On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 22:54:39 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Chris Hogg contains these words:
The other, and I must admit pretty rare occasion, is when
applying grey water to plants that are poisoned by phosphate, i.e.
protaceae. I doubt if many urglers grow them, but some may grow the
Chilean Fire Tree, Embothrium coccinium, which is a member of that
family. But again, the occasional watering won't make much difference.

So what, if anything, do I feed my embothrium coccinium with? It was
planted as a small stick last year, flowered this year, and is growing
at a terrific rate in a sheltered corner. It's only 2 or 3 metres from
the compost heaps so will probably get its feet into some very rich soil
in a year or two, is this a Bad Thing for it?

Janet

I've owned two of these lovely trees in my time, growing in ordinary
well drained acid garden soil, and I don't recall feeding them at all.
South African proteas (as opposed to proteaceae in general) usually
grow on very lean well-drained acid sandy soils and have roots
especially developed to extract the maximum amount of nourishment from
them. But Embothriums come from S. America and seem to have evolved
slightly differently, although they still don't like phosphates. They
like an acid, moisture retentive but not heavy soil, with plenty of
organic matter, and sheltered from strong winds. Down here in
Cornwall, they're commonly grown in open woodland.

By the sound of it, yours is doing very well and doesn't need feeding.
I doubt that the adjacent compost heap will be a problem. But if you
do feel the need to feed it, just use a little ammonium sulphate and
potassium sulphate, say a heaped teaspoon of each in a gallon of
water, and pro rata. Alternatively, Trevena Cross nursery do a
fertiliser especially for proteaceae, but AIUI it's aimed primarily at
the South African species. IMO it's a bit expensive for what it is!
http://www.trevenacross.co.uk/





--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net