I'm having problems recently in locating a good 10-10-10 fertilizer that
1) Doesn't contain chlorine - I'm thinking major burn
2) Contains micronutrients.

I was looking at the Lowe's website and noticed they sell (at least online-I'm sure I can find it in my area) Ironite Plus Complete which is a 12-10-10 fertilizer with added micronutrients:
Iron: 12%
Zinc: 1%
Sulfur: 15%
Calcium: ?% (Doesn't say)
Magnesium: .5%
Manganese: .5%

On the bottom of their analysis it states: "Values for Iron, Zinc and Sulfur are total grades. Soluble grades, versions availble for immediate plant uptake, are 4.5% for Iron, .45% for Zinc and 5% for Sulfate Sulfur."

It states that it's completely organic and safe for humans, pets and the environment; which is good for me since my dog likes to lick my plants and nose in the dirt around them. (Apparently since I "dig", he can too)

Has anyone tried this and does this seem like a good fertilizer to use on my citrus (also on my nectarine and peach tree)?

Would the granules or liquid work better?
Here's a link: http://www.ironite.com/products.htm

BTW: I also found out yesterday that all of my trees on are on trifoliate rootstock. I asked the nursery-man about it, they come from a citrus nursery in S. Fl and they are all on that rootstock.

Thanks in advance!
Christine

I have since stopped using Ironite after researching all the other "hazardous" pollutants that came with it but are not required by law to be disclosed to the buying public.

Ironite comes from mine tailings. I guess anything that comes from earth or mined from it can be argued as "natural", and so are borax, lead and mercury which often comes from natural volcanic emissions.

While they make your plants green, those selling it are after another type of green from your pockets. Literally selling hazardous wastes to you to make your lawn greener and their pockets greener, everybody's a winner, right?

"It turns out that the ‘natural’ source for Ironite is derived from the tailings of a former silver mine in Arizona. Under any other circumstance the source for Ironite would be considered a hazardous waste, but a loophole in the federal law not only exempts mining wastes, but makes it difficult for states to regulate the sale of products made from them. Ironically, it is recommended that any unused Ironite should be handled as a hazardous waste when disposing." - Paul Szydlowski

To the credit of Ironite, it made my bananas greener and my lawn greener until the day I've read more about it. There are better and cheaper alternatives to ironite.

more opinions on hazardous wastes and fertilizers:
http://www.newfarm.org/depts/gleanings/0803/rutter.shtml

I am not against yard and organic wastes, even wastes from hog farm or chickens, steer manure, and the like, but it is the unlisted hazardous wastes that rides along under the guise of fertilizers:

"Since the late 1980s, when a majority of 116 nations at the Basel Convention voted to prevent the United States from exporting its hazardous waste to poorer countries under the guise of “fertilizer,” the agency has exploited, and even created, loopholes in Congressionally-mandated hazardous waste disposal regulations to allow pollution-producing industries, sewage treatment agencies, waste management companies, and the $60 billion-a-year fertilizer industry to dodge federal hazardous waste disposal laws, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

What this means is that any material containing elements beneficial to plant growth, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, chromium, manganese, copper, calcium, boron or sulfur, can be labeled and used as a fertilizer, regardless of its other contents. Industrial and mining wastes — including plutonium, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead, PCBs and dioxin — are taken from tailings, sumps, holding ponds, furnaces, and even captured from pollution control devices, and legally sold to fertilizer companies or spread directly on farmland. Sewage sludge, which may contain dangerous levels of pathogens, as well as PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, asbestos, industrial solvents, petroleum products, radioactive material and heavy metals, can also be sold to home gardeners and farmers as fertilizer, and spread on public lands such as golf courses, parks and playgrounds." - Diane Olson Rutter

Thanks JoeReal for all that information. Wow. I had no idea on what was in Ironite or what it was made from. Now that I think of it, the name does sound industrial.
It sounded so good at first, but once again I am in search of the best fertilizer to use on my trees.

I don't understand that if they know it's potentially hazardous waste material from mining operations, regardless of how pretty they make the packaging look or what it's called. It is what it is.

Another alternative to try is the Tomato Fertilizer from Green All. Although slightly more expensive, it does have almost all of the nutrients needed by citruses, including Magnesium and Iron.

I have mixed the 6-20-20XB (XB means it has a lot of minors) fertilizer from BEST, and ammonium sulfate mixed in 50-50. All very cheap if bought in 50-lb bags. Sometimes I mixed these unto the composted steer manure before applying. I also apply epsom salt as the combo don't have enough magnesium. These are the cheapest combo that I can find. The 50-lb bag of 6-20-20XB is $16, the ammonium sulfate is $5, and the 5-lb bag of epsom salt ist $2. I have 15 trunks of citruses in the ground (more than 60 cultivars), plus 10 potted citruses, and my $23 worth of fertilizer has lasted for more than 4 years.

Besides, what Joe stated above (I remember Joe also stating this on GW a year or so ago), 4.5% Iron is a very high amount of soluble iron to be giving to a Citrus tree. That amount of Iron might be OK for grass. - Millet

Millet and Joe:
Now that I have the Calcium nitrate and STEM, is there any other uses for them other than as an additice to the CHC final mix/rinse?

I was one of the original testers for Ironite on Citrus and
ornamental plants back in the days when I was a member
of the California Rare Fruit Growers. Under my watch
no sewage sludge was ever applied in the Central Valley
(Sacramento to Bakersfield) for edible and agronomic
crops. I let you people figure out what capacity I was in
for the state and it was more than one. I was in a delicate
situation as I was in an extension research capacity for
the state then and perhaps still am but I had production
Citrus of my own and managed and still do manage an
adjacent to my property Citrus grove.

I was given the liberty to make any comment I wanted
about the use of Ironite in its early, primitive form and
I was not one bit concerned about how the fertilizer came
about. Shoot, there are far worse things we play with most
everyday in our households and no one says a word about
them. Be that as it may, let me say this. The use of Ironite
as a standalone fertilizer may not yield immediate results
to clearing up a chlorosis problem in our Citrus. Mixed
in with other granular forms of fertilizer then we can see
some desired results. I am not persuaded to use much
iron or a high percentage of iron in an acid soil without
equal amounts of calcium and I think many soils in Florida
are on the acid side (in regards to the original question).
When we apply an iron sulfate our target soils generally
are the saline to alkaline soils which is why the Ironite
target for sales was right where I am. The original
premise of the fertilizer, as proposed to me, was to be
used as a mixer, to be mixed in with other granular
fertilizers to achieve a more uniform greening. I felt
at the time that as a supplemental fertilizer to my old
fertilizer regimen that I could treat Citrus that were
showing signs of chlorosis and bring them back to
color. I was able to do this with the use of Ironite
and I did not have to tell them how I did it either.
I am not going to go into those details as to how
I did it or how long it took but my conclusion was
that Ironite used as a fertilizer supplement did have
a practical application to Agriculture. So, I guess
some of you can blame me for my involvement with
this chemical in its early days. I have no regrets and
I was not paid for my testing either but was supplied
with ample amounts of fertilizer for two years to carry
out my own experiments.

Snickles

Interesting stuff JoeReal & Snickles. Thanks for sharing the info!

bencelest wrote:

Millet and Joe: Now that I have the Calcium nitrate and STEM, is there any other uses for them other than as an additice to the CHC final mix/rinse?

I'd like to know this too.
Joe, is ammonium sulfate nitrogen? I notice the ferts you use have less N.

Snickles, although I do not live in Florida, my guess is that Florida soils are not generally acidic. Perhaps Dr. Manners can clear this up. Also by mixing Ironite with other fertilizers, presumably fertilizers that did not contain iron, you were actually reducing the iron percentage down from 4.5% I agree there are many products that we use that are more toxic than Ironite, however, Joe Real is correct in his claim that a lot of industrial products that cannot be moved for sale from the generating site under EPA (regretably started by a Republican president), can legally be sold as a profit center when marketed as "fertilizers." I myself have never use Ironite. I only use chelated iron.- Millet

Patty, ammonium sulfate is 21% elemental nitrogen by weight. It is not the % of nitrogen a fertilizer that really matters but the total weight of the elemental nitrogen fertilizer that you place in the root zone of the soil. You will need % data in your total weight calculation for sure, the starting point of calculations.

Thanks Joe but you lost me a little with the wording LOL. Now I remember that I told you I have bloodmeal that is 12-0-0. You mentioned ammonium sulfate & said it's cheaper then blood meal & I'd have to use twice as much to your 21%... is that right? Am. sulfate wuold be 21-0-0 (?) I don't know where to get ammonium sulfate

Yes, that's right Patty. Reason why sometimes we have low percentage formulations is that it will be gentler for the plants if not concentrated. But if you know the properties of your fertilizer and how to use them properly, % will not matter except for calculating the requirements and price per unit weight of nutrients that matter.

You can get ammonium sulfate from Home Depot, go to the lawn fertilizer section. Also available from Ace Hardware, same section to where the lawn fertilizers are, and they are the cheapest priced fertilizers from these retail stores. When I used to buy them from an ag supply store as a graduate student, they just cost about $1.49 per 50 lb bag. From the retail stores, they are about $3.99 for a 25-lb bag but maybe cheaper when on sale.

Don't get anything with "feed and weed" or "weed and feed" label on them because ammonium sulfate sits next to these types of fertilizers, these are very hazardous to your broadleaf plants, especially citruses.

Patty, calcium nitrate is an EXCELLENT fertilizer for tomatoes. In greenhouse tomato culture calcium nitrate is one of THE fertilizers used. Without doing a lot of thinking, calcium nitrate is perhaps the only fertilizer with water soluble calcium. I buy it by the 80-lb. bag for my greenhouse tomatoes. I just ripped out three tomato vines that were growing up a trellis that were over 20 feet long. - Millet