On 7 Nov 05 at 11:52, Mary Sue Ittner wrote: > A number of years ago Diana Chapman recommended tomato > fertilizer as an excellent source of fertilizer for bulbs. I > believe she mentioned a ratio of 5-10-10. Others have > continued to repeat this advice. I began to look for tomato > fertilizer and never found any in the ratio she recommended. I > found huge variations in the ingredients of what was referred > to as tomato fertilizer. They were not all low in nitrogen. If > Diana and I both live in California and there is this huge > difference just in our state, think how that could be > magnified around the world. I'm not sure what would be the > best common denominator when explaining what to look for. Is > the ratio of Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium everywhere? We get a soluble tomato fertilizer here with the analysis 7-28-28. They are low in nitrogen relative to the other principal nutrients, not absolutely. When I apply this to potted bulbs, I use something like 1/4 the recommended strength. Tomato fertilizer, at least the ones I'm familiar with, have added calcium to prevent blossom end rot. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island