flower power

[Bettyboo]

I bought my basket plants from Morrisons and all they get is water when it's not raining and they look gorgeous this year. My Dad was a very keen gardener and also had an allotment and he always used seaweed, he used to go to the beach and collect it at low tide. He grew everything from spuds to Chrysanthemums and not only did he supply our family with produce but the neighbours as well.

 

[boffy]

I bought my basket plants from Morrisons and all they get is water when it's not raining and they look gorgeous this year. My Dad was a very keen gardener and also had an allotment and he always used seaweed, he used to go to the beach and collect it at low tide. He grew everything from spuds to Chrysanthemums and not only did he supply our family with produce but the neighbours as well.

i suspect they use a slow release fertiliser so you wont need to feed the baskets. saves you money and time

 

[grovesy]

Most of the compost I buy says they have feed that lasts 3 months in it but I still feed my pots!

 

[ERICS MUM]

Most of the compost I buy says they have feed that lasts 3 months in it but I still feed my pots!

J do, with a high potash feed such as tomato or rose. A cheap one ! I suspect the feed they use in the compost is a general use one.

 

[grovesy]

Yes I think so, and I am sure I have read that if the compost has been around a while before you buy it loses its efficiency!

 

[boffy]

the miracle grow compost is very very good. its meant to last the full six months. the plants grow very fast..towards the end i use tomato feed or left over all purpose fertiliser

 

[Craftalot]

On a previous thread I said I was testing out the flower power claims. I decided to try growing tomatos for the first time ever, I did it from slicing a tomato and putting it in compost, then separating the seedlings out.

I did 3 batches.

1. Planted in grow bags with occasional flower power feed
2. Planted in multi purpose compost with Flower Power feed.
3. Planted in multi purpose compost with Lidl plant feed.

No tomatoes as yet but the grow bag ones are in flower, much taller and far and away the winner.

Next up are the multi purpose compost/Lidl feed. They are healthy plants but as yet no flowers.

Well the multi purpose compost/flower power feed are the worst. Don't look like healthy plants at all, look "weedy" and no flowers either.

I have used flower power to feed my raspberries and they have an excellent yield. How much of that is down to flower power I have no idea, but I think it is the lovely bees who did all the hard work for me.

Now, I absolutely loathe the gnome and all that he shills, but I've sort of got to defend the product here. Flower Power is, as the name suggests, heavy on potassium which mainly promotes fruits and flowers. This would explain the heavy cropping of your raspberries. Because flower power is lower in the other main nutrients Phosphorus and Nitrogen it really wouldn't have a huge effect on the growth of seedlings - nitrogen is really the main 'shoot and leaf' nutrient for seedlings, and flower power doesn't have a lot of it (though more than zero). Essentially, flower power probably would have an effect on your tomato yields once they'd set fruit but until such time, a balanced fertiliser would have a better effect. Moreover, tomatoes shouldn't really be fed until they've set fruit anyway - the idea is to grow them in hard conditions - the plants then think they're going to die and flower in order to reproduce. Grow them in too rich soil results in lots of lush green growth but no flowers and hence less fruit.

Hope you don't think this is a lecture, it's just designed to help. There's more information on NPK fertilisers here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=304