ammonium sulphate?

[stevepeters]

I've just read this https://planetdesert.com/blogs/news/fer ... -and-cacti which says "The secret to making cacti flower is to add some dissolved ammonium sulfate to the water"
I'd be really interested and grateful to hear what everyone thinks about this. Thanks in advance

Regards, Steve

[el48tel]

Ammonium / Ammonia / Urea / nitrate based materials are Nitrogen fertilisers which promote body growth and some say will make your plants softer.
You need to use phosphorus / phosphate materials added with potassium based materials for flowers and fruit (seeds)

There are plenty of proprietary "cactus" fertiliser mixes. Beware mixing your own without experience as some chemical mixes are not soluble and will produce insoluble "gunk". Some cacti / succulents prefer high / low concentrations of different components.

Some swear by Tomorite or similar which is a tomato feed --- others use Vitax Chempak 8

[Terry S.]

Try to find the articles written by Elton Roberts in the American journal about ten years ago. He had spectacular results in using ammonium sulphate in combination with acidification of water. Succulent plant growers have traditionally been discouraged from using much nitrogen on their plants, but it is likely that the plants benefit from a more balanced feed. Note that ammonium ions are a more reliable source of nitrogen than urea which required soil micro-organisms to break it down into inorganic nitrogen before it can be absorbed.

[gerald]

"The secret to making cacti flower is to add some dissolved ammonium sulfate to the water"

A very broad sweeping statement that's anecdotal at best.

If you're going to talk about chemistry (ie science), then you need to provide some evidence (ie science) to back it up

[iann]

Try it on the lawn

[Jim_Mercer]

Below is an extract from Ray Allcock's Cultivation for Contemplatives relating to feeding with Nitrogen (full article in attached file)

Ammonium Nitrate Trials
With the welfare of my long-suffering plants for a while uppermost in my mind, yet even then still uneasy and worried because of all that has been written against nitrogen, I followed the three years of zero feed by two years of smallish and rather cautious feeds, firstly of Chempak No.8 (12·5-25-25) and then, with better effect, Chempak No.3 (20-20-20). The plants did improve, and the majority came back into growth. But although many lives were thus rescued from starvation, these ameliorative administrations were not in themselves specific of the unique role of nitrogen. To achieve that, I would need to supply a solution containing none of the other nutrients.
Ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) proffers a particularly suitable option here because, as its structural formula NH4NO3 indicates, it contains two different forms of nitrogen and nothing else. It is manufactured in the form of a prill (an agglomeration of small moulded pellets), in consequence of which its bulk specific gravity is low, only 0·6 g per ml. It is deliquescent and pH-neutral.
In the April of the next year (2004) I prepared a solution of ammonium nitrate at the very low strength of 50 ppm by bulk volume, equivalent to 30 ppm by weight, and I applied it copiously as my first watering of that year. A response came within 2-3 days, as expected. Its intensity was amazing and unexpected! The condition or 'tone' of the plants improved most remarkably, but the actual new growth subsequently engendered was very small in amount, and by the end of June had undoubtedly slowed to a halt. At that juncture I repeated the application, with similarly astonishing results. In the autumn I tried the same application on my winter-growing succulents, including Conophytums, and again the effects on general health were most rewarding, and there was no soft growth!
In 2005 I carried on in a similar way, but with three applications for the summer growers and two for the winter growers. The condition of the plants continued to visibly improve; the new growth was again very small in amount, and as before none of it was soft. In both years no other feeds were given.
These phenomena witnessed directly and unambiguously to an ongoing shortage of nitrogen in my collection, because in a compost already well supplied with this nutrient one would never get any noticeable response to such relatively tiny extra amounts.
I enlisted the help of some of our Branch Members, to see whether they would similarly find benefit from the same very weak administrations of pure nitrogen. Some didn't, and others did. But again, some already use lots of fertilizer, others use fertilizer only sparingly. It seems therefore that in ammonium nitrate, applied in tiny amount as described, we have an effective way to reveal any chronic nitrogen shortage, and at the same time a beneficial corrective tonic for victims of such shortage. Other quick-acting fertilizers suitable for this specific purpose, namely to detect nitrogen shortage, are sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate.

Ray_Cultivation for Contemplatives.docx

(50.26 KiB) Downloaded 95 times

[Aiko]

Ammonium / Ammonia / Urea / nitrate based materials are Nitrogen fertilisers which promote body growth and some say will make your plants softer.

So it is not bad to pee on your plants?

[Paul in Essex]

Ammonium / Ammonia / Urea / nitrate based materials are Nitrogen fertilisers which promote body growth and some say will make your plants softer.

So it is not bad to pee on your plants?

Only if your greenhouse is in the back garden.

[kohinoor]

ammonium sulfate is waste product from making Nylon. so it is very cheap.

It dos't have to be ammonium sulfate any nitrogen base fertilize will do the trick.

Here are the difference:

ammonium sulfate plant only absorb ammonium .the remaining sulfate will acidify the soil. but it is very cheap.
Ammonium nitrate plant will absorb both Ammonium and nitrate.no acidify problem
Urea bacteria will degrade Urea in to ammonium in 2~4 week. it is the relatively slow absorbing fertilizer.

[el48tel]

Below is an extract from Ray Allcock's Cultivation for Contemplatives relating to feeding with Nitrogen (full article in attached file)

Ammonium Nitrate Trials
With the welfare of my long-suffering plants for a while uppermost in my mind, yet even then still uneasy and worried because of all that has been written against nitrogen, I followed the three years of zero feed by two years of smallish and rather cautious feeds, firstly of Chempak No.8 (12·5-25-25) and then, with better effect, Chempak No.3 (20-20-20). The plants did improve, and the majority came back into growth. But although many lives were thus rescued from starvation, these ameliorative administrations were not in themselves specific of the unique role of nitrogen. To achieve that, I would need to supply a solution containing none of the other nutrients.
Ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) proffers a particularly suitable option here because, as its structural formula NH4NO3 indicates, it contains two different forms of nitrogen and nothing else. It is manufactured in the form of a prill (an agglomeration of small moulded pellets), in consequence of which its bulk specific gravity is low, only 0·6 g per ml. It is deliquescent and pH-neutral.
In the April of the next year (2004) I prepared a solution of ammonium nitrate at the very low strength of 50 ppm by bulk volume, equivalent to 30 ppm by weight, and I applied it copiously as my first watering of that year. A response came within 2-3 days, as expected. Its intensity was amazing and unexpected! The condition or 'tone' of the plants improved most remarkably, but the actual new growth subsequently engendered was very small in amount, and by the end of June had undoubtedly slowed to a halt. At that juncture I repeated the application, with similarly astonishing results. In the autumn I tried the same application on my winter-growing succulents, including Conophytums, and again the effects on general health were most rewarding, and there was no soft growth!
In 2005 I carried on in a similar way, but with three applications for the summer growers and two for the winter growers. The condition of the plants continued to visibly improve; the new growth was again very small in amount, and as before none of it was soft. In both years no other feeds were given.
These phenomena witnessed directly and unambiguously to an ongoing shortage of nitrogen in my collection, because in a compost already well supplied with this nutrient one would never get any noticeable response to such relatively tiny extra amounts.
I enlisted the help of some of our Branch Members, to see whether they would similarly find benefit from the same very weak administrations of pure nitrogen. Some didn't, and others did. But again, some already use lots of fertilizer, others use fertilizer only sparingly. It seems therefore that in ammonium nitrate, applied in tiny amount as described, we have an effective way to reveal any chronic nitrogen shortage, and at the same time a beneficial corrective tonic for victims of such shortage. Other quick-acting fertilizers suitable for this specific purpose, namely to detect nitrogen shortage, are sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate.

Ray_Cultivation for Contemplatives.docx

I don't think you'd get away with this experiment now without attracting much attention from MI5 and the Special Branch, since the material which Ray Allcock mentions, is highly explosive, and can be turned most easily into an IED.