Coffee/Ammonia Fertilizer

Victrinia Ensor said:
"Zinc is not mobile in plants so zinc-deficiency symptoms occur mainly in new growth. Poor mobility in plants suggests the need for a constant supply of available zinc for optimum growth. The most visible zinc deficiency symptoms are short internodes and a decrease in leaf size."

Hello McFly....!!! You are fighting what you are trying to create! lol (grinning from ear to ear) :D :D :D

I will now never intentionally feed zinc...lol

Thanks for clearing that up for me. :D:cool:

Yours mostly kindly and in amusement,

Victrinia
Click to expand...

Well, while zinc deficiency creates short internodes and small leaves, it also has a number of other undesirable effects, such as stress and reduced vigor. So I wouldn't say it's a good idea to try creating a deficiency artificially just for those effects. However, that's not to say I'd suggest everyone go out right now and buy zinc for their fertilizer either. Most plants don't need much zinc and there's a little bit in most of what's used in soil. As a result, most plants are not zinc deficient.
 
Dear one... you know I'm just messin' with you right?? :D

I just thought it was funny when I read that in your reference... :cool:

V
 
Smoke, I know aspirin (Salicylic acid) has been used for some time to 'boost' plants resistance to disease, as it supposedly is used by the plant normally as a trigger to activate its immune system.
I have used it on tomatoes (spotty success) in an attempt to fight fungul infections.

I don't think there is any nutritional value.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031209080025.htm
 
Mojosan said:
Smoke, I know aspirin (Salicylic acid) has been used for some time to 'boost' plants resistance to disease, as it supposedly is used by the plant normally as a trigger to activate its immune system.
I have used it on tomatoes (spotty success) in an attempt to fight fungul infections.

I don't think there is any nutritional value.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031209080025.htm
Click to expand...
Well shyt, so much for getting the benefit of asprin whilst eating a tomatoe!
 
I don't get it, you can get a year's worth of good fertilizer that has all the trace elements in it for $5. I don't understand why you go to so much trouble for uncertain results, when for pocket change you can buy proper fertilizer. Is it the engineer in you ?
 
davetree said:
I don't get it, you can get a year's worth of good fertilizer that has all the trace elements in it for $5. I don't understand why you go to so much trouble for uncertain results, when for pocket change you can buy proper fertilizer. Is it the engineer in you ?
Click to expand...

I'm not strictly opposed to buying fertilizer. I've bought it before and I'm sure I will again.

But what I've done and described here hasn't really been all that much trouble for me either and it baffles me why anyone here would challenge it on that basis. I go to the kitchen sink with a gallon jug, empty some of the leftover coffee from the pot (which is right next to the sink in our kitchen) into it. Then I get the ammonia from the cabinet under our sink and pour a little into the jug. I then proceed to fill it with water, just as I would anyway if I were watering my plants. This isn't exactly difficult to do. Nor is it rocket science. I may in the future decide to measure the quantities I add, but I haven't found that to be necessary so far since I lean toward giving a weaker dose more often.

If I bought fertilizer, I'd still probably have to mix it with water. If it's a solid or a powder, I'd probably even have to stir it until it's dissolved. That alone would make it at least as much work as what I'm already doing.
 
I do not get it either. It is not the work involved but the uncertainty in ratios, quantity, etc. I cannot understand an engineer who measures by the units "some" or "a little". There is no way I would risk this kind of chemicals on my trees - but more power to you.

Frank
 
Smoke said:
I've used aspirin for rooting hormone but not as fertilzer. Might you expound a little on this revelation?
Click to expand...

It's acetylsalicylic acid that gives a "shot-in-the-arm". It has the positive benefit of boosting resistance to fungal issues and certian diseases. It's not a substitute for proper care and it's certainly no fertilizer. As for rooting, have you ever tried a honey and water mix? Works well just dilute it enough to keep it from crystalizing.
 
FrankP999 said:
I do not get it either. It is not the work involved but the uncertainty in ratios, quantity, etc. I cannot understand an engineer who measures by the units "some" or "a little". There is no way I would risk this kind of chemicals on my trees - but more power to you.

Frank
Click to expand...

davetree said:
I don't mean the labor, but the uncertainty. The guesswork.
Click to expand...

Let me try to put this in perspective by asking both of you something. When the two of you are eating, do you both measure out and eat some exact quantity of every single nutrient your body needs without allowing yourselves to get more or less of anything than some scientifically-determined perfect amount?
 
Last edited:
Well, fertilizing trees is not rocket science. They need NPK and trace elements. Period.

Dave G.'s method isn't rocket science, either. It's alchemy. There's nothing in brewed coffee (except unnecessary alkali) that a plant can use, tho earthworls love coffee grounds. As for the ammonia, you might just as well pee in the pot.

Dave can do as he will with his trees. For the rest of us, I think it would be reckless. My recommendation to all would be to buy a standard houseplant, more or less balanced, fertilizer and apply it in accordance with the instructions on the package. You will get sufficient NPK and micronutrients, and your plants will be very pleased with you.
 
Unless you test your soil it's all a crap shoot, and with todays typical mix, i'm not sure it's testable perse. At least with a box mix you know what you are getting, and again using a boxed mix you still need to know what your trees need. What do the directions on a fertilizer box say to use for coverage in bonsai soil????:D

Remember that with bonsai the idea is to work with really healthy trees so the torture doesn't leave them too weak to recover.
 
jkl said:
Well, fertilizing trees is not rocket science. They need NPK and trace elements. Period.

Dave G.'s method isn't rocket science, either. It's alchemy. There's nothing in brewed coffee (except unnecessary alkali) that a plant can use, tho earthworls love coffee grounds. As for the ammonia, you might just as well pee in the pot.

Dave can do as he will with his trees. For the rest of us, I think it would be reckless. My recommendation to all would be to buy a standard houseplant, more or less balanced, fertilizer and apply it in accordance with the instructions on the package. You will get sufficient NPK and micronutrients, and your plants will be very pleased with you.
Click to expand...

Really? Alchemy?

As for your claim about nothing in brewed coffee being useful to plants, where exactly are you getting your information? Share a valid source that's intended to be more than simple nutritional information and maybe I'll respond as if you're sharing sense with all of us.

The way half of you here act it's like I'm performing dark wizardry or something, just because I'm not doing exactly what everyone else does. A bright idea would be to suggest that I perform an experiment where I start with two groups of the same kind of plants, giving one group my coffee/ammonia mix and the other store-bought fertilizer. This suggestion would have made quite a lot of sense.

I never recommended that everyone here do exactly what I'm doing. But experimenting with fertilizer could be one way to learn our own plants better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Cruiser
Morning coffee: An observation of particle size, consistency, and drainage
Replies
6
Views
1K
Cruiser
Cruiser
vancehanna
Early morning coffee
Replies
3
Views
1K
vancehanna
vancehanna
NamesakE
Coffee filters a substitute for tea bags. Seems to be working
Replies
0
Views
632
NamesakE
NamesakE
S
coffee bonsai
Replies
15
Views
5K
Arlithrien
Arlithrien
W
Coffee Pods
Replies
2
Views
965
W3rk
W3rk
Back
Top Bottom