Fertilizer + TE

[JesseFrank]

I just purchased some fertilizer for my lawn and it says 16-16-16 + TE.

Farm shop had of course no idea what the TE stands for. Some googling indicates that it stands for Trace Elements, but little information is available.

Is this TE a favorable thing for my lawn or is it neglectable ?

[Scoop1]

Hi JesseFrank, the 16-16-16 is the percentage of the 3 major macro elements, 16% Nitrogen - 16% Phosphorous - 16% Potassium and the +TE as you said, is the trace elements, and it certainly will help your lawn, and will probably contain, Manganese, Boron, Zinc, Copper, and Molybdenum.

Cheers

Scoop

Edited March 26, 2014 by Scoop1

[namdocmai]

Haha, of course they have no idea what TE means, they don't know anything, not even which plants they are selling. Even when you explain to them that you need to know the variety of the plant just like there are many different mango's they still look at you like you are from the moon.

It is hard to buy or use trace elements in Thailand, all labels are in Thai language only, even from big brands like Bayer.

Seaweed is a great source of organic trace elements, but i gave up on finding that in Thailand. The only way to find it is in the supermarket.

[JesseFrank]

Hi JesseFrank, the 16-16-16 is the percentage of the 3 major macro elements, 16% Nitrogen - 16% Phosphorous - 16% Potassium and the +TE as you said, is the trace elements, and it certainly will help your lawn, and will probably contain, Manganese, Boron, Zinc, Copper, and Molybdenum.

Cheers

Scoop

Thanks for the explanation. Shame that the ingredients are not specified on the bag.

it says it c ontains 3% CaCo3 as well but not exactly the contains of the TE.

Last time they had a bag that had a list of the trace elements and their specific content printed on the bag, but that wasn't available anymore.

[Scoop1]

Hi JesseFrank, CaCo3 = Calcium Carbonate

Cheers

Scoop

[Evilbaz]

Calcium is good for tomatoes and some other vegetables.

Trace elements are good for all (mostly depleted) soils here.

Seaweed extract is great - like a tonic for plants (never seen it here yet).

[JesseFrank]

I suspect that the Trace element content of the fertilizer is only very little. Are trace elements only available in Thailand, and is it important for a lawn that they receive big amounts of it ?

[Evilbaz]

I suspect that the Trace element content of the fertilizer is only very little. Are trace elements only available in Thailand, and is it important for a lawn that they receive big amounts of it ?

No.

The clue is in the "Trace" Elements - naturally occurring in small traces.

[rice555]

Hello All, if you buy a major brand fertilizer you should be able to find out what is

in by the package/box info, such as WESCO fertilizers, they do answer their @'s

if you have a question about their products.

If you just buying a plastic with with no info on, good luck.

First pic is what basic micros are, but TE's are more spelled out in the product

info, if it doesn't say, don't buy it.

rice555

[JesseFrank]

Hello All, if you buy a major brand fertilizer you should be able to find out what is

in by the package/box info, such as WESCO fertilizers, they do answer their @'s

if you have a question about their products.

If you just buying a plastic with with no info on, good luck.

First pic is what basic micros are, but TE's are more spelled out in the product

info, if it doesn't say, don't buy it.

rice555

The bag I have is fopm Pravitgroup and is called Super Nova.

it says 16-16-16

0.2 % Mgo

3.0 % CaCo3

But doesn't show any trace element content .

Well, it says quality you can trust, and since it is a Thai company we all know you can rely on that.

Edited March 27, 2014 by JesseFrank

[JesseFrank]

And the website also doesn't make one much wiser.

http://pravitgroup.co.th/?p=797〈=en

[cooked]

My posting here 'Iron deficiency' got a lot of results and I actually managed to find a packet of stuff that only contains trace elements. (thanks guys).

I am surprised that your lawn fertiliser contains CaCO3 as most grasses prefer a slightly acidic environment. Iron (Fe) is also an essential ingredient of lawn fertiliser, MgO is also desirable

16-16-16 + TE.seems like an odd combination also, generally they have the accent on Nitrogen for quick results. Dunno, maybe there is a danger of too much cheap Nitrogen burning the lawn..