# EI liquid ferts to feed bonsai trees and indoor plants?



## Halley (4 Aug 2017)

Hi,
I recently bought a bonsai tree and I was wondering whether it was possible to use EI liquid ferts to fertilise it? Can I use EI solutions for wabi kusa as well? 


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## jon nash (4 Aug 2017)

bonsai should have low nitrate as it burns the roots. seaweed fert is best


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## Halley (5 Aug 2017)

Thanks - this may be a silly question but can you just lower the amount of nitrate in a EI solution?


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## zozo (5 Aug 2017)

Why not just use aquarium water for Wabi Kusa or yuor bonsai..  Since you weekly water change, store it instead of throwing it in the sinc..  If you do IE in the tank, it will still have ferts enough.. Since it is all about reseting the water volume in the tank to not get to much in there.


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## Halley (5 Aug 2017)

Thanks - I will probably do that. I suppose I am still wondering why EI can't be used on non-aquatic plants - is it because the salts burn or the levels are too high?


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## zozo (5 Aug 2017)

If you take the tank water for that you are using the EI salts. There is no reason why you can't use ie salts, ofcourse you can.. But if you have an aquarium and do weekly water change, why make an extra batch for terrestrial plants out of the dry salts and throw the aquarium water away?

But terrestrial plants don't have a water column to feed from, all ferts are in the soil.. This soils has a buffering capacity and contains bacteria.. That is why terrestrial ferts often contain urea or ammonia based nitrate.. The soil buffers it and the bacteria converts it, it is a more readily available source and more beneficial for a fast growing terrestrial plants. This is a some what different process than in an aquarium. Tho in the aquarium occurs the same if you put in urea or ammonia based nitrates, but this stuff can be toxic to aquatic life next to plants. So it actualy works other way around, you rather should't use ferts made for terrestrial plants in an aquarium.

A bottle of liquid terrestrial ferts also is compossed out of dry salts.

So back to using aquarium water to water terrestrial plants, it could be the case it still aint enough, depending on the plant you feed with it..  But putting some slow release fert pellets in the soil can overcome this problem if the plant tells you it still aint happy with old aquarium water only.


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## Halley (5 Aug 2017)

Thanks for the knowledgeable reply but do you not just have the same problem using aquarium water as using EI ferts solution? I.e.- the lack of urea or ammonia based nitrate


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## zozo (5 Aug 2017)

It all depends on the plant you want to feed with it and how depended it is on nitrates.. If it is a rather fast growing plant t likely needs a lot of it since nitrate is one of the plants main building blocks. So lets say if you want to grow fat tomatoes, yu likely wil need to add extra ferts..  Is it about regular house plant, these are usualy not the fastest growing plants and can do rather a long periode with the organic ferts already available from the soil in the pot.

Using urea is not a necessity, it just is a different biological process in the soil how nitrates are made out of it which is more beneficial for the plants. There for it is very popular to use on crops etc.. It's difficult to explain in a nutshell what this excactly is.. But as said for a regular houseplant aint such a big deal, these are mainly shade loving rather slow growing tropicals by origine already growing on lean forrest peat soils.. They do not need a bomshell of ferts 

If you have Ferns, bromelias, orchids, anthuriumsetc. they could even get to much if you feed them every week and need a rather special fert mixture. 

So yes you can use your dry salts also but first you need to investigate what  plant do you like to feed.. If you feed an Orchid with the ferts mixed to grow a tomato, the orchid will be dead in a day or 2..


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## Halley (5 Aug 2017)

Ok - I think I'll just use the aquarium water 


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## alto (6 Aug 2017)

What sort of bonsai tree is this? If it's a "true" bonsai, care (& trimming) is rather specialized - I'd check the bonsai forums


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## Halley (6 Aug 2017)

Chinese elm - not sure if that's a true bonsai?


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## zozo (6 Aug 2017)

Bonsai is a manicure style or beter to say tradition. It can be done with about any tree.. Some are more popular because of the grow characteristics and easier to get that distinct bonsai look.. It the shape and style making it a bonsai not the sp.

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/best-fertilizer-for-chinese-elm.7135/

Fertilizing any plant in pot is always a tricky thing to give a strict conclusive answer to..

In general the most important part of the fertilizer is the NPK (Macro) contents. These are always labled in numbers for example 15-15-15 or 7-14-28. This tells you the amount of N-P-K.. Depending on sp. you want to grow some need a lot N others hate it.. Flowering plants need a higher PK contents than non flowering plants. Flowering plants like a lot of N in their vegitative periode when they need to grow mass, the period they are flowring N should be reduced P-K should be upped to get beter results.

There are many different combinations of NPK contents around, all depending on what you like to grow.. 15-15-15 for example is ideal for lush grass lands.. 7-14-28 is ideal for flowring plants during their flowering periode. 

Than there are artificial fast release fertilizers and biological slow release fertilizers. 

The fast release fertilizers are the salts disolved in water..The pro is it is readily available to the plant for quick results. The con is, it contains lots of salts, putting a lot of this in the soil will in the end cause a salt accumulation making the soil salty and useless.. No problem for fruiting annual plants only living one season, you start over each year with a fresh setup.. If you would give this a lot to a perrenial plant standing several years on the same soil/pot. Than you would need to replace this soil when it becomes over saturated with salts. So for perinnials like a tree in a container it is beter to use an organic slow release fert instead to keep the soil long term healthy.

It is a lot, to take in.. That's what makes the house plant nurseries flourish and survive.. People do not take it in, they put in what ever is provided and what ever the manual says.. Mainly easy fast release ferts once a month all summer long.. Making the plant do good for a periode and than likely will die off if the soils isn't replaced. And than you buy a new one.. Circle is round again. But if you like you and with the proper care you can have the same house plant for many years if not decades in the same pot.. I have a few which are over 15 years old and still in the same soil.  And actualy not getting ferts that often. Maybe twice in the summer, as long  as they look healthy it's ok.

This is a bit in a nutshell, there is much more, many books are written about it.. About impossible to put it in a nutshell, even a bag of nuts wouldn't be enough..


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## Easternlethal (13 Sep 2017)

I use ei aquarium and fresh water for my bonsais, which work fine. Unlike aquariums you can repot them anytime so no need to guess. Plants are more susceptible to seasonal changes outside the tank anyway and will have different needs throughout. It will depend on what you want out of the plant. I repot mine after their winter trim in the spring if i want heavy growth in spring/summer. In winter I hardly do anything to them. I also bury dead fish and snails in my pots unless my shrimp get to them first.


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## foxfish (13 Sep 2017)

Halley said:


> Chinese elm - not sure if that's a true bonsai?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Fantastic tree, very hard to kill (unless you keep it inside) very easy to care for. Yes you can use your water change water if you like but there are other methods that might  work better for you depending what you want from your tree....


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## ceg4048 (13 Sep 2017)

Hello,
         In a nutshell, old tank water whether EI or not, is an excellent source of nutrition for any house plant or garden plant.
Also, to debunk a myth, NO3 does not burn roots. The burning occurs due to toxic Ammonia and Urea products contained in almost every terrestrial fertilizer product. NO3 consistently gets blamed for the crimes committed by NH3.

Cheers,


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## parotet (13 Sep 2017)

Hi all

I've been using for years the water from my tanks for watering my terrace plants... and also my orchids. Actually I always try to reuse as much water as I can. The only plants for which I don't use tanks' water are the ones in my vivarium, because some species (I.e. Miniature epiphytic orchids can be very sensitive to nutrients. I would not use it for carnivorous plants either...). But for most plants it's perfectly fine. I don't mind how much NPK or traces there is in the water, basically for two reasons. Firstly because it is a garden and not agricultural production, no pressure on yield threshold or similar, I just want the plants to look right. Secondly because those who believe that they know what they do by following gardening fertilizers directions are probably wrong... these products are really bad and there are also plenty of variables to really know what is uptaken by the plant and what is leached. But again who wants to perform a nutrient balance, it's just about watering and having nice plants, isn't it?

Jordi


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## foxfish (13 Sep 2017)

parotet said:


> , it's just about watering and having nice plants, isn't it?


With Bonsai, you are trying to keep the thing alive while you twist, chop & generally torture it into submission!


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