As you know, Nutricote and Dynamite are the same thing. Nutricote's been used for a few decades by the large agricultural interests. Except: Florikan figured that by re-branding it, they could get folks to pay $7-8 for 2lbs instead of $52 for 80lbs - and you don't have to have minimum order quantities of 5-6 bags just to get them to deliver. Not everyone's got an orchard...the new marketing seems to be working, too.
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Folks might find this interesting:
Influence of Temperature and Time on Nutrient Release Patterns of Osmocote Plus™, Nutricote™, and Polyon™ Controlled-Release Fertilizers (PDF)
(
Two experiments:
1) CRF's suspended in water at 40C (104F) for several weeks; and
2) Impact of Columnar Leaching in short-term diurnal temperature fluctuations (i.e. 'night' and 'day')
You're gonna want to read that one for yourselves, guys. It pertains to YOU! (Yes, I'm makin' ya do some work...)
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Also:
Effects of temperature on nutrient release from slow-release fertilizers:
At 21°C the rate of release was significantly different than the other two temperatures...Except for Osmocote® and Duna, which released 30–40% of the applied N as mineral-N within six weeks...
(go read the rest)
and:
OSMOCOTE Notes:
WARNINGS
Soil mixtures containing Osmocote should not be stored longer than 7-10 days depending on temperatures without leaching prior to use. Osmocote should be applied after steam sterilising.
Avoid the risk of fertiliser burn in hot weather by maintaining pot moisture levels.
Do not dibble red (3-4 months) products or Osmocote Nursery Mix.
CHOOSING THE CORRECT OSMOCOTE FORMULATION
To ensure economical and accurate application of Scotts controlled release fertiliser, individual products are labelled according to NPK analysis and standard longevity. This standard release time is based upon an average soil temperature of 21°C. Warmer temperatures will shorten, while cooler temperatures will lengthen the stated longevity. In these circumstances you may need to compensate by choosing an Osmocote formulation with either a shorter or longer standard longevity.
Sounds consistent with what
Irish was seeing. Water 'em and they perk back up - water more often (but less each time instead of 'binge drinking'), and they seem happier.
I'm sure the same rules re:
concentration apply here as they do with a hydro res: go from a 6 gal full res down to ~1-2 gal, and you'll start seeing toxicity/salt issues. Looks like ya
need to keep the medium moist -
especially if you're applying all the CRF to the pots at the start of the season.
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Orchids are a bit finicky sometimes, too; to wit, these folks say within:
The Orchid Fertilizer Bible:
The backbone of our nutritional program is Nutricote Total 13-13-13 with minors, 6 month formula. Never heard of it? It's sold as Dynamite at Home Depot. The one for orchids is in the red canister. We, and many other growers, have used this successfully for years with excellent results.
Nutricote or Dynamite is the very best timed-release fertilizer because the nutrients are gradually and consistently made available to the orchids. Other "slow release" fertilizers can dump more salts with increased temperatures and water. This dumping results in severe root and leaf damage. Nutricote or Dynamite will not cause this problem if you follow label directions.
Smaller doses on a regular basis produce more consistent growth and healthier plants.
Smaller meals instead of one big one, huh? Works for me. Takes away a bit from the 'just add water' simplicity, but if it's for a good cause - might be worth doing a
little bit o' actual work to grow these plants, eh?
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Some comments from users of
OC/DC (warmer climate users, mostly) over on
Gardensweb; can't link to them directly from here of course:
"I personally dont recommend osmocote due to its release action. I recommend Dynamite/Nutricote. The difference is that Osmocote is temperature release and Dynamite/Nutricote is chemical release. The difference is that Osmocote will just sit there no matter how much you water it if the temperature is cool, once the temperature is above 80 F it starts to slowly release. Although if the temperatures get 90 or above, it all disperses at once, over fertilizing your plants and then there is no more left to fertilize later on.
However, Dynamite/Nutricote is a chemical release fertilizer. What that does is every time there is water and moisture that is surrounding the fertilizer capsule, it slowly releases into the soil.
But if you only have Osmocote a balanced fert would be my bet."
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"Dynamite is actually a commercial product that is called Nutricote. The benefit to it is that it doesn't release nutrients until the soil temperature is 70 degrees or over, so it's not just washed out of the soil in cooler weather. I've used it for years, and quite prefer it to Osmocote."
"Nutricote IS better because it releases by temperature where Osmocote, works through Osmosis and can release too much fertilizer at one time when we have 4 inch rains and is more inconsistant for us in the rainy Florida times."
"When I belonged to the Orchid Society, they used to say that the Nutricote/Dynamite fertilizer is better because the Osmacote capsules explode after a while which releases too much fertilizer to delicate plants. That's why I have switched. I prefer the balanced formulation for most plants and I use the high nitrogen formulation for foliage plants only."
"I also use Dynamite...they do make a dynamite slow release specifically for Citrus and Palms, couldn't find it in my area, so I called Florikan Co. who makes Dynamite and was told they didn't sell it here, but Lowe's carries it, in Lowe's private brand(Garden Club Select), Florikan assures me it is the identical product...I purchased it from Lowe's and posted the picture so you know what to look for if you are interested, its under $7, at my lowe's. If you look at the bottom of the container you will see "Florikan"."
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Lowe's carries it in their stores, but previously did not list it on their website; now they do:
Lowe's Garden Club Select (4 Formulations)
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More info about greater release of OC ferts in high temps, esp. Nitrogen:
Release of nitrogen from two controlled release fertilizers (Osmocote Plus and Osmocote Exact)
From samples taken during the cultivation period the release of ammonium and nitrate was calculated as the difference between initial and final amount of ammonium and nitrate. Release of ammonium from the controlled release fertilizers was much faster than the release of nitrate in both fertilizers. The release of total nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) from Osmocote Plus ® could be related to the sum of air temperature calculated from the time of transplanting, independently of growing period and cultivars.
That seems to reiterate/reinforce some of the above comments from people here.
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Now, all that really tells me at this time is that if you're:
1) Growing in a Controlled, Conditioned (HVAC) Environment (i.e. Living Spaces):
* You have a wider range of options with regards to which CRFs/TRFs to use, when (how often), and at what time of the year (temperature/seasonal)
2) If you're Growing in an Unconditioned Area (Non-Living Spaces) (crawlspace, garages, unfinished basements, attics, sheds, etc.):
* You want to take into account overall plant growth factors (Q-10, etc.) as well as nutrient release factors -
which you should be doing anyway.
Same applies whether you're using LEDs vs HIDs, and all the rest. Don't blame the preparation (or lack of) or necessity for using a particular growspace for the results you get. Everyone works within their own budget, security concerns, and living arrangements.
We all make do with what we've got.
And,
good information backed by personal experience is the
best foundation from which to make
any decision.
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I've usually had the luxury of growing in conditioned air spaces myself when indoors, so I'd leave my options open if using CRFs in the future.
Plenty of folks (esp. in temperate climates) over the years have been using various formulations of OC in their gardens with great results.
Got kids, or antsy spouses, or nosy neighbors/landlords and draconian state laws?...then you also have fewer options, and your considerations will have to change accordingly.
Everyone's goal
should be to grow in as conditioned and controllable a space as we possibly can (
indoors, that is -
legislatively, we want to do away with the necessity, of course) - if you have one, than kudos to you! Hard work, knowledge - and a little capital expenditure - will always pay off for you in the end...
shit, stop! 
