassium but the winter formula (which was when most citrus ripen) leant its self to reasonable Nitrogen ...low P and high potassium....K ....helps with the ripening and size of fruits/juice content as well......as you will see in my next post......our fruit and bloom boosters are wickedly high in potasium........i have been growing strawbs and i fed it the flower and fruit formula and it went nuts flowering and fruiting and there is virtually no Phosphorous in it at all........its the POTASH my friend..........as for the citrus....if you spray with urea one month before spring...leaves will green and it will flower abundantly and i have done that for friends.......a citrus grows in a unique way....it goes roots/top growth/roots/top growth but never together....it goes back and forth......it also grows new growth in a unique way.......It can grow vegetative growth only....it can flower only or it can grow veg and flower together....the best quality fruit is obtained when the tree grows leaves and flowers together.....citrus absorb Potash also drives blueberries nuts with fruit and sizes them up as well....Its the best form of potassium for blueberries......so i do not believe its the phosphorous thats made your tree go so healthy...i bet 50 bucks that the main source of your nitrogen in that fert is urea and your nitrogen is higher than anything else but i believe exactly what you say about your figs but i still get good crops and size but i feed high potassium....If it was all about Phosphorous my friend ...we wouldnt get any good fruit here in aussie and nz........i used to grow massive tomatos and heaps of chills in nz and here and there is bugger all Phosphorous to be had= POTASH(K). but its fascinating how you guys go another way to what we are forced too........Potassium and nitrogen do a little bit more than what you said ....nitrogen boosts fruit size too.
The NPK is 15-30-15, so it is a 1:2:1 ratio, and an N:P ratio of 1:2. It is 15% nitrogen, primarily derived from urea. I normally fertilize my citrus with 6-2-4, because citrus is one of those rare plants that like a higher nitrogen fertilizer throughout the year. However, keep in mind that a Meyer lemon is not a typical citrus in the sense that it is "everbearing." Most citrus flower in the spring and ripen their fruits in the winter, but a Meyer lemon will flower and ripen fruit throughout the season, which is a little different. Therefore, I think its lifecycle needs to be treated a little differently than most traditional citrus. That being said, this tree is a unique case because it's so young. I wanted to force it to bloom, and I think the phosphorous definitely did help. I've always given this tree a 3-1-2 ratio of NPK, but it was leading to vegetative growth primarily. This was the first time I fed it with a 1-2-1, and I'm not surprised it flushed with some blooms.
Great video, thank you.
Thanks for watching!
So would you suggest using this on toms and peppers once they are established?. Great video
Absolutely. Once tomatoes and peppers begin to show their first flowers, or shortly before, that's when I start hitting them with the bloom booster formula. I get some pretty extreme flowers, and you can see the heavy fruit set results here: th-cam.com/video/p-rlucSV1Oo/w-d-xo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener That was the first video of yours I watched and subscribed. Didn't know you used anything on them. Thanks
Thank you for your information and I will do to my lemon tree too
Thanks for watching!
Phenomenal video❗
Thank you! I appreciate you watching.
Do you think this applies to all fruit trees and possible in the vegetable garden?
I think this applies to almost every plant that flowers and fruits: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelons, peaches, pears, plums, apples, figs, etc. Oddly enough, the one plant I don't give a lot of phosphorous to, in general, are citrus. They generally like a 6-2-4. However, some citrus are "everbearing," like lemons and limes, and do not have a seasonal fruiting cycle. For those "everbearing" types, I think phosphorous may be more beneficial.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks! This is something that I thought in my head may work and was going to consider doing in the future. You have helped me by providing some options. I appreciate it!
The high urea foliar spray to encourage blooms a month to 6 weeks before bud break ...i got from "Millet" on the tropical fruit growers forum......he is the master Zen of citrus growing(he is in the usa) and is the guru i most respect in the art of growing citrus.....he was formerly on the" citrus growers forum" but it transitioned to the tropical fruit growers forum.........I learnt a lot from that man.
I would argue that a high urea spray wouldn't encourage blooms, but rather encourage leafy green growth and the greening of foliage. That's certainly not a bad thing to "green up" the plant if it's a little on the yellow side, but promoting too much leafy green growth may actually adversely affect blooming. You may be telling the plant to place more energy into leafy growth at the expense of fruiting since plants only have "so much energy" to go around. I tend to not give a lot of nitrogen unless the plant is starting to lose its nice green color.
@@TheMillennialGardener Logic would make you think that but thats a tip from Millet on the "Tropical fruit growers forum"...in fact its quite well known for doing that....check it out...plus i have done it every year as well and i wouldnt tell lies.........one other thing to consider......what do all these fruits themselves have in common = strawberries....blueberries....tomatos....cucumber(yes its a fruit)...avocado...citrus...bananas ....kiwifruit?...they are all high in potassium......so it stand to reason they would have a high need for that nutrient to reach full ripeness.....none of these fruits contain a high amount of Phosphorous......imho you are getting your results from the urea ......i know citrus roots absorb npk 5.1.3 but i dont know about the stomata in the leaves....Foliar feeding has its place...particularly to supply trace elements ..esp in winter when roots are not very active.....but you have nothing to lose by trying what i suggest a month to 6 weeks out from spring or going on that forum and asking millet because he has far more experience and expertise than either of us ! p.s Nitrogen is the most important nutrient along with MG and iron for citrus.......if it doesnt get enough you will get stunted growth and fruits wont reach their max potential......its esp important its available at the roots ready for spring burst...which is what i am having now and some of my trees are going nuts...a few others are just waking up with buds....UREA is the bees knees for citrus but unfortunately......that is what the citrus leafminer look for when they appear when the weather warms up......thats candy to them....that what they seek and thats why its bad to feed them much of that in autumn burst.(thats in aussie anyway).....i can vouch for the foliar feed with high urea....ive done it and it works a treat and no doubt its good for young leaves as well....all the best....go and say hi to millet......that guys a wealth of knowledge all things citrus..........just tell him "Laidbackdood" sent you.
I also have a nice fig tree that a relative gave me last year but have no idea what kind it is. It was just a stalk but is gorgeous now and has about 25 figs. How do find out what kind it is?
There are tens of thousands of different figs out there, so if you cannot be certain of the origin, it's not possible to tell what the fig is with certainty, unfortunately. But if it's doing well and you enjoy it, that's all that matters!
@@TheMillennialGardener you're right! Can't wait to taste these in Sept
Thanks you for share this videoi like fruits
Hope I will Try
Thanks for watching!
Great info thank you
Thanks for watching!
An experiment without a control group is not an experiment at all. I love your channel and use your fertilizer program for my figs, it works great. However what you presented in this video is still purely anecdotal. Maybe 3 groups using fig cuttings, say RdB. Have to use more than one cutting in each group to account for variability of individual cuttings.
Group 1 has three cutting that get compost and organic fertilizer only. Group 2 has three cuttings that get balanced NPK. Group 3 has three cuttings that get bloom booster.
Compare growth in height and number of figs harvested. Might even be a two year experiment since fruit production in first year is more variable than subsequent years.
I would agree with you in most instances, except the following:
1. It's not possible to have a true controlled experiment in a backyard garden, because there are so many variables that cannot be properly controlled. No matter what I do in this environment, it can be picked apart by naysayers.
2. When a 1 year old tree that has never blossomed immediately bursts out into blooms 8 days after being fed a large dose of high-P fertilizer, it becomes obvious enough that a control group isn't needed. If you punch someone in the arm and the person screams, "OUCH!", you don't need a second person nearby not getting punched to be certain that it hurt.
I don't think figs are realistic controls, because individual cuttings can vary so much in performance. Seedlings, I think, would be better candidates, but running an experiment like that would take, literally, a year. It's too late in the season to design an experiment like that, unfortunately, so we work with what we have available. I may be able to trial on my container citrus next season, or some type of seedling, but it needs to happen in the spring at this point.
@@TheMillennialGardener I agree with you that there are many variables, including the skill of the gardener. I don’t think it’s surprising that you have blossoms on a 1 year old tree. You’ve got one heck of a green thumb. You prepare the soil. Those blossoms could have been there whether you fertilized or not.
To design an experiment you control as many variables as you can, and use a large enough sample size to blunt the impact of individual differences. It would be a large undertaking and require 1-2 years to get results. But unfortunately that is what is required. I’m surprised larger fertilizer companies haven’t done large scale studies like these, they have the money and potentially gain from positive results.