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How much fertilizer?!

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Hakamo0o

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Hi,
I planting an Oriental variety and I was wondering how much fertilizer should I use for it?
The fertilizer is 20-20-20 (N-P-k) with some traces of minerals (zinc Iron......), the package has no info regarding that and nobody here knows what tobacco plants even look like so if any body could tell me how much per liter or gallon I should use?

Thanks

Hakamo0o
 

Starkunited

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I use 1 tablespoon per gallon,20/20/20 is what I use. Lester stark Kawkawlin, Mi. USA
 

FmGrowit

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The most important consideration to make in fertilizer for tobacco is to use chloride reduced or chloride free fertilizer. Use of Sulphate of potash (SOP) based fertilizer is recommended for tobacco. Very little nitrogen is needed to grow (especially Turkish tobacco) and all fertilization should cease once the flower head develops. When searching for the proper fertilizer, look for "sulfate of potash (K2SO4)" on the package or ask specifically for Sulphate of potash.

seekingalpha.com/article/115403-fundamentals-of-potash said:
Another composition of potash is potassium sulfate. This is 43% potassium which creates a need for increased tonnage with respect to application. Sometimes this is used on land that is sulfur deficient, as it contains 18%, but the main reason is for chloride sensitive crops. Prices generally are higher for sulfate of potash, but this compound is approximately 10% of the ore mined or 7 million tons per year. In some cases companies will buy muriate of potash and convert it into sulfate of potash with the use sulfuric acid. The combination will produce a potash with much less chloride for chloride sensitive crop, but is much less soluble in water when replaced with the sulfur oxide molecule.
Potassium-magnesium sulfate or langbeinite can also be produced. Intrepid potash produces this as their mines have a higher concentration of magnesium. The specialty fertilizer can be utilized with chloride sensitive crops while providing all three nutrients in their specialty fertilizer. The compilation of this is approximately 18% potassium, 11% magnesium and 22% sulfur. When checking pricing with respect to this we see it is much lower, but the much lower concentration of potassium makes it much more equivalent.

Here is a link fro a supplier
http://www.norganics.com/products/fertilizers/natural-sulfate.html
 
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Hakamo0o

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Hi FmGrowit,

I was walking in the lab and I thought "how about nitrates?" Potassium nitrate and Ammonia nitrate did you try them on tobacco before?

Hakamo0o
 

FmGrowit

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Ammonium nitrate is all nitrogen (33-0-0), it's used in a lot of commercial crops (corn and soy beans), but I'm not sure if it's used on tobacco.

A good tobacco application for
Potassium nitrate (13-0-45) would be for sandy soil...after the rows are side dressed followed by either several days of heavy rain or a flooded field. Nitrogen and potassium are quite water soluble and leaches from the soil quickly. 13-0-45 would replace the lost N and K in sandy soil, but it really isn't needed in soil with a clay based soil or where the topsoil is less than 10" deep. Clay prevents leeching in most cases.

I'm not a commercial grower (technically speaking). I rely on a loamy soil
properly amended with lime and an 80 lb. bag of 10-10-10 per acre pre-setting. I've never really needed anything else.
 

SmokesAhoy

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How much in advance of planting out should you add lime to your soil?

in the north we add ph fixer in the fall so it is ready for spring, but in a beaker it happens instantly, so maybe we just do that so the snow melt mixes it for us. just soak it in good, if the ph strip is where you want it, it seems that would work too, at least it should i think.
 

deluxestogie

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I added ag Lime to each of my tobacco beds about 4 to 6 weeks prior to planting. I, of course, can't say if the excellent crop was in any way influenced by the lime, but I feel that a month of occasionally rainy weather, in conjunction with one or two tillings, gets the job done. No data here--just an impression.

Bob
 
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BaccaChew

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I added plenty of wood ash from the woodstove around mid-April or so, figuring there would be 6 or 8 inches of rain left in the season before I could transplant anyway.

Must have worked a treat. Plants have no disease, seem very healthy.

Ya'll curious what I used for nitrogen? (he he he)
 

dkh2

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I added ag Lime to each of my tobacco beds about 4 to 6 weeks prior to planting. I, of course, can't say if the excellent crop was in any way influenced by the lime, but I feel that a month of occasionally rainy weather, in conjunction with one or two tillings, gets the job done. No data here--just an impression.Bob

What is "AG Lime" Bob ?
 

BigBonner

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Crushed limestone rock in fine powder .It comes in a bulk lime spreading truck about 28 tons at a time from a rock quary the same as we use for driveways here . This type takes longer to start working but last for years .

Ag lime also comes in a 60 lb bag this lime will be more fine and works quicker than the lime from a rock quary .

Hot lime comes in peleted form and starts work as soon as you put it on , but it only last one season .

If fertilizer is that hard to get a hold of I may have to start selling and shipping te stuff .



What is "AG Lime" Bob ?
 

deluxestogie

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Unfortunately, the word "lime" is generically used to refer to a number of different calcium compounds that are used for very different purposes.

Agricultural Lime or Ag Lime = CaCO2 = calcium carbonate
[Raises soil pH]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_lime

Quicklime = CaO = calcium oxide
[Used for making concrete and mortar]
Slaked Lime = Ca(OH)2 = calcium hydroxide
[softens maize kernel husk for hominy or masa harina (for tortillas)]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_(material)

Pickling Lime = CaCl2 = calcium chloride
[Firms pickles]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_chloride

All of them start with crushed limestone, but differ in their manner of production. You can mix Ag Lime with sand, and not end up with cement. If you mix quicklime or slaked lime with sand, you get portland cement.

Bob
 

Jitterbugdude

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And if you really want to be anal about it ( like I am sometimes) you should request the analysis of the lime you are buying. There are high magnesium versions and there are low magnesium versions. You do not wanted to be dumping high magnesium lime on your soil if you already have enough magnesium or if your PH is running on the high side. I'm pretty sure lime takes a long time for the sol bacteria to make the lime available to the plant roots that's why it should be applied in the fall. I have noticed the big box type stores (Home Depot etc.) typically sell the high mag version. Another option for calcium is Aragonite.
 

deluxestogie

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OK the guaranteed analysis is.
Calcium (Ca) 34 %
Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) 86 %
Derived from Limestone
Oregon Lime Score 90 what ever that means

The score is a relative comparison of the product to pure CaCO3 (mesh 60+, or powder-like). These scores are calculated differently by various states. A 90 is good.

Bob

EDIT: The coarser the material, the slower it will begin to act, and the longer it will last. Particles 1/8" or larger will only act on a geologic time-scale. Particles of 1/60" or finer are immediately available. In between is...well...in between.

For comparison, 1/60" is about the size of a tobacco seed (N. tabacum).
 
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