Feeding plants: a broad question
 

My wife tends to be the plants grower, whilst I tend to see to the
structural and tidying side of things (iow, I do all the hard work!).

My wife loves to sow, plant, and watch her plants growing, but she's
hopeless at feeding them once they're "up" and/or established. I worry
about this. So:

(1) Shouldn't we be feeding the garden flowers? These are predominantly
annuals, sown by my wife in her yearly, delighted, absorbed, frenzy of
sowing, tending, overseeing, transplanting, and finally planting out.
We also have many perennials. (We also have roses, but these are
"mine", and I feed them with Toprose at the usual times.)
I occasionally fling Growmore over the soil, but with no real organised
approach.


(2) And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?


Every year around Autumn I swear I'll get a load of rotted manure, and
distribute it around the borders, and thus not have to worry about
feeding ... unfortunately I've never done this yet.

Lastly, I do make compost, and I do distribute that each year in Autumn
or early Spring, but I always feel that this is thin stuff compared to a
load of farmyard manure.

And lastly lastly: in case it's of any interest: our garden isn't that
big -- maybe 70' by 30' at the back, and maybe 20' by 12' at the front.

Thanks for any advice!

John

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

On 19/08/2015 09:58, Another John wrote:
My wife tends to be the plants grower, whilst I tend to see to the
structural and tidying side of things (iow, I do all the hard work!).

My wife loves to sow, plant, and watch her plants growing, but she's
hopeless at feeding them once they're "up" and/or established. I worry
about this. So:

(1) Shouldn't we be feeding the garden flowers? These are predominantly
annuals, sown by my wife in her yearly, delighted, absorbed, frenzy of
sowing, tending, overseeing, transplanting, and finally planting out.
We also have many perennials. (We also have roses, but these are
"mine", and I feed them with Toprose at the usual times.)
I occasionally fling Growmore over the soil, but with no real organised
approach.

That is probably good enough unless you see yellowing leaves or other
obvious signs of deficiency. Plants in open ground can usually find what
they need. In pots or hanging baskets then a feed of Phostrogen in
summer or similar or slow release fertiliser is appropriate.


(2) And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?

Phostrogen every now and then or appropriate specialist feed for orchids
and
other plants that are touchy about the exact NPK and trace element mix.

Every year around Autumn I swear I'll get a load of rotted manure, and
distribute it around the borders, and thus not have to worry about
feeding ... unfortunately I've never done this yet.

Worth doing for heavily used allotments but fresh manure will scorch
many plants and encourage others into too much soft growth. Flowering
plants and soft fruit benefit from a high potash feed if you want more
flowers.

Lastly, I do make compost, and I do distribute that each year in Autumn
or early Spring, but I always feel that this is thin stuff compared to a
load of farmyard manure.

Some manure might no go amiss, but unless you are into Organic(TM)
growing there is nothing wrong with synthetic fertilisers like Growmore
granules or Phostrogen as a soluble feed.

And lastly lastly: in case it's of any interest: our garden isn't that
big -- maybe 70' by 30' at the back, and maybe 20' by 12' at the front.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

On 20/08/2015 08:23, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 19 Aug 2015 09:58:19 +0100, Another John
wrote:

My wife tends to be the plants grower, whilst I tend to see to the
structural and tidying side of things (iow, I do all the hard work!).

My wife loves to sow, plant, and watch her plants growing, but she's
hopeless at feeding them once they're "up" and/or established. I worry
about this. So:

(1) Shouldn't we be feeding the garden flowers? These are predominantly
annuals, sown by my wife in her yearly, delighted, absorbed, frenzy of
sowing, tending, overseeing, transplanting, and finally planting out.
We also have many perennials. (We also have roses, but these are
"mine", and I feed them with Toprose at the usual times.)
I occasionally fling Growmore over the soil, but with no real organised
approach.

'Broadcasting' Growmore around, thinly, once or twice a year, is fine.
More than that is probably unnecessary.

(2) And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?

Fertiliser sticks are one way to feed them. I sprinkle a _little_
slow-release fertiliser on the surface of the soil every few months.
Watering carries the nutrients down to the roots. Add a little
slow-release fertiliser to the compost when/if you re-pot. Don't
over-do either or you'll burn the roots.

Every year around Autumn I swear I'll get a load of rotted manure, and
distribute it around the borders, and thus not have to worry about
feeding ... unfortunately I've never done this yet.

Lastly, I do make compost, and I do distribute that each year in Autumn
or early Spring, but I always feel that this is thin stuff compared to a
load of farmyard manure.

Thin you might think it, but it improves the soil structure as well as
feeding it. Manure dug in, in the Autumn or Spring, is fine for
vegetable crops where you want a high yield, but not really necessary
for flower borders, especially if you already spread garden compost
and a little Growmore. Grass cuttings spread under shrubs or between
annuals and perennials also feeds the soil and helps suppress weeds.
Soon browns off, and worms take it down; gone after a couple of
months.

And lastly lastly: in case it's of any interest: our garden isn't that
big -- maybe 70' by 30' at the back, and maybe 20' by 12' at the front.

Thanks for any advice!

John


I'm always amazed by the number of plants that appear to need zero
nutrition, notably hollyhocks, which spring up everywhere from a base of
only hardcore and sand

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

On Thu, 20 Aug 2015 09:42:24 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

I'm always amazed by the number of plants that appear to need zero
nutrition, notably hollyhocks, which spring up everywhere from a base of
only hardcore and sand

I have a garden full of plants that have never been artificially fed.
They get all the nutrition they need without any help from me.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software for Windows http://www.npsnn.com

EasyNN-plus More than just a neural network http://www.easynn.com

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

OP he thanks one and all -- especially Martin and Chris -- for the
helpful advice!

John

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

"Another John" wrote in message
...
My wife tends to be the plants grower, whilst I tend to see to the
structural and tidying side of things (iow, I do all the hard work!).

My wife loves to sow, plant, and watch her plants growing, but she's
hopeless at feeding them once they're "up" and/or established. I worry
about this. So:

(1) Shouldn't we be feeding the garden flowers? These are predominantly
annuals, sown by my wife in her yearly, delighted, absorbed, frenzy of
sowing, tending, overseeing, transplanting, and finally planting out.
We also have many perennials. (We also have roses, but these are
"mine", and I feed them with Toprose at the usual times.)
I occasionally fling Growmore over the soil, but with no real organised
approach.


(2) And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?


Every year around Autumn I swear I'll get a load of rotted manure, and
distribute it around the borders, and thus not have to worry about
feeding ... unfortunately I've never done this yet.

Lastly, I do make compost, and I do distribute that each year in Autumn
or early Spring, but I always feel that this is thin stuff compared to a
load of farmyard manure.

And lastly lastly: in case it's of any interest: our garden isn't that
big -- maybe 70' by 30' at the back, and maybe 20' by 12' at the front.

Thanks for any advice!

John

I'm a big fan of fish, blood and bone, you could give indoor plants a tiny
sprinkle?
I have this knipfophia that established as a self seeder beside a wall
where there wasn't much soil. It struggled along, and did about 3 spikes
for years. I started to feel a bit sorry for it, so I gave it some fbb,
watered it in and 12 spikes this year.
Alternatively, apparently you can dilute your own urine x 10 I part urine
ten parts water and that is also good for plants. Tried it on my big money
plant which was looking a bit bald on some of the branches. Worked a treat.
No bald branches now ;-)

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

"Another John" wrote in message news:lalaw44- (2)
And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?

Someone told me to feed them with your own urine, diluted x 10. Tried it
with a money plant with bare branches. worked brilliantly. It's full of
new growth all down the branches now.

Feeding plants: a broad question
 

On 09/09/2015 21:44, Christina Websell wrote:
"Another John" wrote in message news:lalaw44- (2)
And what's the best way to feed indoor plants? We have some that
are years (and years) old, which rarely get repotted, sometimes suffer
drought, and often suffer overwatering. Still, they survive -- the
miracle of plant life :-/ I feel we should feed them mo are those
little sticks that you can get the best way to do this?

Someone told me to feed them with your own urine, diluted x 10. Tried it
with a money plant with bare branches. worked brilliantly. It's full of
new growth all down the branches now.








You told us that on the 31st of August.
Why repeat it now?