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Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
This year I have the following plants/trees grown on my backyard:
* Asian Pears * Banana trees * Persimmon trees * Some tropical vegetables Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 for ALL of the above listed plants. I am living in Dallas, TX area (zone 8) . Am I doing the right thing? perhaps, can some of you experts comment on the above? Thanks, |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
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Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general
purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 for ALL of the above listed plants. I am No real way to tell except with a soil test. Texas has a good lab at A&M: http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/webpages/forms.html (click on Urban Soil). Kay |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
wrote:
Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 ... General purpose fertilizer is a myth, much like one-size-fits-all. Without knowing what your soil is lacking, 13 is just a random number, and it doesn't make it any less random just because they picked it for all three components. Also, those three components are only a slice of the many things soil needs to be a healthy growing medium. If you're going to just use one "general purpose" thing without having any knowledge of what the soil already has, and what it's lacking, use compost instead of a random synthetic fertilizer blend. Otherwise get your soil tested so you can tell us what it needs. -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. Power Lawncare Tools for Spring Clean-up: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/ |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
On 9 Oct 2006 10:56:58 -0700, wrote:
This year I have the following plants/trees grown on my backyard: * Asian Pears * Banana trees * Persimmon trees * Some tropical vegetables Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 for ALL of the above listed plants. I am living in Dallas, TX area (zone 8) . Am I doing the right thing? perhaps, can some of you experts comment on the above? http://texasextension.tamu.edu/ |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
This sounds more difficult that I thought. I was hoping that I can
simply get a fertilizer at my local homedepot or Lowes. What about stuffs like Miracle pro? Do I have to go through the same exercise as what you suggested --- have soil tested? Warren wrote: wrote: Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 ... General purpose fertilizer is a myth, much like one-size-fits-all. Without knowing what your soil is lacking, 13 is just a random number, and it doesn't make it any less random just because they picked it for all three components. Also, those three components are only a slice of the many things soil needs to be a healthy growing medium. If you're going to just use one "general purpose" thing without having any knowledge of what the soil already has, and what it's lacking, use compost instead of a random synthetic fertilizer blend. Otherwise get your soil tested so you can tell us what it needs. -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. Power Lawncare Tools for Spring Clean-up: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/ |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
wrote:
This sounds more difficult that I thought. I was hoping that I can simply get a fertilizer at my local homedepot or Lowes. What about stuffs like Miracle pro? Do I have to go through the same exercise as what you suggested --- have soil tested? So how do you know what nutrients your soil needs unless you have it tested? Think about your own needs. Would you take a cholesterol lowering drug without knowing if you have high cholesterol? Would you inject insulin if you didn't know if you have diabetes, or if you did, but didn't know what your blood glucose level was? Would you take a laxative if you weren't constipated? You need to know what the soil, and the plants growing in it need. You might be able to diagnose possible problems by observation, but you still need to test to understand what the real needs are. Fertilizers and other chemicals are to your garden what drugs are to your body. And just as many people don't need drugs, many lawns and gardens don't need any of the chemicals that line the aisles at the home improvement big boxes. If you just start applying those chemicals -- including fertilizers -- there's a long-shot you might just happen to get just the right stuff. More likely than that is you might just waste money on extra chemicals that can be washed away. At worst, you'll screw things up -- possibly pretty bad. In other words, chemicals -- including fertilizers -- are intended for problem correction. Their use is not the default. If you want to provide nutrients to your soil and plants, use compost. Don't prescribe extra chemicals without a proper diagnosis as to whether they're needed at all. Of course this isn't what everyone believes. There are people who never go to the doctor, never have any tests done, have no idea what their bodies need, yet they'll spend half their paychecks on over the counter drugs and "nutritional supplements." So if there are people out there who swear the only way they can stay alive is to dump random chemicals into their bodies, it's not surprising that there are also people out there who advocate dumping random chemicals on your lawn and garden. And don't forget that there are plenty of people out there who make a living selling you these extra chemicals. You want difficult? Dump random chemicals, and waste money on unnecessary synthetic fertilizers for a few years, and then see how difficult it can be to correct the problems caused by using the wrong stuff for so long. Getting your soil tested, and reacting judiciously from the beginning is far easier. Perhaps it is easier to blindly toss things in your cart at Lowes today, just as it's easy to fill your basket down at Walgreens. But wouldn't it be easier -- and less expensive -- in the long run to find out what you really need to do instead of wasting money on guesses that could be very, very wrong? -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. Power Lawncare Tools for Spring Clean-up: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/ |
Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
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Fertilizer 13-13-13 usage questions
Okay, you can. Lowe's sells Ladybug Brand, also several other brands
of certified organic fertilizer. Follow label directions On 10 Oct 2006 08:09:59 -0700, wrote: This sounds more difficult that I thought. I was hoping that I can simply get a fertilizer at my local homedepot or Lowes. What about stuffs like Miracle pro? Do I have to go through the same exercise as what you suggested --- have soil tested? Warren wrote: wrote: Due to lack of gardening expertise, I have been using the general purpose fertilizer 13-13-13 ... General purpose fertilizer is a myth, much like one-size-fits-all. Without knowing what your soil is lacking, 13 is just a random number, and it doesn't make it any less random just because they picked it for all three components. Also, those three components are only a slice of the many things soil needs to be a healthy growing medium. If you're going to just use one "general purpose" thing without having any knowledge of what the soil already has, and what it's lacking, use compost instead of a random synthetic fertilizer blend. Otherwise get your soil tested so you can tell us what it needs. -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. Power Lawncare Tools for Spring Clean-up: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/ |
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