Myth-Busters Challenge - Biota Max vs. MycoGrow - Confirmed!

[sfmathews]

I thought I would try something different this year. When I potted up my maters to 18oz cups, I sprinkled some of the Actinovate on each rootball in it's new cup. I don't know if it makes a difference or not. I've got plenty left for another dosing if not.

[dipchip2000]

Ray

I dont use the tomato-tone or folliage pro. I use what I can buy locally at Lowes or HD. Therefore is the phosphorous number the one I need to keep at 3 or 4? I already have the Biotamax and mycorr soluable but dont want to destroy the effects by putting the wrong thing on them later.
ron

[rnewste]

dipchip,

I don't want to lead you astray in guessing at an answer for you. Both websites appear "User friendly" so why don't you drop each one an email on their "Contact Us" link and ask the question as to when an elevated N-P-K fertilizer could harm their products. Let us all know what they say.

Raybo

[creister]

Raybo,

No, I never checked about shipping on the biggertomato site. I was surprised to see it offered these days by anybody. I will feel plenty confident using one tablet. I think I may pour my bucket of "dip" onto my roses after using them on my maters and squash.

[Stepheninky]

Espoma now has a bio-tone starter fert, saw it today at Lowes pretty sure it would be safe to use with the others as it also contains

http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/biotone_overview.html

Here is a link to the data sheet:

http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/pdf...ts/biotone.pdf

[rnewste]

Stephen,

That is great that you can get Bio-tone in your Lowes. Unfortunately, Lowes in California does not carry it, nor would they even let me order it on their Lowes.com website. Even on Amazon.com, shipping is more than the actual cost of the product, so not too happy at the moment....

Raybo

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by creister

Raybo,

No, I never checked about shipping on the biggertomato site. I was surprised to see it offered these days by anybody. I will feel plenty confident using one tablet. I think I may pour my bucket of "dip" onto my roses after using them on my maters and squash.

Just remember that one tablet treats a whole lot of plants. My package is labeled "Good through 2012" so that is why I am using only half of the tablet this 2011 Season. Another thing you could do with the other half is to re-treat again in 6 weeks.

Raybo

[Stepheninky]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Stephen,

That is great that you can get Bio-tone in your Lowes. Unfortunately, Lowes in California does not carry it, nor would they even let me order it on their Lowes.com website. Even on Amazon.com, shipping is more than the actual cost of the product, so not too happy at the moment....

Raybo

Try this place it is a listed authorized dealer so they should have it or be able to order if for you.

Orchard Supply 2555 Charleston Road Mountain View CA 94043 1-650-691-2000 0
Orchard Supply 777 Sunnyvale - Saratoga Rd Sunnyvale CA 94087 1-408-732-7734 0
Orchard Supply 3615 El Camino Real Santa Clara CA 95051 1-408-247-1915 0

At Lowe's is was fairly cheap about $7 for a bag of it

[rnewste]

Thanks Stephen, but Orchard Supply only carries some of the Espoma products, and they do not have Bio-tone. In fact, they just started carrying Tomato-tone last year!!

While I have been using E.B. Stone Starter Fertilizer, I would much rather use the Espoma Bio-tone. The search continues.....

Raybo

[amideutch]

For my preplant dip solution I get a small bucket 1 1/2 to 2 gallon in size. Add I gallon of water and dissolve 1/4 tablet Biota Max in the water. Then add 2 teaspoons of Actinovate and 2 Teaspoons of Mycogrow soluable to the solution and mix well.
Now submerge the pot of the seedling just below the surface of the water to fill the pot with the solution, remove and allow the pot to drain back into the bucket. Then remove the seedling from the pot if plastic type was used or plant the pot w/seedling if Dot Pot Or Cow Pots were used.
Just be careful when dipping the pot in the solution as you want to retain as much aggregate in the pot as possible rather than have it float out of the pot and into the dip bucket.
During the dipping operation periodically agitate the water to keep the ingredients mixed in the solution. When your done apply the left over dip to the plants you have just planted. The above instructions are assuming you are using 4" pots or less in size. Ami

[Linda10]

Thank you Ami for those very precise and clear directions. They help me feel more confident that I will be doing this right when I get ready to transplant.

[sfmathews]

Just ordered the Biotamax and Mycogrow, looking forward to seeing how they perform. Thanks Ray, for the links.

[amideutch]

For the question on the phosphorus content of fertilizers when using mycorrhiza it should be a "P" of 5 or lower. You see folks using 10-10-10, 15-15-15 and so on which the "P" (Phosphorus) is way to high. If there is Phosphorus in the soil the mycorrhiza will make it available to the plant which is one of it's attributes. If you check out fertilizers that have myco's added they always have a low "P" content. Ami

[Wargamer777]

Originally Posted by amideutch

As I grow my seedlings in Dot Pots/Cow Pots I just dip them in a water bath that has had Actinovate, Biota Max and Mycogrow soluable added to it. Remove, drain and plant. You can do the same with seedlings grown in plastic pots also. Dip them in the solution, remove and allow excess to drain back into the bucket, remove plant from plastic pot and plant. Ami

Ami,

Do you use any when you pot up from seedlings to a 4' pot? Or do you wait and use the solutions when you transplant outside?

[Suze]

I'm in! Ordered both products last week, and delivery was prompt for both of them - 3 days or so.

I ordered the Biota Max from the site Ray mentioned earlier in the thread for the cheaper price, btw:

If you go to the Biotamax.com site, it is priced at $7.88. If however, you go to the biggertomatoes.com site, it is priced at $5.85:

http://biggertomatoes.com/GrowBigger.html