Experiments with organic fertilizers on zinnia seedlings

When is more too much?

I potted up 10 zinnia seedlings into 5 different soil types and organic fertilizer mixes.

Here’s what’s in each pot:

A= Pittmoss Plentiful

B= Pittmoss Plentiful and Gaia Green 4-4-4, 2 teaspoon per 1000ml soil

C= Pittmoss Plentiful and 1 tablespoon Down to Earth Fish Powder 12-1-1, 1 teaspoon Maxicrop soluble seaweed powder per gallon of water

D= Custom soil mix: 2 parts: Coco, Pittmoss • 1 part: castings, pearlite, vermiculite • 30ml per gallon mix of Gaia 4-4-4

E= Custom soil mix and 1 tablespoon Down to Earth Fish Powder 12-1-1, 1 teaspoon Maxicrop soluble seaweed powder per gallon of water

Turns out that zinnias don’t like much fertilizer! As you can see from left to right the fertilizer amounts start to ramp up and that’s where the leaves start to get weird. In the photo below you can see how the leaves start to fold up and are turning yellow.

I’ll be growing these zinnia out for a few more weeks to see what happens as they age, but with zinnias less is more.