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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 3, 2023 3:23:16 GMT -6
I've been nursing my last bag of ammonium nitrate fertilizer for most of the past 20 years. It's nearly gone now. Needless to say, I use it rarely and sparingly, but how can I get more? I don't seem to be able to find it available, anywhere. 20 or 40 lbs would probably last me another 20 years. I find it indispensable, at certain times, for certain plants. A very purified form is a common ingredient in many asceptic culture media.
Does anyone know where/how to get some?
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Feb 3, 2023 5:10:01 GMT -6
Populate your google search with the words “ammonium nitrate lab” and you can find small quantities of the Kablooey (unblended) type sold for lab use. Too many fert. Plants went kablooey over the last 2 years.
The blended (non-kablooey) types are still around in 50# bags, those intended for agricultural use.
Urea nitrogen is more common but limited. All is expensuv!
When I started gardening more than a decade past, I couldn’t afford a stupid $4 for a bag of nitrogen. I’ve lived without since for Ag use. Last spring, Atwood’s was selling 20# bags of blended nitro for $35.00 Honestly, I was surprised to see it in stock.
The shortages are real. If you find what you’re looking for, nab it in any quantities imho.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 3, 2023 5:44:23 GMT -6
Wow, the best one I found, that would ship to me was 30g (or a tiny bit more than 1 ounce) for $4.50 - shipping not included. I think I paid about the same amount for a 100 lb bag about 25 years ago. What a change in price and availability. Most searches for ammonium nitrate just bring up urea or ammonium sulfate. Not really good substitutes.
I suppose, when I'm ready to make up my own MS or Knudson asceptic nutrient media, it would be easier to get the appropriate media pre-blended in dry form, then just add my own water. I had access to the NMSU lab equipment the last time I blended my own. I just bought small jars of lab grade ingredients, then used the very delecate scale to weight out the appropriate tiny amounts of each ingredient. The beauty of blending your own is that you can tweak any of the ingredients, to your own purposes. Pre-blended, you're stuck with what you get, unless you, perhaps choose to add to it.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Feb 3, 2023 9:09:11 GMT -6
I pray I’m wrong, but I suspect availability will continue to diminish and prices elevate higher. As smaller ag fails, big Ag will gobble it all up leaving little to none for retail. Not soon for OKlahoma, I don’t think. It’s a different stroke for each state and geography. I joke about building a security enforced fortress over my compost piles in years to come.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 3, 2023 10:17:47 GMT -6
Those prices make my 100 lb bag, worth $7,200.00, and that's before shipping - wow. I should have bought a dozen bags, 25 years ago. I could be selling them now and making a fortune.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 3, 2023 13:20:48 GMT -6
Wow, back in the '80s we'd buy that stuff 3 tons at a time to spread on our 60-acre hay meadow. We'd have to drive all the way to Wagoner to get it from the train depot. They'd mix it on-site. It was kept in separate bays until you pulled in with your trailer. Pulling that big-wheeled fertilizer trailer full of fertilizer for that many miles down the highway was scary stuff. Not because of the explosive potential, but because the trailer was so squirrely with 6,000 pounds of weight in it. The pril of ag grade wasn't such that it would readily absorb diesel, so it was fairly stable to transport.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 3, 2023 13:36:45 GMT -6
So approximately $432,000 worth (or almost 1/2 million dollars worth) at the prices we have here. It probably didn't cost anywhere near that amount, back then.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Feb 3, 2023 15:31:16 GMT -6
Wow, back in the '80s we'd buy that stuff 3 tons at a time to spread on our 60-acre hay meadow. We'd have to drive all the way to Wagoner to get it from the train depot. They'd mix it on-site. It was kept in separate bays until you pulled in with your trailer. Pulling that big-wheeled fertilizer trailer full of fertilizer for that many miles down the highway was scary stuff. Not because of the explosive potential, but because the trailer was so squirrely with 6,000 pounds of weight in it. The pril of ag grade wasn't such that it would readily absorb diesel, so it was fairly stable to transport.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 3, 2023 16:40:48 GMT -6
I don't think we ever paid more than $200.00 per ton for our fertilizer. We haven't bought any in a long time though. I have no idea what it costs in bulk anymore? We've been using chicken litter since about 2010. The most I ever paid for chicken litter was $15.00 per ton.
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