Used as a compliment to the fertilizer we already use, it does encourage larger fruit, a larger root mass and can smother pests within the soil and on leaf surfaces...It helps keep mine and many others clean of pests..Keeps the leaves shiny and clean)

It's natural oils works wonders if you keep treating your trees..But if you should get a pest invasion due to a lack of spraying it, then Neem is your next best choice but much stronger..The Fish Emulsion does not burn your leaves..

It's been said on their web site that it feeds through the leaves too, but I don't know)

Mike, do you spray the leaves AND pour it into the soil?

Vladimir,

What I do is fill a hose end sprayer, like the Miracle Grow ones, and fill half of it with the Fish Emulsion and the other half with fertilizer....Attach to the end of your hose and spray everything from the leaves right down to filling all your pots up with the solution...It comes out at just the right mix and feeds and protects at the same time.

If you want to use the spray bottle method, the directions for mixing in on the bottle of the FE...You have to be careful not to use too much since you can over do it even with this stuff) in finer peaty mixes.. I have been using the hose end sprayer method for years, and have had extreme success with that)

Ok cool so a foliar treatment in addition to fert, yes I have used it mainly as a fert before. I even still have my old FE sprayer that I keep separate from my plain FP one so it doesn't get gunky :).

Vladimir, I bought the stuff Mike uses off Amazon. No, my dog showed no interest in it whatsoever. My kids however, complained of the smell. It did not bother me as much as I thought it would. I am still unclear about how much Mike uses. I don't have as many plants to spray so I started low...perhaps too low. I used about 2 tbsp fish fertilizer and 2 tbsp FP, then I added water and hooked up the hose. I sprayed it on the leaves and throughly drenched the dirt as well. The smell dissipated within an hour or so, although I suspect that if I had used as much as Mike uses, it would have taken longer to go away. I fertilized last night with a watering can and also added a little of the fish fertilizer with the FP. I used a lower dose because of the heat...1/2 tbsp fish stuff, and a 1/2 capful of FP along with the vinegar. Then it rained....go figure. I agree with Mike on the fertilizer issue. Steve has a tremendous setup and provides tons of light. I will not be able to do that even with the artificial setup I will have. If you need fertilizer, you can always add FP, but you can't remove the granules....

Mike, so you fill up the sprayer with 1/2 fish fertilizer and the other half FP? Is that the fertilizer you use?

Hey Laura, I am going to fertilize tomorrow..I will take a couple pics for you of my set up)

Yes, I fill the bottle up half way with the F.E and the rest with either Foliage Pro and once in a while I use 'Miracle Grow' when I plan on spraying not just my potted citrus, but for everything..A HUGE mass spraying...I spray all my potted plants, annuals, and all my perennials...The stuff works great on anything you are growing anywhere..People are always asking me how I keep my trees so green and my potted annuals, and ground plants so healthy and full of fruit and flowers...But, I do use the Foliage Pro solution on my choice potted plants mostly, such as orchids, houseplants, and citrus trees)))

A couple of table spoons on your solution won't be enough to keep the pests at bay on leaves...

Great point made about lights!

Ok Mike. I'll add more next time...halfway...yikes! Don't you go through FP like crazy using so much? How often do you do this? I'll do it soon. I just ordered a different garden sprayer. My 5 year old threw it and it leaks like crazy now...I was covered with the stuff myself...not an experience I want to repeat!!

And please, take pics for us!

Laura, I usually buy the 1 gallon jug of the Foliage Pro and do this mixture of fish and that once every couple of weeks starting about now... You could even wait until September, Labor day....Other than that, I feed them as regular with a watering can..

You can just use the Fish Emulsion and fill half way on the sprayer and treat your trees . Than fertilize as you regularly do with the Foliage Pro too when using a watering can..

If I do more than than that with the hose end sprayer, then I substitute Foliage Pro with the Miracle Grow and use that while spraying all my other plants..Seems..It's a lot easier to fertilize all my trees that way since I have dozens and save on my Foliage Pro..Using the Foliage Pro once every couple of weeks like this towards the end of summer does not use a lot at all)

Hope this make sense

Got it Mike. I'll order a bigger jug next time ;-). It seems I've been going through it quickly these days...

Vladimir, where are you? Hoping you are ok and that you got much needed rain. It finally rained here) Hoping you don't mind if I share my method with Laura about using the F.E.

Laura, Here you go

I use my fill my sprayer half way with F.E and then the rest a packet of Miracle Grow with the right ration for a BIG watering plan....Miracle Grow does not harm anything and in fact many here use it with success, but to ensure my trees Citrus Tress and Orchids get the most nutrients, I will use Foliage Pro once in a while but all the time with watering with a pale)

I have to mass spray all these...Plus hundreds more in pots and in ground!

Thank you Mike! Wow! What beautiful plants and yard! They all look incredibly healthy! That is a dream garden. I appreciate you sharing your method. I have a bag of MG that I did not use. I will use it next time I spray. So it will not hurt as a foliage spray right? (The MG).

Hey Mike, Here I am!!! Beautiful jungle you got there!. Thanks for the info. The only MG sprayer I could find is different than the one you have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P0DK1Q/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1NYL6YZD9FTDZ&coliid=I2DPJXFGXPYJQF&psc=1

Can use that one?

Hi Everyone,

Quick question for Mike...what's the best time of day to do this? And should the temps be below 85?

Not at all....That is why I like these hose end prayers...They push out just enough of everything to mix with the water..My yard smells like the Marina...lol My Mom is saying she loves it...

I think you guys were typing at the same time! I suspect the answer is for my question....but let's wait to hear ;-)

Mike, what about the sprayer? Should I buy the one on Amazon? Laura, which one do you use?

Vladimir, I bought one from HD, but my son threw it and it leaks. I just bought another from Amazon...this one..

Hudson 2100 Hose End 26 oz Sprayer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ARTX80/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_iXhTxbVBJPM32

I have the MG that was in my original one in a zip lock, so I will use it along with the fish emulsion when I receive it. I think I'll get the sprayer today, so perhaps tomorrow in the morning I will try it out.

Beautiful plants Mike.

Cory

HI Mikey buddy love your yard I wish I had my Internet at home running I just see your pics on my phone and they are so small very small . Did you puts some of your tree's on the roof again lol . Mikey the storm we had about 3 weeks ago would have blown my tree's to your place if I have had them on my roof lol. Everything looks so healthy amazing buddy . Mikey we've had 5 inches of rain since last Saturday poor Sugar needed a life jacket last night to do his business and more rain tonight . Love seeing your pics buddy .

Brian

Great job Mike. I see you still use your rooftop for the important plants.

Vladimir....I got confused and posted a pic of my sprayer in my thread about the leaves falling...

Gorgeous garden Mike! I am going to try some FE tonight too... I am wondering if I fertilize enough. I admit that I probably only use FP about every 3 times I water.... figuring that the osmocote is enough... but all of your leaves look darker than mine so is that a sure sign I am underfertilizing?

I think I need to retest my PH too.

Laura, I saw the sprayer post. Decided to go with the MG sprayer because I have loads of MG fertilizer. Thanks.

Brian!! Hello..Poor Sugar...Lol..Listen..Last Saturday Sugar would of needed a jacket here with temps only being in the 60's all day and low clouds..It was horrible for a convertible....So you know what I did..I drove away from the influence of the ocean, just 30 miles west..The low clouds disappeared,and the beautiful big blue sky with huge thunder heads opened up within a ten mile radius..Like a different world..It was 69 at my house and 92 30 miles west of me..Oh I was in heaven when HUGE HUGE thunderstorm came over my mother and I as we stood under a 3 foot by 3 foot awning to a cafe and got soaked by rain, hail and winds of 75 miles per hours..Trees fell around us and my mother LOVED it all..lol I am sure Sugar would of dropped!!ha I loved it so much. The thunder was so loud...Then that night, I got 3 hours of lightning and rain for the first time in 3 years! It was my best summer day other than the beach just the day before at 97 degrees...I jumped into the ocean in my boxers I was so hot..lol I didn't care and neither did the bunch of college girls next to me.

Vladimir, If I am not mistaken, I think Brian here uses Miracle Grow on his trees and they look wonderful! So I have been alternating between both Foliage Pro and that even though Just Foliage Pro does all I need. I just can't afford it during the summer months..So I try to conserve it for just certain plants.

Hobby, in the mixes that we grow in, it's a must that we fertilize more then the container says..I double up on doses quite often all summer.. Thank you.I try to keep it flowering all summer. like my trees all year..

Steve, thanks and you are right..Up on the roof..lol

Cory, thank you..Hoping you are ok these days))

Jersey, I spray the emulsion early in the a.m. or after the noon sun is gone..I don't even think it would burn leaves on hots days since the F.E is so much weaker than pure oils and safer....

Mike, I used to use MG for decades on my old calamondin and key lime and that worked great all those years but the calamondin started showing clear signs of nutrient deficiencies this winter so I switched to FP. It is doing great now.

I like Mike's idea of using MG in the sprayer because it is so much cheaper....mixed with FE...nice combination. That way, I can save the FP when I use the watering can.

Beautiful garden, Mike. I thought of putting some trees on edge the roof like you are, but wondered if the heat buildup from the shingles would be too much for them. Have you noticed any ill effects from that? My roof is black shingles.

Absolutely, beautiful plants and gardens Mike! I can see you take great care of them! They bring so much joy and peace into our lives.

Thank you for posting your pictures, and, the steps you use to water and fertilize your plants. It is very helpful.

Yes in looking at my plants I must still be under fertilizing. I feed my Meyers more as per Johns instructions and they are darker green than the others, but only slightly.

Good thing I have a massive jug of FE, will add that to my FP regimen, plus some vinegar just for good measure.

What does the garden lime do again, I skipped that during my repotting. Perhaps should scratch some in now?

Great tips Mike and all!

The garden lime brings the pH up. Without it, the medium is too acidic (pH is too low).

Hobby, stir some lime into the top layer of mix...that should help

Hobby, the lime also provides much needed Mg and Ca at the same time in which Foliage Pro already provides...Just about all pure bark mixes made by us with added pure peat starts out at about a pH of 5.0 to 5.5 so the lime will raise it a bit making the mix more suitable for root and plant development)

Thanks for the n ice comments every one. Could not of done it with my F.E!

Calamondin, I don't put any of my citrus on the roof until about the middle of September...You are right, it does get too hot up there right now and would over heat any of my trees unless they were in clay pots. Clay pot would be just fine now since the sun is already at a lower angle..Yup, already almost fall...Arg!

How much FE and MG with just a gallon hand pump sprayer? I would like to try this combo. Thanks

Thanks all, will get some lime!

Also, gotta say I am enjoying the FE spraying... agree that it smells kind of fresh, briny like the sea which I like. Not as huge a fan when I get it on my hands undiluted however....

Nancy I just filled my sprayer half full with FE and half full with FP and put it on a low dosage setting to mix with the water from my hose... but every sprayer is different.

Thanks hobby

Nany, Hobby has it..

Hobby lol. I know exactly what you mean! lol By the way, it does smell like you are standing on the ocean shore..My mother LOVES it right after I have sprayed. The odor comes right through my house with the right breeze and reminds me of Hampton Beach every time)

Mixing FE fresh n spraying certainly smells like the docks but leaving it in the sprayer n spraying after a few days its like a garbage drain smell not a fan of that at all . So now a days I only mix the amount I can spray at one go .

Devense..YOU ARE NOT KIDDING...That is why I will spray until the bottle starts to look clear of everything then dump the rest out into a pot or so...It usually take about 20 minutes to empty the entire contents in one nose end spray bottle..

WAIT Nancy, I just read your question again, you say you have a hand pump sprayer... so no hose water mixes in? Then you would have to mix the FE and FP with water and put those into the sprayer otherwise full strength they will burn. That'll be a bit trickier but maybe use the bottle recommendations to mix a proper FE batch in a separate bucket, then do the same for FP in a separate bucket and then combine the 2 evenly in a sprayer and go ahead. Hope you see this in time!

Got it thanks again....I don't have enough plants for hose end sprayer.

Do you have garden flowers, perennial beds, vegi gardens, fruit trees,bushes, vines, and hanging baskets?

PHEW I was about to be up all night worrying that I killed your plants!

For my hand pump sprayer, I use this mix all mixed together:

1 ¼ Tsp. FP/gal

1 ¼ Tsp. Fish Emulsion/gal

This is the same concentration as Mike uses.

By the way, manufacturer's instructions for foliage sprays are:

FP: 1/4 - 1/2 Tsp/gal

Fish Emulsion: 6 Tsp (1 fluid oz.)/gal

Mike, yes I have a few, not like yours tho!! Pretty plants Mike. Thank you! Vladimir

I have leaf miner problem again, just getting my Meyer to looking better and critters are working against me.....

Nancy....Awesome..That's the thing..This F.E solution is great for everything...You should mix a bottle of it up and start with your trees, then what you have left just use it on all your other plants..They will thank you more than you know!

Yesterday FE and MG Thanks all

Could someone explain the benefits of foliar spraying fish emulsion? Plants take up nutrients best through the soil from the roots, not the leaves. Use of organic fertilizers in containers with fast draining soilless media seems unnecessary to me and probably wasteful. Fish emulsion also has excessive nitrogen (5-2-2 or 2.5-1-1). Using it on plants in ground I can understand, but is it really a good idea for containers?

First TIme, on my thread about my potted trees, I tried to explain it.