Subject: TKO what is it used for?
My question is TKO just a fungicide or is it a fertilizer as well? TKO is not cheap. I have other fungicides I can use. I want something that can help add pound.
That question is of that kind like "Vitamin C, is it medicine or is it food? I want something to add pounds!" Well, Vitamin C isn´t food and isn´t medicine, it won´t let you add pounds (no food) and it won´t cure the worst diseases, but it´s still a good idea to have some of it in yourr diet. With TKO (phosphite) it´s similar (in my opinion), it´s not a fertilizer for adding pounds, it´s not a heavy duty fungicide, but it´s good for keeping the plant healthy, and it´s the latter which actually helps your pumpkin add pounds.
Great question, but how is something that is 0-29-26 not a heavy fertilizer for pounds?
0-29-26 sounds like a heavy fertilizer, but it also depends on the amounts applied. For the good action of the phosphite you only need to apply rather small amounts, and the potassium contained in this load would merely make a marginal contribution to the overall potassium uptake of the plant.
Back to the Vitamin C comparison example, in TKO it would be like some kind of sweet vitamin C, some kind of candy which maybe contains 5 g of sugar and 100 mg of vitamin C. You could use it as a heavy fertilizer (high energy food, eating many of them), but you actually apply small amounts (one a day) and the energy content would make only a marginal contribution to the energy uptake with your daily diet.
Thank you everyone for your input. Pumpking I understand the vitiman C analogy. I will purchase the TKO and give it a go.
What’s the rate? I still don’t get how it’s a light fertilizer unless it’s something like 1/8 tsp per gallon.
The application rate can be found somewhere in a data sheet with the product, I´m sure, and I guess here on BP many growers have already given hints at their application rates. To make it simple, just for the sake of a rough estimate (not as a recommendation for application), let´s assume we would use 0.2% TKO solution both for foliar spray and for drenches. Foliar spray fortnightly (half gallon per plant), drenches twice a year, 20 gallons per plant.
For the drenches that would amount to 40 gallons, which means you add ca. 0.20 - 0.25 lbs of potassium to the whole plant area. If this plant covers 500 sqft and has roots on that area into a depth of 1.5 ft, i.e. in a soil volume of 750 cubic ft. That should be something like 33.000 lbs of soil, and with a potassium content of maybe 400 ppm the soil volume in which the plant grows roots already contains about 13.2 lbs of potassium. Hence, the 0.2 - 0.25 lbs added through the TKO application doesn´t make a great contribution.
With foliar application (maybe 6 times, i.e. 3 gallons in total) you add about 0.02 lbs of potassium to the plant. Assuming that the whole plant incl. fruit has a weight of maybe 2200 lbs and a potassium content of 0.2%, that would mean the whole plant contains 4.4 lbs of potassium. The 0.02 lbs added via foliar spray don´t make a great contribution, and most of it has to come through the roots, and from the root zone the already high K-content of the soil makes a much greater contribution than the fraction added through TKO drenches.
Sorry if this sounds too confusing.
Wallace sells it on his site, hopefully he'll comment. We use it in our fungicide rotation here, not my fertilizer rotation. I'd like to hear from Ron or someone more educated on the product then myself. I just know it works very good for battling disease in my patch.
This year I'm dealing with a little bacteria so I'm applying copper often,,, because of this I haven't been using it until I figure out whats going on.
I am sure it's a great product, just trying to grasp since I am looking at a per gallon answer. Take a 0-10-10 that is 1 tablespoon per gallon, and if TKO is 1 tablespoon per gallon, wouldn't that make TKO a heavier fert?
Not trying to argue, I really am confused by how such high numbers aren't ferts unless it is a very low dosage per gallon.
Pumpking is definitely on the right track, but I think the label is a little misleading and could cause people to use this as a pure PK fertilizer. This is a phosphite, which is more soluble that phosphates, but not as usable to the plant. So, a foliar spray would be readily absorbed but the plant can only convert a limited amount into usable form. It does have fungicidal effects but should be thought of more as a biostimulant. There have been studies that show negative and toxic effects when used in place of phosphates.
Yes to the vitamin C analogy, but beware of using as a phospate replacement.
Thanks fellas, starting to digest the input.
Spence said one of the biggest points " if no need for copper fungicides bacteria struggles.
Having bacterial issues I need to really watch when using TKO.
"1 US teaspoon is about 5 milliliters and 1/6 of fluid ounces."
"Rate of application for foliar spray is 1/3 - 2/3 fluid ounces. For soil drench it is 1/8 - 1/4 fluid ounces per gallon of water. For irrigation, it is 1-2 quarts per 100 gallons of water."
if i even were using it and wanted to do 1/4 oz./gallon of water, i'd go (2 tbsp. =1 oz. =6 tsp.) so 1/4 of that is 1.5 teaspoons.
please look it over and consider your measurement of your product.
Hey Luke, it’s a powerful fertilizer that also boosts the plants own immune system to fight off disease.
1/4 oz per gallon foliar is the recommended rate, and that makes it about 200-250 ppm when mixed.
I put about 6 oz of TKO in 50 gallons of water and it was 300 ppm, about as powerful a mixture as I like to feed.
Yes, pumpkinpal2’s calculations are correct as per the label.
I always use PPM (parts per million) as my guideline as well as the recommended rate on the label. Right now I am only feeding at 300 ppm high was 6 oz TKO for 50 gallons of water and the r commended rate on the label is 12 oz for 50 gallons.
I’m a “less-on” kinda grower and very carful with chelated nutrinds like Growth Products and other goodies we use. I do not allow myself to be a “more-on” grower as that usually ends badly for my plants.
A PPM Meter is a cheap and useful tool for any grower and worth the money.
FYI, Miracle Grow or Peters 20-20-20 mixed at the “recommended rate” on the label is 1500 ppm when mixed with water and in my garden, nothing gets applied at 1500 ppm, at most 600-800 ppm just on a more regular basis....spoon feeding.
Cheap and easy TDS Meter for your Parts Per Million measuring.
more-on, less-on, relating to any mor/on learning a less/on!