I have had an accident with a large bucket of fertiliser..,help needed

[Jeannine Anne]

Last week I had a full hospital day and my 'kind' next door neighbor decided to would be a good idea to water my plants as it was a hot day. He however also went in my greenhouse and set up a sprinkler. I never do that myself and thankfully my plants seem to have made it through an afternoon of showering but not so the open 5 gallon bucket of very expensive Galia organic fertilizer that was sitting in there. It was 3/4 full and when I got home and turned off the sprinker the bucket was completely full to the top with water..

Does anyone have any idea how I can still use it or should I just chuck it.. It seem such a waste of money ..???/

XX Jeannine

[Danny]

Ouch. Did the product settle/separate to water/ content, any or does it seem to be an extremely strong tea now?

I would contact galia for their recommendation for a more sure knowledge of what to do. But, me being frugal, even though the time release thing is probably gone with the watering, I would take some out at a time and dilute it much further and use it. YMMV, I just throwing stuff away that might be salvageable. I haven't used those products, so have no first hand knowledge of how intense they might be.

Head office

TOLL FREE: 1-800-634-9990

MAIL@GAIAGREEN.COM

Hydrofarm US: 1510 Main St, Shoemakersville, PA 19555

Hydrofarm CAN: 15030 54A Avenue, Unit 103
Surrey B.C., V3S 5X7

[bower]

Oh dear!
I have no experience with the Gaia product but I see online that their 4-4-4 is made with 'organic products and rock dust'.
This would suggest the potassium is in the form of potash rock dust. Just thinking about the different solubility of the nutrients, where N is always the most soluble. So IDK what the balance of nutrients would be, if you decided to use the liquid, but perhaps higher in N and lower in P and K. Potash rock afaik is the least soluble form, recommended for long term such as planting trees.

I have had this happen before with small amounts of organic ferts (bone meal, chicken pellet, pelletized lime) that got rain in. What happens is that they will dry out as the water evaporates, leaving a solid lump of material hard to break up.
Letting it dry out is your best bet for retaining the balance of NPK, But be advised it may be more difficult to apply.
You might watch for it to get to a thick slurry stage, then spread it in a flat open tray and stir periodically to break up in smaller pieces.

The other alternative for badly damaged ferts is to apply in the garden, somewhere that exact amounts or finely broken and mixed particles don't matter so much. I have some odds and ends of stuff, I thought I might apply around my currant bushes. They don't get a lot of care, so hopefully they might take it as a treat.

[Jeannine Anne]

Ouch. Did the product settle/separate to water/ content, any or does it seem to be an extremely strong tea now?

I would contact galia for their recommendation for a more sure knowledge of what to do. But, me being frugal, even though the time release thing is probably gone with the watering, I would take some out at a time and dilute it much further and use it. YMMV, I just throwing stuff away that might be salvageable. I haven't used those products, so have no first hand knowledge of how intense they might be.

Head office

TOLL FREE: 1-800-634-9990

MAIL@GAIAGREEN.COM

Hydrofarm US: 1510 Main St, Shoemakersville, PA 19555

Hydrofarm CAN: 15030 54A Avenue, Unit 103
Surrey B.C., V3S 5X7

Thank you so much for the info, I will certainly contact them and will let you know.The description of an extremely strong tea looks just about right.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine Anne]

Oh dear!
I have no experience with the Gaia product but I see online that their 4-4-4 is made with 'organic products and rock dust'.
This would suggest the potassium is in the form of potash rock dust. Just thinking about the different solubility of the nutrients, where N is always the most soluble. So IDK what the balance of nutrients would be, if you decided to use the liquid, but perhaps higher in N and lower in P and K. Potash rock afaik is the least soluble form, recommended for long term such as planting trees.

I have had this happen before with small amounts of organic ferts (bone meal, chicken pellet, pelletized lime) that got rain in. What happens is that they will dry out as the water evaporates, leaving a solid lump of material hard to break up.
Letting it dry out is your best bet for retaining the balance of NPK, But be advised it may be more difficult to apply.
You might watch for it to get to a thick slurry stage, then spread it in a flat open tray and stir periodically to break up in smaller pieces.

The other alternative for badly damaged ferts is to apply in the garden, somewhere that exact amounts or finely broken and mixed particles don't matter so much. I have some odds and ends of stuff, I thought I might apply around my currant bushes. They don't get a lot of care, so hopefully they might take it as a treat.

Hi, thank you also for the help, I may just let it dry out and try and break it up,, but will try contacting the maker first.

Generally I pop a small handful in a planting hole maybe if a bit chunky if would disintegrate in time ????

I did think about chucking it all on the lawn while it is full of water but it seems such a waste.

Hopefully the gentle chat I had with my neighbor will prevent this happening again.

Thank you again.

XX Jeannine

[ManceJoan]

Oof, that’s rough — I’ve had something similar happen with liquid kelp before. If the fertilizer was concentrated and now diluted by the sprinkler water, you might still be able to use it, but you'll need to treat it as a very mild solution.

Maybe try using it on non-sensitive plants first and observe how they respond? Also give it a good stir or aerate it a bit to prevent anaerobic bacteria from building up if it's been sitting. Definitely don't chuck it just yet — organic fertilizers can still hold value even when diluted. Hope that helps!

[Jeannine Anne]

Actually I have had to chuck it, I opened the shed where it was in a bucket last week and almost was knocked down by the smell, there was no way I could deal with it, it smelled like a very large animal had died in there, The now sealed bucket is out of the shed but never to be opened again. I have since bought a new batch. It was tough and I hate waste but that bucket of stuff was way beyond usable.

[bower]

If you could find a place to bury it on a cold day, that would be a last resort, that it's not utterly wasted.

I have a cautionary tale about ferts that are spoiling and sealed in a bucket.
One spring my friend got a large amount of spoiling shellfish waste gifted to the farm, and brought me a couple buckets of 'stinky present'. I didn't get all of it in the ground before hot weather set in, so the remaining partial bucket was sealed to contain the stink pending some other season.
On a hot day in July, the roses were in full bloom and the garden and the whole area was filled with their beautiful scent. My neighbors were having a party on the deck, I could hear them enjoying themselves as I puttered around quietly in the garden. When suddenly the waft of foul odor swept over us. Sure enough the heat had caused things to heat up and popped the lid on the bucket. Trust me, there's nothing more foul than shrimp waste heated to lid popping temperatures. I struggled to get the lid back onto it, with much difficulty and a long stinky struggle.
The party fell silent. I guess all hands fled to the indoors in horror. I was horrified and shamed.
These neighbors have my forever thanks, for never complaining and for keeping some wonderful large barn cats which prowl my place for rodents.

Anyway trust me you don't want to keep that sealed bucket around until the weather really heats up.

[Danny]

Sorry, for the laughing/crying thing, but I could picture both posts happenings and even with my sympathy for you both, I did laugh, thinking mostly of the party guests suddenly going quiet....

[Jeannine Anne]

The bucket is going at the weekend ,courtesy of a friend who offered to dispose of it and it is well away from anything right now, I have it tucked in the cool under the privet hedging. After reading about the seafood explosion I was very worried as it is very hot here right now. Thank you Bower, that did not occur to me and I am so sorry you had to learn the hard way.I owe you!!. Danny you are forgiven for laughing. I will join in after the weekend .

[Danny]

Ahh, Jeanine Anne, it is a shame it has to be not used, but I can understand the problem. I have mixed up some things in a bucket to ummm, rot together for the garden and it can get quite fragrant. Alfalfa pellets with stuff and fish guts, allowed to ferment is so good for many shrubs, trees and roses, but after adding the water and a ten day workings with some 100F heat, and you could stop a rhino ! Spreading it out I'd hope for a sinus problem .

[Jeannine Anne]

Danny I can just see my naughty wee Chihuahua Mathilda rolling in the spot...it went early by the way..today, including the bucket..