Espoma and Bloom
Espoma is the home garden’s slow-release dry feed, soils and pH fixes. Bloom is weekly liquid additives for growers who feed through water. Different shelves that meet in the same garden.
Last checked 5 November 2026 · Public information only
This Fit Report is a summary of publicly available information about Espoma and its products, taken from their own website, labels and published material as of 5 November 2026. We’ve linked each source so you can check it yourself. Rates are as printed on each company’s own pages; we don’t show prices. It isn’t affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by Espoma, and product names belong to their owners. Products, rates and claims change, so please confirm current details with the manufacturer before making any decision. Spotted something out of date? Email nathan@bloomyellowbottles.com and we’ll correct it.
Dry feed in the bed, liquid tonics in the can.
Espoma’s core is the Tone line: dry organic plant foods with beneficial microbes, applied monthly or at planting. Their liquids (Grow!, Bloom!, Indoor! and others) go on every 2 to 4 weeks. Bloom’s range is all liquid and weekly. So the overlap is thin; it’s more a question of what a weekly watering can adds to a garden already fed with Tone (our read).
- Stays as is: the Tone foods, soils and mixes, Garden Lime, Soil Acidifier and the single ingredients.
- Both have one: a kelp input (their dry Kelp Meal, our liquid Seaweed).
- Not on their list: stage additives, a humic bottle, cal-mag, sea minerals, silica and foliar sprays.
Already covered
- Dry plant food. Garden-tone, Plant-tone, Flower-tone, Tomato-tone and the rest of the Tone line.
- Liquid plant food. Grow!, Bloom!, Indoor!, Tomato!, Orchid!, Cactus! and Violet!.
- Soils and mixes. Potting Mix, Seed Starter, garden soils, castings and compost.
- Soil pH and single ingredients. Garden Lime, Soil Acidifier, bone, blood and kelp meal.
Stays exactly as is
- The Tone foods. Bloom has no dry products.
- Soils and mixes. Bloom has no growing media.
- Lime and Acidifier. Bloom has no pH adjusters.
- Kelp Meal. Keep it at bed prep; Seaweed is a liquid for the season.
Espoma and Bloom in short
The Tone foods, Bio-tone, soils, liquids, Garden Lime and Soil Acidifier.
Kelp Meal and Bloom’s Seaweed: one dry, one liquid.
Humate, Cal-Mag, Silica, Seafuel, Sea Minerals, foliars and the Pre, Ultra and Final stage additives.
Their line, Bloom’s fit at a glance
Matched on job, not NPK. Espoma prints dry rates by cup and pound, and liquid rates per quart; Bloom prints ml per litre on a weekly feed chart. Tap a tag to filter.
Slow-release dry feed is Espoma’s core. Bloom’s liquids go on top.
A planting-day job Bloom doesn’t do.
Media stays with Espoma. Bloom works in soil, coco and hydro.
Soil pH correction stays on Espoma’s side.
One-bottle liquid feeds for home growers. Keep them; Bloom’s additives sit alongside.
Both are kelp. Espoma’s is a dry meal top-dressed; Bloom’s is a liquid in the weekly water.
10% humic acid on a weekly schedule. Espoma’s liquids carry humic acids as part of a blend.
Calcium and magnesium with iron and zinc, through the water. Garden Lime is a soil pH tool.
Potassium silicate, veg through early flower.
One additive for mid veg, one for the flip, one for the last two weeks.
Foliar sprays for veg and the flip, every few days as needed.
Tuna and kelp, and trace minerals from sea water.
Where the programs complement each other
Same shelf, different job
Espoma’s dry Tone foods are a garden centre staple. Bloom’s weekly liquids sit next to them without crowding: dry feed in the bed, tonic in the watering can (our read).
A weekly add-on to a monthly feed
Garden-tone and Flower-tone go on monthly. Seaweed, Humate and Cal-Mag go in the water at 1–2.5 ml/L weekly in between.
A plain guide for Tone users
A short how-to on adding liquid kelp and humic to a Tone-fed vegetable or flower bed would suit both audiences (our read).
Why each one fits
What the Bloom product does, the research behind that kind of input, and where it sits in a program that already runs.
Humic acid in the water
What it does. Humate is 10% humic acid at 2.5 ml/L weekly, from seedling through the flush.
A major review links humic substances to changes in root structure, including more lateral roots, and to nutrient uptake. It doesn’t test either company’s products.
How it stacks. Garden-tone’s page says it’s enhanced with humates, applied monthly as a dry feed. Humate is a weekly liquid dose on top of that, through the watering can (our read).
Kelp meal in the bed, kelp liquid in the can
What it does. Seaweed is southern bull kelp; Seafuel is tuna and kelp. Both 1 ml/L weekly: Seaweed seedling through the flush, Seafuel clone through late flower.
A 2021 review of seaweed extracts reports effects on root growth, nutrient uptake, flowering and stress tolerance. It doesn’t compare dry meal with liquid or test these products.
How it stacks. Espoma’s Kelp Meal is sprinkled on the soil and watered in. Seaweed goes in the weekly water. A grower could run both: dry meal at bed prep, liquid through the season (our read).
Cal-Mag, Silica and the foliars
What it does. Cal-Mag at 1 ml/L weekly, Silica at 0.33 ml/L weekly added first, and Groigen at 20 ml/L as a lights-off spray in veg, as needed.
A 2017 review covers how silicon eases salt, drought and heavy-metal stress and helps against fungal infection. It’s general plant science and doesn’t test Bloom’s Silica.
How it stacks. Espoma has no silica, liquid cal-mag or foliar spray on its product lists. These add a water and leaf side to a dry-fed garden (our read).
Where each bottle sits in the cycle
Espoma’s timing in grey, Bloom’s in yellow, across shared stages of the grow.
| Stage | Root | Veg | Flip | 3–4 | 5+ | Last 2 | Flush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espoma, per their pages | |||||||
| Bio-tone Starter Plus (at planting) | |||||||
| Garden-tone (monthly) | |||||||
| Flower-tone (monthly) | |||||||
| Grow!, Bloom!, Indoor! (Espoma, every 2 to 4 weeks) | |||||||
| Bloom, per Bloom’s weekly feed charts | |||||||
| Roots | |||||||
| Pre | |||||||
| Ultra | |||||||
| Phat (weeks 3 and 4) | |||||||
| Ooze (wk 5 to flush) | |||||||
| Final (with Ooze) | |||||||
| Seafuel | |||||||
| Seaweed · Humate · Sea Minerals | |||||||
| SWTNR | |||||||
| Cal-Mag | |||||||
| Groigen (foliar, as needed) | |||||||
| Florigen (foliar, as needed) | |||||||
| PK (as needed) | |||||||
| Silica | |||||||
Espoma’s pages set timing by season and planting, not crop stage. Bio-tone Starter Plus goes in at planting. Garden-tone and Flower-tone are monthly in the growing season, and the liquids every 2 to 4 weeks, so they’re drawn pale across veg and flower (our read). No flush is mentioned. Bloom’s bars follow its weekly feed charts; pale Bloom bars are as-needed bottles.
Background, science and sources
Who Espoma are
Espoma is a family-owned company that says it created America’s first organic fertilizer in 1929 and has stayed family-owned for five generations. It’s based in Millville, New Jersey, with a newer organic fertilizer plant in Hegins, Pennsylvania, and says its production is all in the US.
The range has six lines: Tone garden fertilizers (with Bio-tone microbes), soil mixes, lawn fertilizers, liquid fertilizers, single ingredients and conventional fertilizers. Their site is built for home gardeners, with plant care guides for flowers, fruit and vegetables, trees and shrubs, houseplants and lawns, plus a product selector.
Sources: Home · Locations · Product lines
What each company brings
Espoma: Slow-release dry organic plant foods with beneficial microbes, liquid plant foods, potting soils and mixes, lawn feeds, pH adjusters and single-ingredient amendments, sold to home gardeners.
Bloom: one additive for each stage of the crop, seaweed, humic and sea mineral inputs, foliar sprays, and weekly feed charts for soil, coco and hydro. Rates and timing are on every product page.
Cropping Solutions, the other brand under Agricultural Organics, isn’t part of this report.
Dose basis: how each side counts
Espoma’s liquids print 1/2 cap (2 tsp, about 10 ml) per quart, every 2 to 4 weeks. At 0.946 L to the quart, that’s about 10.5 ml/L. Their dry foods are measured by cup, tablespoon and pound per area or pot.
Bloom’s additives are ml per litre on a weekly chart. Espoma’s liquids are complete feeds and Bloom’s are additives, so the numbers measure different things.
Mix calculator
Rates as printed on each company’s page (1 US gallon is 3.785 L). Bloom’s rates are per litre of nutrient solution, dosed weekly per its feed charts. Pick a product and your tank size.
Seaweed extracts as biostimulantsWell supported
Ali and colleagues (2021) review seaweed extracts in crops: germination, root growth, nutrient uptake, flowering and yield, and tolerance to drought, salinity and cold.
Why it matters here: Espoma’s liquids are enhanced with kelp extracts and it sells Kelp Meal; Bloom’s Seaweed and Seafuel are kelp based. The review doesn’t test either company’s products.
Sources, all viewed 5 November 2026
Espoma: Home · Locations · Product lines · Garden fertilizers · Liquid fertilizers · Single ingredients · Soil mixes · Garden-tone · Flower-tone · Bio-tone Starter Plus · Grow! · Bloom! · Indoor! · Kelp Meal · Garden Lime · Soil Acidifier
Bloom: Roots · Pre · Ultra · Phat · Ooze · Final · Seafuel · Seaweed · SWTNR · Humate · Cal-Mag · Groigen · Florigen · Sea Minerals · PK · Euro · Grow · Flower · Silica · OrganiShield
Last checked 5 November 2026. Public information only. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by Espoma; product names belong to their owners. Please confirm current details with the manufacturer. Corrections: nathan@bloomyellowbottles.com. All Fit Reports