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Old 24-06-2005, 04:01 PM
Tom Line
 
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Default Best Rose Fertilizer(s)

What do you guys have the highest regard for in the fertilizer department?
Should I use different blends at different seasons? Granular seems the
easiest to me, and I'd like to not destroy the natural soil like I see a
lot of farmers do with their corn fields.



Tom Line

For Fun And Safety In Firearms Sports visit...
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Old 24-06-2005, 07:20 PM
JimS.
 
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"Tom Line" wrote in message
...
What do you guys have the highest regard for in the fertilizer department?
Should I use different blends at different seasons? Granular seems the
easiest to me, and I'd like to not destroy the natural soil like I see a
lot of farmers do with their corn fields.



Tom Line


I prefer ground fish gut liquid. You mix it with water and dilute it. It
doesn't smell all that bad, and it's pretty much impossible to burn your
plants with the stuff. You can find it at a lot of places, like Home Depot
for example.

JimS.
Seattle


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Old 25-06-2005, 12:31 AM
Tim Tompkins
 
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You did not indicate where you live.

The most 'correct' choice of rose food is determined by a thorough soil
analysis. This will tell you what nutrients are already in the soil as well
as which are insufficient.

Depending on the soil pH 'lock up' may occur which prevents nutrients from
being available, a common practive in these cases is to apply a LOT of the
unavailable nutrient. Supplemental iron is often added in alkaline
conditions, lime is added in acid soils.

In a previous response, fish emulsion was suggested. I believe that this
product is an acceptable supplement occasionally, however it frequently has
a very high salt content that I prefer to avoid.

IMHO the best general practice is to feed the soil and let the soil feed the
plants. Healthy soil is the very best food source you can have.

Get the soil analyzed and add what the analysis recommends, preferably in an
organic form.

Tim
"Tom Line" wrote in message
...
What do you guys have the highest regard for in the fertilizer department?
Should I use different blends at different seasons? Granular seems the
easiest to me, and I'd like to not destroy the natural soil like I see a
lot of farmers do with their corn fields.



Tom Line

For Fun And Safety In Firearms Sports visit...
--
http://www.bobtuley.com --



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Old 25-06-2005, 02:59 PM
Gail Futoran
 
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"Tom Line" wrote in message
...
What do you guys have the highest regard for in the fertilizer department?
Should I use different blends at different seasons? Granular seems the
easiest to me, and I'd like to not destroy the natural soil like I see a
lot of farmers do with their corn fields.


I use a mix of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Usually in
spring and fall (around here that would be Feb.-March and
Oct. - Nov.) I put alfalfa tea on the roses. If I have the
energy I also add an organic granular food (from bat guano,
I think) that I buy locally. During the summer when it's too
hot to fuss, I use a hose end sprayer and apply seaweed
plus Peters or Miracle Gro about once a month. I also
use mulch that has compost in it, refreshing it once a year.
Usually once during the growing season I also use fish
emulsion.

Does it work? I dunno. Hardy roses do great, weak
roses die no matter what I do. LOL! I'm in an area
that doesn't get much in the way of rose diseases or
pests so I don't have to spray (maybe one out of 150
gets powdery mildew every other year), blackspot doesn't
bother me, etc. I think those factors are important to
take into account when designing a feeding program.
I.e., what stressors are affecting your roses?

Some roses are more piggy than others. Climbers
typically require more food because they're bigger
and bloom a lot. But it depends on the climber.

Roses are pretty hardy shrubs. If you can find ones
that grow well in your area you should do ok with
almost any reasonable feeding program.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8


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Old 01-07-2005, 12:08 AM
Snooze
 
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"Tom Line" wrote in message
...
What do you guys have the highest regard for in the fertilizer department?
Should I use different blends at different seasons? Granular seems the
easiest to me, and I'd like to not destroy the natural soil like I see a
lot of farmers do with their corn fields.


I have pond, so I'm lucky, i have an almost unlimited source of natural
fertilizers. Everytime I clean the filters, I collect all the muck into a
few 5 gal buckets and pour that around the roses. The muck being a random
collection of decayed leaves, dead algae, fish waste and the bodies of
bacteria that gave their lives to help maintain the nitrogen levels in the
pond.

-S




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Old 03-07-2005, 06:58 PM
Tom Line
 
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I live just north of Cincinnati. Soil is limestone clay with a bit of good
dirt on top of it.
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Old 03-07-2005, 07:52 PM
dave weil
 
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On 3 Jul 2005 12:58:02 -0400, Tom Line wrote:

I live just north of Cincinnati. Soil is limestone clay with a bit of good
dirt on top of it.


Mills Mix is pretty highly regarded. And I don't say this simply
because Mr. Mills is a relative neighbor.

Best adjuncts are alfalfa meal, epson salts, blood and bone meal, and
fish emulsion. Add to that some good compost, some earthworms and a
top-dressing of mulch, and you're in business. Oh yeah, in lieu of
compost, you can get concentrated liquid compost that works just
dandy. Just remember that it's concentrated and use as directed.

I'm ashamed to say that I have been really lazy this year and haven't
done any of this and my roses are showing the results. I never got a
handle on my usual routine (partly because of the unseasonably cold
spring that we had that went directly into hot weather rather late)
and I only did Osmocote and one application of Bayer's
fertilizer/systemic insecticide granular. It hasn't really been enough
at all. I'm hoping that I don't lose too many plants this year, but if
I do, I can only blame myself.

Keep in mind that it's a little late to get the roses set for the
year, but you can still help them out (if I would only take my own
advice!). Also, you want to stop feeding them sometime around August
or September, as you want them to start preparing for dormancy. You
don't want them going into late fall and early winter trying to grow
vigorously.

Also, if you hit clay 2 ffet down, you should dig the clay out much
deeper. You don't want the saucer effect, where water can't drain
easily and the root ball sits in "standing water". I'd suggest digging
down four feet or more. If you don't, what you'll have is some soil
where the water drains well, but then is stopped by the clay. The more
and deeper soil you have to work with, the better.

Hope this helps.
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