I am looking for a good recommendation for adding Peter's STEM to my fertilizer program. I am not sure how much STEM to add to Peter's 20-10-20 since it already has micronutrients included in it. The recommended amount is .66 lbs. STEM per 100 lbs fertilizer. My stock tank has 175 lbs. 20-10-20 in it. This means I would add 1.15 lbs STEM to it. Seems a bit high to me, as I don't want to over do it with the micronutrients already in my fertilizer. Any suggestions?
Posts: 3 | Location: Kansas City, KS | Registered: Thu October 06 2005
Holly, Most of the growers I know including myself do not add the STEM product to pre-packaged water soluble fertilizer mixes. STEM is generally used when.... (1) You are mixing your own single element fertilizers together and need a micronutrient package. (2) You only feed every 3-4 waterings and need the extra boost of micronutrients. (3) You receive soil test results back that indicate a lack of one or more micronutrients. If you constant feed most fertilizer products on the market have adequate micronutrients especially the "peat lite" types that have additional micronutrients for soiless mixes. I hope you are not just "guessing" that your crop needs more micronurtrients because the color of the foliage is light or growth rate too slow. Have you had soil and tissue test taken? Do you know the Soluble Salts reading of your current soil and the pH? One really needs to know these numbers before adding more micronutrients to the fertilizer mix. Adding them may temporarily cover up a problem that will come back later in the crop when there is not enough time to correct it again. I recommend a soil and tissue analysis so you know what elements are present and their levels, your current SS levels and soil pH. This would go a long way instead of guessing and give you a "snap shot" of what might be going on. Maybe someone else has other recommendations!....Michael Pawelek
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael Pawelek,
