In a message dated 6/21/2003 12:00:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

With all the rain we've been getting in New Jersey, I'm
wondering if I
should increase fertilizer as so much is being washed right
out of the pots.

It depends upon the fertilizer you are using. For example,
Osmocote is
more dependent on temperature than water.
And, I would think it wouldn't matter if you normally use
liquids such as
Peters.

It also will depend on the soil in any given pot. The more
organic material there is in your soil, the more likely
fertilizer is to bind to the particles and stick around, rain or
no.

BUT . . . If you're being deluged like everyone else is, I'd just
wait. No point in fertilizing the ground under your trees --
which is what you are doing when it gets washed out. With
continuous rain, I doubt that the fertilizer is in the soil long
enough to do any appreciable good to or for the trees.

I normally fertilize weekly at this time of year, twice a month
in July, never in August, the build up again until October. I
haven't fertilized most of my trees in a month (wisteria and
azalea are exceptions); they look OK except for a couple of my
"larger" (10-inches) pears which are beginning to show signs of
chlorosis. Our rain chance goes from 80% yesterday, 40% today,
to 20 and 10 percent Sunday-Wednesday, so I may fertilize
everything heavily on Sunday.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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