Is there any difference in effectiveness between different NPK sources?

Phillybonker

Phillybonker

Well-Known Member
Take Fish & bone meal VS blood & bone meal, does a plant really care which one it gets it's NPK from?, is one better than the other? Maybe it is that one has more micronutrients or something else that gives it an edge?

Is it possible one source of NPK makes buds more potent than other sources of NPK?

Would a $55 dollar bag of Peruvian seabird guano (13-11-0) do better than a $36 dollar bag of blood & bone (10-4-0.2)?
 
Great questions @Phillybonker , unfortunatley I cannot be helpful to them. What I do for my outdoor garden is add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in their raw form, which is in grandules mixed with their base food, which in my case is Mega Crop.
See attached food chart.

Plant food chart.jpg
 
Phillybonker said:
Take Fish & bone meal VS blood & bone meal, does a plant really care which one it gets it's NPK from?, is one better than the other? Maybe it is that one has more micronutrients or something else that gives it an edge?

Is it possible one source of NPK makes buds more potent than other sources of NPK?

Would a $55 dollar bag of Peruvian seabird guano (13-11-0) do better than a $36 dollar bag of blood & bone (10-4-0.2)?
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That is a really interesting question. The NPK is just a listing of the percentages of 3 macro nutrients that are in the bottle, bag or box of fertilizer. When the plant takes in any of the nutrients it is just the bare nutrient and what the element was found in means nothing to the plant.If the plant gets enough of the nutrients needed it will grow and flower whether those nutrients are man-made from some rock mineral or were in a bag of guano.

I am starting to look at the percentages for the elements that are water-soluble and that are water-insoluble.Sometimes the back of the package includes what other elements or nutrients are available. Often they are not listed on the front so there is more to look for and it is not always listed on the back of the package.
 
SmokingWings said:
That is a really interesting question. The NPK is just a listing of the percentages of 3 macro nutrients that are in the bottle, bag or box of fertilizer. When the plant takes in any of the nutrients it is just the bare nutrient and what the element was found in means nothing to the plant.If the plant gets enough of the nutrients needed it will grow and flower whether those nutrients are man-made from some rock mineral or were in a bag of guano.

I am starting to look at the percentages for the elements that are water-soluble and that are water-insoluble.Somethine the back of the package includes what other elements or nutrients are available. Often they are not listed on the front so there is more to look for and it is not always listed on the back of the package.
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I ask the question because I spent a ton of money on nutrients on my last grow which was a complete disaster for reasons outside of my control, but anyway I purchased all these fancy NPK nutrients online then started wondering what is stopping me from driving down the road and grabbing a bag of blood & bone and some potash from the local and there is my NPK sorted for cheap. But I thought I better ask here first because I'd rather pay more for nutrients if that results in more potent buds, but if it doesn't then I'm just pouring money down the drain for the same results.

My mate who has been growing for about 8 years said he once used only fish remains and sea urchin remains and he said the buds were the most skunkiest buds he's ever grown, although as you know a lot of other factors could come into play to end up with those results. But that story is another reason I ask these questions.
 
Phillybonker said:
Take Fish & bone meal VS blood & bone meal, does a plant really care which one it gets it's NPK from?, is one better than the other? Maybe it is that one has more micronutrients or something else that gives it an edge?

Is it possible one source of NPK makes buds more potent than other sources of NPK?

Would a $55 dollar bag of Peruvian seabird guano (13-11-0) do better than a $36 dollar bag of blood & bone (10-4-0.2)?
Click to expand...

The differences are in how much of the nutrient is immediately available to the plant and how long it takes to breakdown in the soil so that it is available. Also some things will break down on their own and with the microbes included in them, and some will require extra microbes to process the nutrient. Your NPK number tells you about the immediate bio available part of what is in there, but doesn't address the potential nutrient value over time and in cooperation with microbes or humic acid to get it to a usable point. In your examples, blood meal is a very strong fast release N source, easily able to burn the plants. Ground up fish has lots of potential nutrients of many kinds in it, and is more of a slow release of nutrients as the fish rots in the soil. Each type of nutrient has specific recommendations for its use, based on all of these things and no single source can be considered to be "better" than any other... its all in how you use them.
 
Emilya Green said:
The differences are in how much of the nutrient is immediately available to the plant and how long it takes to breakdown in the soil so that it is available. Also some things will break down on their own and with the microbes included in them, and some will require extra microbes to process the nutrient. Your NPK number tells you about the immediate bio available part of what is in there, but doesn't address the potential nutrient value over time and in cooperation with microbes or humic acid to get it to a usable point. In your examples, blood meal is a very strong fast release N source, easily able to burn the plants. Ground up fish has lots of potential nutrients of many kinds in it, and is more of a slow release of nutrients as the fish rots in the soil. Each type of nutrient has specific recommendations for its use, based on all of these things and no single source can be considered to be "better" than any other... its all in how you use them.
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Thanks for your input, you make some good points especially about blood meal being fast release N and fish having other potential nutrients in it.
 
Phillybonker said:
Thanks for your input, you make some good points especially about blood meal being fast release N and fish having other potential nutrients in it.
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Probably not available in your corner of the world but we have a line of organic based fertilizer blends from Roots Organic. Their popular Terp Tea Grow and Terp Tea Bloom both are fish based and the two smell like it. The compay seems to be pulling various nutrients from the fish carcasses because of the way they do the processing.
 
SmokingWings said:
Probably not available in your corner of the world but we have a line of organic based fertilizer blends from Roots Organic. Their popular Terp Tea Grow and Terp Tea Bloom both are fish based and the two smell like it. The compay seems to be pulling various nutrients from the fish carcasses because of the way they do the processing.
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I've heard of Roots Organic from watching YouTube grow videos but your right we don't have it over here unfortunately but that is what I'd be using if we did.
 
Phillybonker said:
I've heard of Roots Organic from watching YouTube grow videos but your right we don't have it over here unfortunately but that is what I'd be using if we did.
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Forgot to ask earlier but do you have a target date for your spring planting? Late October or early November or something like that?
 
Hey Philly,

Feel free to check out what I use... my custom soil mix... link in my signature.

The only animal-based products I use are bat and seabird guano. I use fresh worm compost, so my mix is very biologically activated.
 
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