Michelle
I don't know. They say horse poop is suppose to be good for rose bushes so why wouldn't bunny poop be good for hoyas?

I would give it a try with maybe just one hoya and see what happens..

Maybe someone else here on GW has tried it before and will have a comment.

shanna

Rabbit droppings are excellent for all sorts of plants, why not hoyas? They are also unique since they do not heat up like other animals' manure so they can be used right away. We used to grow strawberries right under the rabbit hutch, when I was a child. Those berries were the sweetest and largest berries you could ever want. We'd also raise our fishing worms in the manure.

Thanks for the feedback Shanna and Mentha! I suppose I have to bury the poop UNDER the plant, right, not just lay it on top of the soil.

Does anyone want some bunny poop for their hoyas? LOL!!

Wouldn't it be overkill since you're already using 2 fertilizers on it? I don't know what if any damage it could cause, it just seems like rather a lot to me. I fit were mine I don't think I'd do it. Is it that you're trying to push for blooms?

Karen's right - I'd probably elminate regular fertilizers if you start using it. Maybe every now and then give it a bloom booster, but otherwise, I'd stop the other fertilizers. I don't think adding the bunny poop will hurt anything, but you can push plants too hard. That's why I pretty much only use VF-11 with an occassional bloom boost. Fertilizers tend to cause salt buildup, which can be deadly for plants...

Denise in Omaha

What NPK ratio do bloom boosters have? I keep meaning to ask. I think my plants are growing too much and not flowering enough!
Thanks, Hills

Hills,

Bloom boosters always have a higher middle number. I have 2, and one has something like 10-30-10, and the other has a whopping 10-50-10.

I use Eleanor's with every watering, and then I'll throw in some bloom booster once or twice in the summer (if I remember!).

Gabi

OK - I should clarify that I do NOT use BOTH the african violet and the miracle grow fertilizers at the same time! I use one or the other (lately just the african violet fertilizer!) at the "every-watering" ratio and I use it once a week (my plants are watered twice a week, with the other watering being plain water with H2O2). I realize I did make it sound like I water with both fertilizers! Sorry about that!

And...would the bunny poop act as a "fertilizer" anyway, technically, or more like "organic matter?"

Hi Hills,

Gabi's right re: the fertilizer numbers she gave above. What I have is similar & from what I've noticed, Bloom Busters tends to have a middle # 2 or even 3 times the other 2 #s.

I've got a Balanced Peters (20-20-20), some old Miracle Grow which while not specifying balanced or bloom buster reads 15-30-15 & finally my most recent Shultz Expert Bloom Plus which reads an impressive 10-60-10.

As Gabi & Denise above, I too use Eleanors (VF-11) alone (as recommended) but am thinking of giving the Hoyas a shot of Bloom Buster.

Michelle,

Good you clarified, but I still think it's too much, either do fertilizer or Bloom Buster, I wouldn't do both; it might burn the plants.

I think the Bunny poop would be more like fertilizer rather than just organic as it'd be (excuse me) undilute, too concentrated. Diluting that is not something I'd wish to be involved in. Yrs. ago, when i first got involved w/ plant societies (more than 10 yrs. ago) I got some worm castings (earthworm poop), fabulous, the houseplants loved it, but it was used sparingly as it's concentrated.

I'm trying to imagine in the wild what kind of fertilizer the Hoyas would get naturally: am guessing bird droppings &/or bat guano, both likely diluted by fast draining soils (if any, since these plants grow up into the canopy, not down in the dirt) & rains washing everything away quickly.

I sure wouldn't go w/ weakly, weekly as is often recommended for Orchids (tho' I haven't really seen that recommended for AVs). Interesting ideas & question.

I really don't think you'd need another fertilizer with use of rabbit droppings. You may need a flowering fert every once in a while, but not often. Rabbit droppings would cause more leafy growth than flowers though, since alfalfa and other legumes are the primary ingredients in rabbit food. I use tomato fertilizers sometimes when I want quick blooms, the higher acid content is good for most C&S and hoyas also. You can top dress with the droppings or mix it in the soil, either way is fine. I would remove them once they got white though, this indicates that the nutrients are all but used up.

Most of the 20-50-20 types of fertilizers are formulated tointo stress plants into blooming. I have used a 2-7-5 bloom fertilizer or something similar, it seems plenty for most plants. I use Eleanor's mostly because I don't have rabbits anymore but I did use it for all sorts of plants with success.

Hi all, no one said anything about the smell..I had rabbits along time ago...the poop smells...or are you letting it rot and then use it??? and yes its a fertilizer, and to much fresh will burn the plants, if its rotted that would be the best way to use it...I grew up on a farm and worked at a garden center, and the rotted (cow poop) is what is sold at garden centers and I don't know why but poop from sheep is the best... I thought I would throw that in, you can throw it out if you'd like..:)...linda

WOW! Thanks so much to all of you for the great responses!

Emerald - I have never found the bunny poop to smell...the URINE on the other hand...Whew! Although I think a lot of that can be reduced if you have - as we have - spayed and neutered rabbits. I think - if I understand correctly - that it is something (pheromones?) in the male urine that is so stinky!

So, a step back to the Farmers Alminac... blah, blah, blah.
(I HAVE to wipe that OUT of my volcabulary, it is becoming an 'annoying' thing I say...)

I'm not going to dig the book out and copy from it, but 'Urea' in any form is higher in concentrates and minerals than most anything else. Also stench.

Having hauled things from home, bunny, horse, chicken, sheep, horse, fowl, ect. Bunny is one of those things you can regard as to 'coming out of a bag from the store'. It will be the 'softest and least "hot" ' fertilizer you will EVER use. I spent a summer cleaning up underneath the hutches and hauling it to the 'perinial bed' and tilling it straight in.

I would have No Worries with adding straight 'bunny pellets' to each and every pot of hoyas I grow. Sounds good, too bad I'm very allergic! I've got chickens but I'd rather have buns stacked up left and right if they didn't send me sneezing for HOURS!

I also would start a chart, and make SURE I knew just when the last time I fed, pelleted, boosted and ect! was. I grow mostly cactus & succulents. They don't WANT ferts, but minerals and bad treatment...

What works for you is good.
If you feed a plant to lush, great, good health, and it is fatter and not challenged like it would be in it's natural environment it will suffer from excess growth, insect attack, and foliar distortions.
All a sign of Too Much Good Stuff.

Find what works for your climate and situation.
TAKE NOTES.
Stick with it.
Never change more than two things at a time. (For what seems like ForEver once again. Plants grow at Plant Rates, not at Human Expectation Rates. Give a plant time to adapt to your 'plan' for them, and make sure you give them a chance to participate!)
Be patient on a Plant Growth Timeline. (What seems like 'forfreakinever' for you really is eons/decades/centuries in a plants life cycle.)
Ask A LOT of questions. (Write down the answers that you get!!!)

Cena,

You make me laugh!! I got this really clear image of you picking up the bunny "droppings" (as you so eloquently put it!) while sneezing your butt off! LOLLLLL! You're a RIOT!!! I love a good laugh!... But I just wanted to say that you nailed it all on the head.

Denise in Omaha

Cena,
I can imagine doing such a Lucyish antic, myself. I've stuffed many a things in my trunk, driving over fifty miles to do so more often than not. I agree rabbit droppings do not get hot and can be used straight away. I like how you put it, "coming out of the bag from the store." That pretty much sums it up. If anyone has access to llama or alpaca poo, it's even better than rabbit, which is very hard to beat.

I have researched this when we had bunnies! Bunny poop can go directly into the garden-no need to compost it first, as it is mild and won’t hurt the growing plants. All bunnies eat are veggies, so their poop is very clean and does not smell very bad like most types of manure. Just dig a small trench and bury it alongside your growing rows of plants and they will decompose and nourish your plants.