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#1
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Feeding embothrium was Grey Water for Garden?
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 |
#2
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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 |
#3
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I forgot to mention that apparently there is a zero-phosphate
agricultural fertiliser available, used for cut grass swards amongst other things, which should be OK. It's NPK is 2:0:1 . Try your local agricultural suppliers, although I imagine they'll only sell it by the sackful, which seems a bit OTT just for one shrub. -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
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