Is This Stuff Any Good For Vegetative Stage?

[600m]

I was in the local hardware store trying to find something with the proper proportions of nutrients for the vegetative stage of my outdoor plants. This stuff was the only thing that came close. I came out about $11 lighter for what appears to be nothing but five pounds of ground alfalfa. Smells nice, but will this do the job? It looks like an odd way to go about fertilizing a plant.

Thanks for any useful input!

[OzBud]

I think some people mix that in with their home made super soil mixes

[Newf]

The N-P-K ratio (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) looks about right for vegetative growth. It appears organic if that is important to you. I use Fox Farms "Grow Big" nutrients with NPK ratio of 6-4-4. I only use 1 to 2 tsp per gallon and a quart bottle is about $20.

[Speedygreen]

The n-p-k is OK but if it looks like ground up alfalfa than its likely a compost/soil amendment and thus needs time to break down b4 the roots can uptake the nutrients

[Newf]

I agree. If you look at the instructions it says to add to the soil a couple of times per season. Again this is fine but is probably not going to give a lot of bang for your buck.

[600m]

Yeah, I think it was a bad call and pretty much a waste of $11. It is finely ground and supposedly will give up the nutrients into the soil during irrigation if it's mixed in to the soil, which is what I did. I'm pretty early in the vegetative stage (the plants are about 14" now) and took the advice elsewhere on the site and just mixed in a bunch of cheap agricultural 15-15-15 granulated fertilizer for the time being, along with a this crap. Seems to work fine, though I know that I'll have to get serious about proper fertilization later and be sure to flush out what's left of the 15-15-15 when I do.

"Organic" and special marijuana fertilizers seem to me to be gigantic scams. The N-P-K is right or it isn't...never mind that you usually don't have any idea of the existing nutrient proportions in your soil in the first place. We're all just guessing here.

[Newf]

If you are interested, it is not very expensive to have a soil analysis though your state university agriculture department or agricultural college. In Mass we can send a sample to the UMass Center for Agriculture and for $15 we get "pH, exchangeable acidity, Modified Morgan extractable nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B, S), lead (Pb), and aluminum (Al), cation exchange capacity, and base saturation, as well as crop specific lime and nutrient recommendations." and for $6 more you get soil nitrate levels.