Re: Fruit Fuel
 

"I know I am being rude about this discussion"

Period.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Frankly I don't care to read rude youngsters trying to sound self-important. Dana this isn't Facebook.

Richard, looking forward to your fertilizer. As far as I'm concerned, your professional attitude with 30 yrs experience trumps a hundred rude folks quoting someone they may have talked to in general who doesn't specialize in bananas or fertilizers.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Contact the Grow More factory. They will give you an exact quote. Note that they only manufacture in pallet quantities.

Actually a U.S. ton is 2000 lbs, so that's 80 bags per pallet.

The factory will not ship the product to you for free, so be sure to figure in the transportation cost.

Other realities you might want to figure into your cost analysis are the cost of packaging, running a web site etc.

------------

Now all that said, I could really care less if I sell any of it to Bananas.org members. For me, this thread has been about sharing part of my life.

Many of my customers buy by the pallet. On annual average, there are 10k to 30k visitors to my site per day and I have a 0.5% conversion rate.

Dana, I appreciate your desire to protect people from scams. This time though, I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

Happy Holidays! :)

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

well I messaged media hound, so he can decide if this is a scam or not. because clearly I don't own this site so I have no authority to say what's a scam or not.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

It is not a scam.
We appreciate your concerns, but most of us have done successful business with Richard in the past and for years. I have met him in person as an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated person. His wonderful reputation is not only known here on bananas.org but also at the CRFG and other sources.
No matter what: please be more respectful and choose your words more wisely when posting on this forum.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Edit: ;)
I will watch this for updates, and avoid antagonizing.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Dana, you have acknowledged being rude in this discussion. That is not acceptable. Any further discussion with this tone will earn you being awarded a temporary ban. I believe you have made your points already so there is no useful purpose in you continuing the discussion along the lines you've taken.

MediaHound is the owner and administrator of the forum but I do not know his current activity level here and I've been the primary person for handling moderator responsibilities for some time. Of course, MediaHound can overrule any decision I make on the matter if he so chooses.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Jbyrd: Leave out the "wtf" and the translation is pretty close.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Thank you Jbyrd for contacting the poor professor. I was going to send him a message but wasn't certain he would get it due to the holidays.

Barely over a hundred posts but calls a long time experienced member who gave his qualifications a "scammer". I know who I would buy from, sell to or want to even talk to.

Richard, since you said the fertilizer is water soluble, does that mean that fertilizers that are dissolved in water first(like how you apply miracle gro type powders) are better or that fertilizers should dissolve in water period to be absorbed better? The special banana fertilizer I bought is granules that you apply as-is.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

This chick is a TROLL. Don't feed the TROLL anymore fertilizer.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

In many cases yes, but it is complicated.

To begin, let's differentiate between a "complete fertilizer" and a "supplement". Some supplements are only available (or affordable) in non-soluble form and need to be worked into the mulch above the soil/root zone. Then, over a season or two they will break down from rain and/or irrigation water into a desirable form. Notice you might have to start 6 to 9 months ahead of any planting.

Another angle to consider is whether we are using the outdated method of "maintaining soil levels" of nutrients or instead, maintaining a soil with good texture, pH, etc. but "feeding the plants" more directly with a water-soluble. The practice by large-scale agriculture of "maintaining the soil levels" with granular 15-15-15 or similar is the major cause of nitrate pollution of ground water in California and elsewhere. Further, they must over-feed because with the granular form of nitrogen about 1/2 will escape to the air due to soil-water-fertilizer interactions. So it seems cheaper but actually it is not if you consider how much is actually absorbed by the plants.

As long as we are considering the environment, Nicholas made the excellent comment in this thread that folks growing in the ground in the Florida peninsula already have intense concentrations of Phosphates. Adding more is tipping a delicate eco-balance which is why phosphates are banned in lawn fertilizers sold in Florida.

I also want to acknowledge that there are many farmers in the world who only "irrigate" by rainfall. A large fraction of these farmers either don't have access to or can't afford a means of applying a water-soluble.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Good information all around.

Here I think we have a overabundance of water in the form of rain. I had to make raised beds for most of my plantings, and I'm on a sand hill.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

60 cents per pound is not dirt cheap.

10-5-20 is 30 cents per pound retail in PR, and most consider that too expensive.

If you want 60 cents per pound, you'll need a catchy name & a nice package.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

I don't really see that it matters how much the bulk ingredients cost. Only someone who hasn't ever actually produced anything for sale would only count the cost of the base ingredients in the cost of production.

Not only do you have the ingredients, the shipping or delivery, the bagging costs, the testing and trials, your own time, any monies spent to experts for consultation... with all that, if he makes a good profit, great for him! Smaller bags of anything cost more per/weight than larger bags or bulk amounts. Even buying flour works that way.

I know I spent a lot about $0.50/lb for my specialty fertilizer, and it's a commercially made granule, not made by someone who specifically worked on a banana fertilizer for years to perfect it. BUT I only bought one bag, and if I bought it by the ton(2000 lbs) then I'm sure it would be lots less pricy. However, I'd be up the creek if I had a ton of fertilizer here. In fact, the NSA might come looking to see why I needed it all! LOL!

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Today my first order of the year arrived, complete with Fruit Fuel! My yard is under construction with no driveway so the pallets were deposited on the street. A hand-truck, wheelbarrow, and an hour later it was tucked away in the garage.

Grow More 16-8-24 Fruit Fuel, 5-pound bag
Grow More 16-8-24 Fruit Fuel, 25-pound bag

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Cannot wait to try it.
Should be good for my apricots, too?!

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

You bet!

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

These guys have been around for awhile.

Grow More | A Symbol of Quality

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Note [3/27/2014]: This discussion is continued here: http://www.bananas.org/f312/fruit-fu...ers-20052.html

Feeding time! I have yet to install irrigation, so I hooked up one of the fertigators to my hose line and gave my fruiting plants their first feeding of the year. After I install the irrigation, I'll create "docks" for the fertigators so I can feed various plant groups indepedently; e.g., fruiting plants, leafy vegetables, tubors, herbs. The unit you see in the picture is a Dosatron D14MZ2 attached to the back of a Dosatron cart.

Re: Fruit Fuel
 

Richard, I remembered that you were using the Dosatron products. I am just fine with my 5 gallon water bucket and measuring out my fruit fuel with a measure cup.
However, one neighbor was walking by and suggesting to use something like the Miracle Gro garden feeder. I personally think that would not be that precise than my more work intensive water bucket, but would like to get your input on this.
My newly planted fruit trees and the banana pups I got from you last fall are getting half of what my big established banana mats get (one bucket vs two for the mats)but I strongly feel that the mats could use even more....Sure it would be nice to make it less labor intensive, but so far my labor has always paid of compared to the neighbors yard ;) But a Dosatron is out of my budget.