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kingcobbtx7b

Do you use chemical ferts in comabination with other ferts?

kingcobbtx7b
10 years ago

Just curious. I use the Houston Rose Society concentrate fertilizer that is like 29-#-# on NPK. Heavy on the nitrogen, it works good, make sure to water before, don't apply foliarly, etc. My question though is I have read some things on fish emulsion, alfalfa, bloodmeal, bonemeal, etc and my question is do people use these in combination or is it overkill/wasted money to do so?

Tried searching, but the only thing I find when I search on FE or such takes me to the organic rose forum. No offense to those fine people, but that isn't me.

Comments (8)

  • seil zone 6b MI
    10 years ago

    I start out with a dry slow release fertilizer worked into the ground in the early spring but after that I use a mix of things all the time. Lately it's been Miracle Grow (because it's getting to be the only one I can find around here, not that I particularly like it) and fish emulsion. But those are both foliar feeders. We just got a Tractor Supply here and they have alfalfa pellets so I may try some of that this spring. I stopped using blood and/or bone meal of late and haven't noticed any difference.

  • alameda/zone 8/East Texas
    10 years ago

    I read something once on the subject of fertilizers - its said "roses are hogs, feed 'em". I have a list of all these rose fertilizer recipes that I have never tried. I was at Southwest Fertilizer yesterday in Houston - where, if you are a member of the Houston Rose Society, you get 15% off rose products Feb. 9-17. I loaded up on Mills Magic Rose Mix and got some fertilizers to try - Monty's Joy Juice, Jacks, Carl Pool BR-61, Miracle Gro Bloom Booster, some seaweed, kelp fertilizers......I plan to use them at a lesser strength and more often - like Kim [roseseek] says - "weekly, weakly". I love reading about what others fertilize with - but I don't have a particular program. So I am going to just try some different things, lightly, and see what happens. After I prune in the spring, I put on the Mills Magic Rose Mix, Epsom salts and some alfalfa pellets.
    Judith

  • msjam2
    10 years ago

    I have only used alfalfa tea (poured at the base of the rose) and rose tone with awesome result. Last year, I tried a new fertilizer called rabbit hill farm - similar ingredients to rose tone only cheaper. Good results too, I will continue with it.

  • roseseek
    10 years ago

    Yes. I combine 15# Grow More All Purpose Organic 5-5-5 with 20# GroPower Plus 5-3-1. I mix the two and broadcast them around the garden monthly, then hose them off the foliage. I've done it for more than twelve years with totally satisfactory results. Kim

  • bluegirl_gw
    10 years ago

    Yeah, though I'm organic re. not using pesticides or fungicides, I do use some chemical fertilizer. Whatever is around--usually a handful of balanced stuff in the spring, occasionally some Miracle Grow & Osmocote--particularly on young plants.

    This with an ongoing process of building good soil around the roses--adding manure, leaves, charcoal, compost, etc. I usually give a good cup of alfalfa pellets per plant sometime early in the spring & I'll get a load of manure & spread it, too. Leaves in the fall & charcoal whenever I've finished burning a brush pile.

  • bluegirl_gw
    10 years ago

    If you're gardening on the coastal prairie around Houston, you have very good deep soil. I gardened on that sticky black gumbo for many years. There, organics were especially valuable to improve soil tilth & reduce alkalinity (gypsum & pine bark are your best friends).

    Here on the dryland, I value them for actual soil creation. Chemical fertilizer helps plants support good bloom & growth, but they have to be used very conservatively. I've killed a couple of mature rose bushes by giving them a handful of ironite when it was too dang hot & I must not have watered adequately. It will take years, but already the rose/flower bed & the fruit trees' rings are several inches deeper in fluffy soil thanks to adding lots of organic stuff.

    I usually pick up whatever the nurseries have on sale at the end of fall & use that in the spring. It's a mix of organics & chemical, so that's what my plants get.

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    10 years ago

    Alfalfa would be about the only thing I would add--oh yes, sometimes some manure also.

    Since I started using Rose Tone (or Plant Tone) in the spring and it already contains some alfalfa, I don't bother to add alfalfa anymore, but if I switched over completely to the convenience of continuous-feed Osmocote (3 or 4 months, depending on the type you buy), I might go back to the practice of adding a handful of alfalfa to each rose.

    Whether or not manure gets added depends entirely on whim--and how overworked I do or do not feel--and how dang hot it is outside. I wish I were more regular, however, in adding manure.

    Kate

  • Maude80
    10 years ago

    I use miracle gro and that gross fish emulsion fertilizer (more frequently than the miracle gro)....

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