Back to your original question: Organic fertilizers should be added in fall. They need to be worked over by soil microbes before the plants can use them, and they're not terribly water soluble so they're not going to leach away significantly over the winter. Synthetic fertilizers should NOT be added in fall, as they will leach away over the winter. This wastes your time and money, and can contaminate local water supplies. I know 'everyone' says that nitrogen in fall will promote tender growth that will be damaged by winter but I don't know that it's true. Plants that are genetically programmed to go dormant in winter will do so when they receive the proper triggers - daylength, the sun's elevation in the sky, temperature and precipitation. I think that presence of nitrogen in the soil will not affect that. Now with some plants, they are not genetically programmed to go dormant in winter. They slow growth in fall due to decreased temperatures since plant physiological processes are temperature dependent. But, if they get a shot of nitrogen in fall, they might make use of it to continue to grow. Most hybrid roses for instance, have tropical genes in them to get that repeat bloom, and they don't go dormant. When it gets cold they slow down. When it gets really cold they freeze. Locally native wild roses don't do that. In warm winter areas hybrid roses grow and bloom year round. With these plants, fertilizing in fall might encourage tender new growth that is damaged in winter. But not fertilizing with organics, as they have to 'ripen' over the winter anyway. Compost, manures, and organic fertilizers are just fine this time of year! go for it.

I found one growing in a wooded area behind my house, it used to be part of the gardens here 20 years ago before it was abandoned. The ground is covered with English ivy, periwinkle, ditch lilies, crocuses, and who knows what else. It rarely gets any sun, and as you can see, it's not harmed. It's a little scraggly, but it's blooming like crazy.

1. Frontloaders by nature of their horizontal/tumbling action are much better suited to the low-water HE washing process. Both can have a bit of trouble saturating some kinds of loads. 2. Proper loading of HE toploaders is important, but literally rolling each piece of clothing into a ball is an exaggeration. 3. FLs are generally gentler, but both can be more aggressive than expected due to the low volume of water and clothing items rubbing/abrading together. 4. Both types can tangle. 5. No reason for that to be the case. Washing & rinsing is typically quiet. Any washer spinning a load at 1000+ RPM may generate some noise & vibration. 6. TLs can also develop residue and odor if subject to poor usage habits. 7. A FL boot can be damaged (punctured) by foreign objects such as a nail or screw or pen/pencil forgotten in a pocket, but there's no evidence that they spontaneously fail on a frequent basis. 8. No relation between motor failures and boot failures ... and anything falling through a torn boot is unlikely to literally make contact with the machine's drive motor. 9. Pretty much all appliances are expensive for repairs nowadays.

You say this variety was highly rated by people on this site. it is good corn(had some for dinner last night) but is it the best to grow in Sacramento? I think you need a soil test this area to see where you are. Corn is a huge user of N and timing is very important. You have added a lot of "plant food" but is it the right combo? How about your ph? corn needs about 6.5ph. What about your weather? corn like hot and moist but over 90F slows it down. Is mid Summer the best time to grow corn in your Zone? I grow very little corn because of its high cost to grow and I can buy great corn dirt cheap at farmers market. here, you can buy corn for $5 a dozen. that is about breakeven point for growing.