DynaGro's 9-3-6 is the product most preferred by container gardeners on these forums. It is one of very few liquid concentrate fertilizers that includes a full range of micronutrients and trace elements, including Ca, which is frequently lacking in other liquid ferts.

Equally as effective on inground plantings.

Why are you sold on a high N product?

I've been using and recommending Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 as THE go to fertilizer for just about ANYTHING you might grow in a container. It it is one of the few products that doesn't need to be hyped and it does what it's supposed to. The average plant uses about 16% as much P as N, and about 62% as much K as N. That is what FP provides with a small adjustment to favor N because it is the easiest nutrient to be leeched from the grow medium. As Pam noted, it has ALL nutrients essential to normal growth, and it derives more than 2/3 of it's nitrogen from nitrate sources, which helps you avoid ammonium toxicity (very common, seldom diagnosed) and helps keep plants full/compact.

I think it would be quite difficult to present a supportable claim that something else might be better. There are a few out there that might be near equals (like MSU's orchid fertilizers), but it really is a premium product that delivers.

Al

Gardengal and tapla: Sorry for writing back so late. Gardening season has begun with a vengeance and I am bogged down. Needless to say, I have way too many plants!

I am familiar with Dyna Gro and have Foliage Pro. I use it mainly for my indoor plants. I hadn't thought about that fact that it is high nitrogen.

"Why are you sold on a high N product?" I was told by a long time, well known hosta grower that if I use a high nitrogen fertilizer (with mag. and calcium) a couple of times in early spring, my hosta will have bigger leaves. I was told to find a high nitrogen fertilizer like a tomato fertilizer. But products seem to have changed and I have not been able to find a decent tomato fertilizer that is water soluable.

I like the idea of using Foliage Pro. One less product to buy, since I already have it!

I have always wondered about the dosage though and what the maintenance dose really means. I wonder if I should be using a more concentrated dose for perennials? I find the recommended dosage on the bottle unclear (to me anyways).

Newhostalady, are you going to apply it as foliar drench?

Other than those I grow containers I don't think I've ever fertilized a hosta in my life! or most any other inground planted perennial and rarely ever with shrubs or trees. If you have reasonably fertile soil, they simply do not need it. But I do mulch with compost on a pretty routine basis so any required nutrients are consistently being replenished and should be readily available.

Compost is way cheaper than using Foliage Pro 😁 I save that for my collection of containerized plants!

For hostas, i've always used Milorganite. I don't think it has the cal-mag, but it's high nitrogen, inexpensive, and bunnies dislike it.

If the plants are in the ground and you want a high N fertilizer, you can just use what you might use on the lawn, like 33-0-3, 27-0-3 , 33-3-3, 27-3-3 ..... something along those lines. It makes more sense to use that because A) it's much less expensive, and B) nitrogen is most commonly the nutrient most likely to be deficient in landscapes. Containers are different. There, Foliage-Pro will serve very well as your 'go to' nutrient source and it contains appropriate levels of Ca and Mg. If you actually NEED calcium and magnesium for the mineral soil in the garden/beds, dolomitic (garden) lime would be most appropriate, but applying it if it's not needed can prove to be as limiting as a deficiency.

It's highly doubtful that hostas would benefit from foliar applications of nutrients; and, if it happened to make an improvement, the improvement should be taken as an indication something is wrong insofar as how you're supplementing nutrition. 3 reasons for that are 1) roots are by far the primary pathway by which nutrients enter the plant, and 2) foliar feeding is usually only useful in agricultural production and only then on plants that can actually absorb nutrients provided to foliage well enough to make it worthwhile, and 3) foliar applications are usually limited to a few specific nutrients that enter the plant more readily because of the size of their molecules and the whether or not they are positively or negatively charged. More info in this PDF File Addressing Foliag Feeding.

Al

Lindalana, yes I was going to use it as a foliar drench, along with adding it to the potting mix for my pots. But for my garden, I would only be using it as a foliar drench. I am tired of fertilizing all my trees and having them invade the root systems of my garden plants.

Gardengal, I think I am of the mindset that the garden needs to be fertilized. But I know that is not true. I do like using a sheep/cow manure on the garden. That way I can improve the soil also. I can't make my own compost. No room for a composter. The only think I do now is keep some shredded maple leaves in a garbage can. But it takes two years it get it to turn into compost. That's too long since I don't really have the space for it.

Popmama, milorganite sounds good, but it not available here in Canada.

Al, I will check with my husband as to whether we have lawn fertilizer similar to what you suggest. I understand that garden plants and plants in containers require different approaches. So I will use the Foliage Pro for the container plants a couple of times to provide the nitrogen they might need.

Is it possible though, Al, that if I apply foliar applications of nutrients, and it happened to make an improvement, the improvement may not indicate something is wrong? My city backyard has two huge sugar maples trees on it. Along with that is a cedar hedge. The trees and that hedge have so many surface roots. I have dug up many a plant and untangled all of the roots within it. I thought a foliar spray would allow nutrients to enter just the plant not the tree roots. But then again, I see from the link, that foliar spraying may be helpful only in a limited way.

Very interesting hostamaker! I'm not sure I understand your potting media though. The bottom of a pot has some kind of chicken manure with wood shavings; pine bark for the middle layer (what size?) and the top is a potting media? What size pot are you using? Interesting that you are successful using the tomato fertilizer.

Is it possible though, Al, that if I apply foliar applications of nutrients, and it happened to make an improvement, the improvement may not indicate something is wrong? By far, the most efficient pathway by which nutrients enter terrestrial plants is via the root system. If you use a fertilizer on foliage and it makes a conspicuous difference, it's a very good indication the is either an actual or a cultural deficiency in the grow medium, whether that might be in a pot or in the landscape. The best way to resolve the deficiency is by making sure all nutrients are appropriately represented in the pot/ garden/ beds/ field. As noted in the link you looked over, how effective a foliar application CAN be depends on the plant species and what nutrients are applied. For example, some plants are nearly entirely incapable of absorbing nutrients through the leaf cuticle, and several nutrients like calcium and most of the micronutrients are considered immobile in the plant; so, if there is a calcium deficiency it is a "whole plant deficiency" meaning that all tissues are affected. A foliar application of calcium might remedy a calcium deficiency locally in the leaf, but it won't have any effect on roots or other areas where calcium will remain deficient because of its immobility. Ca that is absorbed via the roots enters the nutrient stream and reaches all parts of the plant. The same is true of most of the micronutrients.

Al

Foliar feed has been controversial topic for a while.

I do apply foliar feeds and compost teas to entire garden when I can but mostly reserve it for my veggies. Best results are when plant recently transplanted and does not have good established roots, sometime it also happens because some lack of balance in soil or temps ties up certain nutrients.

I follow Smiling Gardener protocol and calculations, he has blog under his name. Have been very pleased with results.

OK Al, I'm getting the message. I am understanding that the plant takes in a majority of their nutrients through their roots and that foliar feeding may be of benefit to some plants---probably not hosta! So if I think my plants are not doing as well as expected, then I need to address the real issue---which may be a deficiency in the soil. (One thing I do think is that my tree roots suck the life out of my garden plants. It may be that my soil is deficient in many nutrients? or maybe just a high nitrogen fertilizer may be helpful.)

I guess I had hoped that a foliar feeding would give my perennials a boost to produce a healthier and more attractive plant (both in containers and in the garden). But now I won't do it with the information you have provided. I don't want to waste my time or money!

Lindalana, sounds like foliar feeding may be beneficial to veggie gardens. I don't have enough sun to grow any veggies, unfortunately. I did look up the Smiling Gardener. It looks as though they are an information source for those with a vegetable garden.

I remeber people doing quite well with pot in pot type of planting in difficult areas where tree roots might be a problem. You do have to dig deep.