Rose Tone or Mills Magic

16 years ago

I'm not sure if I got the names right, but can any of you tell me about these products and why you love them? Thank you!

Amy

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Comments (5)

mike_rivers
16 years ago
Rose Tone is readily available at most nurseries and big Box stores. It contains both high quality synthetic fertilizers as well as practically every organic fertilizer and soil amendment known to man (see link for the label ingredients).

Mills' Magic Mix contains only a synthetic phosphate source, all the rest of the ingredients are organic-certified except for the sewage sludge. The recipe is equal amounts of Blood meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, fish meal, Milorganite, Epsom Salts and superphosphate, according to Karl Bapst. Mill's is harder to come by and usually has to be mail-ordered. It has an enthusiastic fan club which includes many well-known rosarians. Some people supplement Mills' Mix with liquid synthetics, a procedure recommended by Mills, himself. I don't see any reason to supplement Rose Tone with liquid fertilizers - you'd just be adding more of the same stuff.

Which one is better? I suspect it would be hard to tell and I certainly don't know, I'm an Osmocote and alfalfa nut.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Tone Label
evie1955
16 years ago
Thanks for the recipe Mike:)

I use Osmocote too what would be willing to mix up the recipe also.

I already have the last 3 ingredients, could put the meals on my christmas wishlist. What a list this years will be...lol
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Just IMHO but I think "best" is local/depends on where you are. My soil and climate are different than in Puget Sound, but for me what has been best is a natural fish fertilizer from Espoma called Gro-Tone. It isn't inexpensive however. Numbers are 2-2-2. A granular organic one I like is E. B. Stone General Purpose Plant Food (5-5-5). I use one or the other of these lightly and infrequently. The other organic I like is the practice of making plant communities that incorporate nitrogen-fixing plants in that mix, heavily-weighted to natives (or others that like my mediterranean climate). In my garden I have multiple 'Desert Museum' palo verde trees with various roses close by all of them. Other nitrogen-fixers I have are fairy duster, ceanothus, Catalina Island mountain mahogany, an old bauhinia variegata alba (white orchid tree), Otay lotus, deerweed, clovers, tree lupine, and I'm about to seed some of the beds with alfalfa (water is high in boron here and alfalfa has a boron sweet-tooth). Saves time and effort if plants are doing the work of adding a fertilizer that I don't have to--and they do it in nature, so why not make my garden more self-sustaining? Do you have any native nitrogon-fixers in the Puget Sound area? Melissa
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With respect to established roses, some people fertilize immediately after spring pruning, some wait until the plant has started active growth. For newly planted bareroots, some wait until the plant has put out 2 inches of new growth, some wait until the first bloom cycle has completed and some don't fertilize at all in the first year. My experience, in a much colder zone, has been that it doesn't really matter, so long as you follow the directions on the fertilizer package and don't mix in a second or even a third fertilizer. In any case, the concern would always be over how much plant-available NPK is actually in the soil at any given time. I would rate the common fertilizers with respect to this in the following order: 1)lowest percentage of NPK available on application: alfalfa and cottonseed meal, compost, aged manures and many other organic fertilizers 2) Osmocote and other time-release fertilizers 3) Rose Tone. This is actually a mix of fast-release synthetics and slow-release organics. 4)Highest percentage NPK available on application: fresh steer or horse manure (high percentage of the nitrogen is available) and most water-soluble synthetic rose fertilizers. Another point to consider is that water-soluble fertilizers contain their nitrogen either as urea or as nitrate, and nitrate is less likely to burn tender new roots. Miracle Gro should be the fertilizer most likely to damage tender plants and yet I've never seen any sign of burn or wilting when I apply it according to the instructions. One more point: I never mix nitrogen-containing fertilizers into the planting hole, I always apply them on the surface and then mix them into the top inch or so of soil.
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Alfalfa tea is not a fertilizer by itself, so I use it in conjunction with nitrogen fertilizers. I like to add the liquid Mills Easy Feed to alfalfa tea. With the dry Magic Mix I would just use it according to directions, and then apply tea maybe a week later. The alfalfa tea provides a little bit of nitrogen but its main purpose is making the plant better able to use fertilizer.
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Comments (12)
Nanadoll, I am actually about 2.5 hours from Southwest Fertilizer - have to go to Houston, which is not too much fun with the traffic, but not that much trouble considering the great time I have when I get there! I only go once a year, but get the 15% off for that week, so I load up on things. They have all kinds of different fertilizers that are fun to try, gadgets, tomato, pepper plants [which are a sight for sore eyes in my area!]. Yes, they do have a website and they do send things. I am sure they carry the "Tones". They are super nice people, very helpful. We are going Feb. 8 - it is my first "gardening road trip" of the year and I cant wait! For those of you who cant get the "Tones" - check with your local nurseries or feed stores - they might order some for you, or you could tell them how much you like them and they might start stocking them. Never hurts to ask! Judith
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evie1955
16 years ago
I just found this:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Mix
pete41
16 years ago
And I follow Mikes advice like a slavish puppy.Might not use Osmocote but same idea.
diane_nj 6b/7a
16 years ago
IF there is something produced locally that contains the same ingredients, use it. Whatever you can get your hands on is what I recommend. I'm not one to mix up 50# bags of stuff. I actually use Espoma Holly-tone, similar mix as Rose-tone, except the percentages are different (more cottonseed meal in Holly).

IMHO, alfalfa, which both products contain, is fundamental, whether used straight on in a mixed fertilizer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Tone, Holly Tone or Plant Tone?

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Rose Tone or Mills Magic

Comments (5)

mike_rivers

evie1955

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evie1955

pete41

diane_nj 6b/7a

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