Southern Excellence - experiences? - 07/08/03 06:03 PM
I bought a pallet of Southern Excellence this in February and thought I'd post my experience with it. I'd like to get some other's feedback as well.
It doesn't really dissolve very well in colder water. I found that it works best in water temps over 75 degrees. Initial fertilization was completed with liquid 11-37-0 as usual for me.
In the few smaller tanks that I used it exclusively, a decent bloom was established, but it required about twice as much product as expected. When the bucket was used to maintain the bloom established using 11-37-0, I had better success.
Another problem I found with it was that the product doesn't completely dissolve out of the bucket. There's usually about a third of a bucket of "mush" that continues to leak out for a while if the bucket is removed from the water. This mush can't be poured out because of the packing peanuts added to the bucket to promote mixing. So the bucket has to be set on the bank to dry out 'til the next visit. While this is no problem for a do-it-yourselfer, most clients don't like it laying on the bank, so I have to toss it in a tub in the back of my truck. Messy.
The few folks who've used it on there own haven't been back asking me for more. That's usually a bad sign also.
This is not a condemnation of Southern Excellence. It does have the advantage that you can remove it from the pond if the bloom gets too hot. No other fertilizer technique will allow that. It's also easy to use and doesn't require any equipment. In short, it is a product aimed directly at the small pond owner who likes to do things for themselves with a minimum of hassle.
In my experience though, Southern Excellence comes up short on cost and ease of use (disposal problems) for those managing multiple lakes.
It doesn't really dissolve very well in colder water. I found that it works best in water temps over 75 degrees. Initial fertilization was completed with liquid 11-37-0 as usual for me.
In the few smaller tanks that I used it exclusively, a decent bloom was established, but it required about twice as much product as expected. When the bucket was used to maintain the bloom established using 11-37-0, I had better success.
Another problem I found with it was that the product doesn't completely dissolve out of the bucket. There's usually about a third of a bucket of "mush" that continues to leak out for a while if the bucket is removed from the water. This mush can't be poured out because of the packing peanuts added to the bucket to promote mixing. So the bucket has to be set on the bank to dry out 'til the next visit. While this is no problem for a do-it-yourselfer, most clients don't like it laying on the bank, so I have to toss it in a tub in the back of my truck. Messy.
The few folks who've used it on there own haven't been back asking me for more. That's usually a bad sign also.
This is not a condemnation of Southern Excellence. It does have the advantage that you can remove it from the pond if the bloom gets too hot. No other fertilizer technique will allow that. It's also easy to use and doesn't require any equipment. In short, it is a product aimed directly at the small pond owner who likes to do things for themselves with a minimum of hassle.
In my experience though, Southern Excellence comes up short on cost and ease of use (disposal problems) for those managing multiple lakes.