Organic bagged fertilizer are too expensive ($50 a shot)

I'm not sure what fertilizer you are referring to or how much of it you need to buy, but I use RoseTone, as do a lot of posters here, and it is not anywhere that expensive--or I couldn't afford it! Maybe there are some other alternate choices someone can suggest.

Kate

Last year a lot of places, including HD and Lowes carried Rose Tone. This year, no one, including independent nurseries carry it.

FJ

I'm just guessing here, but is it possible that in a couple months (as the new gardening season approaches), HD and Lowes and such stores will stock up again on RoseTone? I know you have all-year or nearly all-year growing season, but maybe the seasonal cycle the rest of us are on also affects to some extent when your stores also begin re-stocking certain products?

Or maybe not. I'm just speculating.

Have you tried requesting your favorite stores to carry RoseTone? Some places will start stocking a product that they know the general public is wanting to buy.

Hope you find a source.

Kate

Do you have a Farm King in your area? They just placed an order for me, and the manager told me they were just getting their spring orders together. The price is $18.99 for a 20-lb. bag.

You can also go to the Espoma.com website, put in your zip code, and find a retailer near you.

-terry

FJ, if you add alfalfa,compost/manure, you really don't need much if any more. You are not harvesting a crop like farming, so the replenishment isn't all that necessary. The numbers on the fertilizers are what is immediately available from the fertilizer, so chemical will be quickly available while the organics will release their nutrients over a longer period. Milorganite is an organic source of nitrogen and iron and is about $10 for 32 or35 lb bag here. I think the 50lb bag of bonemeal was the most expensive,but not $50. I bought 50 lb bags of sulpomag for $7, though they quoted me $13. You need to use the chemical very sparingly, as they can burn the roots if overapplied.

I did an interesting experiment last growing season, which I highly recommend. My usual fertilizing routine was: everybody gets slow release goodies (Rosetone, alfalfa meal, and if needed, epsom salts) in early April. Then, Monty's Joy Juice blossom boost in late May; then another dose of slow release after the June spring flush; then Monty's every 4 weeks until mid-Sept., when everybody is shutting down for the season. Well, as you can imagine, this was fairly expensive, since I have 100+ roses! So, my experiment last year was to cut way back, as follows: slow release in April, and then ONE dose of Monty's after the main spring flush. My results were very interesting. For some roses, like Carefree Beauty, the Knockouts, some of my Austins, all of my Bucks, my Explorers, my polyanthas, H musks, and many ogrs, I really couldn't tell the difference in terms of re-bloom: they did just as well as they ever did. Then there were others (notably, some of my OTHER Austins, my few HTs, and some of my other ogrs) where I could really tell the difference - WAY less rebloom. I kept a list, and next growing season, I plan to adapt my fertilizing to what I discovered. I'll give additional feeding only to those who seem to need it. Hopefully, this will work out well, and I'll be able to save some $ on fertilizing. Of course, in someplace like zone 9 where your growing season is totally different, the issues may be quite different, but I think this experiment is well worth trying!

I'm with Len. I think that all you really need is alfalfa and composted manure. Especially if your soil has a clay component, it's full of minerals already. Most places you can find free manure, if you're willing to shovel and haul it yourself (or get a big strong friend to help you, LOL). But at all the stables I know about, they might charge 5 to 25 dollars tops to load it for you into a truck. I take it home to the back yard and water it down a little layering, perhaps, with organic materials I get for free, and then put it under a tarp. It doesn't stink except a little when I'm unloading it, because I water it down and put it under the tarp and get it composting right away, and because it's horse manure and not as stinky as cow or chicken. Last time I was unloading, my neighbor smelled it and came over to tell me she wanted some. If I couldn't get horse, I'd get chicken or rabbit manure, you can get that by the truckload too. You can get the horse manure already "composted" meaning it sat there for 6 months, which is good. If you use horse manure on your soil before letting it sit 6 months it could burn your plants from nitrogen, or kill your earth worms because of the deworming medications that are given to horses. It doesn't have to be completely composted if you top dress your existing plants with it, but if you put it next to the roots it should be thoroughly composted. Or dig it into the ground the summer or fall before you plant and plant there in winter or spring.

If I didn't want to go to all that trouble, I'd get a load of OFSA also known as Organic Farm Soil Amendment which is just composted chicken manure and rice hulls. $50. will usually buy you a full truck load. You can put it right into the hole and plant a rose. A cheaper way to go is to get mushroom compost, but usually they tell you to let it sit a couple weeks before you plant. I've had success with that, it's just composted horse manure and straw.

If you decide to collect your own for free, I find my referrals for organic composting supplies on Ecology Action website, ecoact.org, or if that's not happening in your area, try craigslist, or a garden club, like the local chapter of the rose society, or the local grange.

Good Luck,
-Gala

I noticed the best results with alfalfa tea. I am new to roses and when I finally started added alfalfa tea my roses took off like gangbusters. Enjoy!!

Can someone please explain the alfalfa tea? where do you get it and how much is it, also how much do you apply and how often? Thanks, Lori

FJ, in addition to the alfalfa, compost/manure, you can add some heat or water release food. One that two nurseries I know of use: Osmocote and Dynamite. Sprinkle it around drip zone.
Lori, I do not make the tea but am sure someone will post the recipe. What I do is buy alfalfa cubes and soak them in water using a large industrial bucket. I wait a day or in some cases longer, and it STINKS if left longer. I just scoop out the meal and liquid mixture and add it to drip line of roses. Some people who live where rain is regular will just drop the meal or cubes and let the rain dissolve them.

Carla

Starbucks has a program where they give away coffee grounds to gardeners. I just picked up 15-20 lbs today. And you might want to check with the local wastewater treatment facility. We're lucky enough to have a system where they give away the treated biosolids (same thing as Milorganite--just show up with a bucket--they even supply the shovel). Free fertilizer and compostables. We're seeing a big difference in our soil already. And coffee grounds really seem to get that compost pile going!

Thanks Carla, Are the alfalfa cubes from the feed store? We have horses and feed alfalfa hay, do you think the meal part would be the same? Sorry if I sound dumb but I have to ask. Thanks again, Lori

Alfalfa cubes, meal, or tea--all do the same thing, but the tea is quickest, the cubes the slowest. I get my cubes at the feed store. Someone told me once to make sure there is no salt in cubes. Don't know if that is true, but I always have them check, just in case.

Kate