Just bought me 3 of the Ecoscraps LCAPHE001 32 oz Organic All-Purpose Liquid Fertilizer. They sell @ Home Depot for $12.99 each.
Am I missing something? How can a fertilizer not specify the Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K)?
EcoScraps Organic Liquid Fertilizers would be equivalent to less than a 1-1-1. These are good “soil conditioners” (insert head & shoulders shampoo joke here/or Billy Madison in the bathtub) which essentially unlock the nitrogen that is already in the soil & changes it to a more absorbable form for plant uptake.
I’m dubious. Gardeners know that compost supplies humus and adds nutrients, but when something is marketed as “plant food,” we expect to know how much NPK are in it. I have as much faith in a soil conditioner unlocking a soil’s nitrogen potential as I do wearing magnets in my shoes to rid my body of toxins.
I have been reading A LOT about the organic approach to gardening and lawn maintenance in general. As someone who depends on well water, I was concerned with what I was putting in my ground.
For products such as this, it helps to build the overall composition of the soil rather than supplying a brief stint of minerals/nutrients. A common argument used is that synthetic fertilizers actually degrade land use over time and cause excess runoff to streams and nearby waterways as a result. I cannot confirm or deny this statement, but it is concerning to say the least (especially if you live near large bodies of water, as I do).
Organic fertilizers are much slower acting (months or years) but help to improve the overall condition of the soil. This is best demonstrated by the presence of earthworms and other “beneficials”. Apparently they dislike the synthetic fertilizers but thrive when nutrients of the soil are improved.
A lot of the times these products do not have large NPK numbers, especially when compared to synthetics; however, they often contain micronutrients that will be placed in the soil to benefit plants and microbial life.
Probably way too scientific and long winded, but there you go…
I don’t know if it is an exact 1-1, but on the ecoscraps site the all purpose plant food is 5-5-5 and the tomato is 5-4-6.
My general understanding is that NPK numbers indicate what is immediately available to the plants. Organic fertilizers have lower numbers than synthetics, but they continue to release nutrients over a longer period of time.
Anyone have experience with thiese?
The all purpose liquid intrigues me, as I have veggies and a lawn with inconsistant health. I’m not interested in giant growth, just overall healthy green-ness. Think this would encourage bermuda to spread to bare patches?
Does anyone know if the compost accelerator is appropriate for use on a large pile of dog poop?
ETA: To clarify, I do not want to make dog poop compost to use as fertilizer. Rather, every few months we dig a hole, and then when our dogs poop we move the poop to the whole. Eventually it fills up and we dig another one, putting the dirt from the new hole over the previous one. But buried dog poop can take a while to break down - I am looking for something that will speed up this process.
Have you tried putting leaves, newspapers, ahd kitchen scraps in the hole along with the poop? I think this method is called “trenching”. The other ingredients would attract worms and other bugs in the soil that help to break down all of the ingredients. It wouldn’t be a lightning fast process, but it should speed it up at least a little bit, and give you better soil as a result. That’s the cheaper version, of course.
I too am disappointed at the lack of reviews of this product. I really want to buy it and see how well it does, but the only thing I have found is 1 review on Home Depot (4/5). Not enough to sway me one way or another.
I don’t think this would cause your grass to spread, but it might improve the soil enough to where you could reseed and grow some new grass. You can try this route, or go out and buy some compost/manure mixture and dig it into the bare spots. I’m assuming they are totally bare, which if that is the case, really mix it into the soil. Overseed the new grass seed (put down a lot) and you can rake it in or put something light over it to promote growth (hay or something else that will allow it to grow but not wash away). Water it a couple times per day (once in the morning and once before the sun goes down) for a few weeks and you should have new grass growing in a matter of time.
If you opt for this stuff, I would think of it as a replacement for the compost/manure mixture.
We do mix in leaves; I was just wondering if this would give the process a boost. I may ask around my neighborhood for some compost tea.
I received the “Ecoscraps compost accelerator” today, 5 lbs for $7.99. The backside of Ecoscraps container includes these lines:
***Ingredients: Montmorillonite clay
Information regarding the contents and levels of metals in this product is available on the internet at Trace Metals - Metal Content Analysis Information*
Grainger sells 50 lb bags of Montmorillonite for $17.41, labeled as “Granular Clay Absorbent” - it is used to clean up oil and hydraulic fluid spills.
On other hand, Amazon sells 2 lb containers of Montmorillonite for $25.99, labeled as “Terramin - 100% Natural Multimineral Dietary Supplement Montmorillonite Clay Powder”
Hmm - ordered tomato & veggies, received multi purpose. Definitely not as shown, looks like very weak compost tea. Buyer Beware.
Oh man, I’m so sorry- if you haven’t already, please email into support@woot.com, we’d definitely like a chance to make that up to you.
Have you heard back from Woot? I had the same problem - the all purpose product was substituted for three others - and it sounds like EcoScraps and Woot are still trying to sort it out.
I agree about the product itself too. Buyer beware.
Oh what a big boat we are in. All purpose was substituted for ALL organic products that I ordered. My lawn will no longer talk to me & my tomatoes & veggies are giving me the cold shoulder. Please Woot … Make my veggies happy!