Gosh, chelated iron is widely available, even in locations where iron deficiency almost never occurs. Maybe the workers at Lowe's don't know from "chelated" and need you to ask a simpler question: liquid iron fertilizer. You can get it mail order if nothing else. Farmer Co-op shows the Bonide product on the website. Just to ask the obvious question, you've already checked the pH of your soil? It would be a shame to spend you money adding iron when the level is already adequate and what you really need to do is deal with the pH.

Here is a link that might be useful: Factors affecting iron availability in the soil

ann, i buy this organic milorganite with iron from a local nursery. It was like $9 a 50 lb bag. It has a picture of a house with a big lawn so maybe it is suppose to be sold as a lawn fertilizer, but i wanted the organic nitrogen it had and a whole lot cheaper than bloodmeal.

Here is a link that might be useful: milorganite

Len, how much do you apply per bush? Do you apply to the whole garden or to each bush? Thanks.

About nitrogen deficiency: If you fertilize your roses at all, chances are that you're supplying at least twice as much nitrogen as your roses can take up. Nitrogen deficiency is sometimes observed as a temporary effect in early spring when the soil is too cold to activate the nitrifying bacteria in the soil, when standing water allows anaerobic bacteria to remove nitrogen from the soil or when potted plants have been over-watered to the point where all the nitrogen compounds have been leached from the soil. My guess is that outside of these three situations, nitrogen deficiency is extremely rare in fertilized roses. At any rate, the easiest cure is to pour a gallon of water containing a good water soluble fertilizer at the label rate, at the base of the plant. If you pick a fertilizer which also has iron EDTA (the most common iron chelate) on the label, you'll help with the iron deficiency.

Berndoodle, no one knew what I was asking for and I myself did not clearly know what I wanted. One feed store did say they had liquid iron. Lowes only had ironrite (spelling?) which is in a solid form. I'll go to the co-op myself to check if they have the bonide product.

Len511, thanks, that is my next step is call the nurseries on Monday. They close early on Sat.. We only have 3 in town. One is only open part of the year.

artemis, I was wondering the same thing.

Mike rivers, I plan on using Miracle Gro today to see if will help.

I never had my soil tested. I was going by the symptoms of the plant leaves. But, I can get it tested. Will it hurt to add the iron anyway? We have had a lot of rain this spring and June.

Sorry about so many questions. I greatly appreciate your help and time!
thanks alot
Ann C.

I never had my soil tested. I was going by the symptoms of the plant leaves. But, I can get it tested. Will it hurt to add the iron anyway? We have had a lot of rain this spring and June.

***
1. It probably won't hurt, but while Ironte is cheap, it's very slowwwwwww . . .
Chelated iron is a lot more $$$.
So you don't want to get and use it, if it's not needed.

2. You say you've had a lot of rain.
(Rain? What's RAIN?) Out here in CA, we've almost forgotten RAIN.
But back in the days when we got long periods of very heavy winter rain, it was
not uncommon to see rose beds so much under water that the roots were drowning.
Roots too long under too much water, with no oxygen available to them,
cannot exchange nutrients. In such cases, you will get chlorotic plants, no
matter how well you've fed.

Also, if your conditions are too alkaline, the plants won't be able to process nutrients.
This happens to us frequently, as our conditions are highly alkaline.
You don't know chlorotic until you've seen plants with WHITE leaves!

So a soils test might just save you needless expense.

Jeri

artemis, i throw down by each bush. there is nothing scientific here, i would guess about a half to 3/4 cup a couple times of year, whenever i get the urge.

Thanks everyone for their help! I plan to get a soil test performed this week and look for chelated iron just in case I will need it.
Ann C.

Bravo, Ann! No need to waste your money on stuff your soil doesn't need.

I used rusted nails around the base of my hydrangeas. That trick helps they recovered symptoms of iron deficiency. They were very very small plants when I got them from catalog. They died back to no leaves, then a few yellowish leaves came out about a month later. I put couple rusted nails around their base, now, they are as green as they can be and at least triple their orginal sizes. I don't that is a coinstance or really works.

I used rusted nails around the base of my hydrangeas.

*** --VBG--
My grandmother did that!!!

I suggested it to DH, however, and he looked at me as though I was NUTS.
Then he pointed out that any subsequent digging around that plant would be
fraught with peril.
I could not disagree.

Jeri

NO problem with digging. I don't even know where are the nails since them are just about couple inches long. I'm also trying on a rose with yellow leaves that I couldn't figure out why. It seems it's working some of the leaves are turning green and the new grows come out as normal color.

use iron brello pads to make rusty iron water to use when you feed plants just use a five gallon bucket or get a drum put alot of brello pads in the water so they can dissolve. when your plants need some iron food you will have it the pads dissolve with in days.

Wait-- rusty metal in the soil is not only hazardous, it is totally useless. This type of iron oxide (ferric) is insoluble and never available to plants. There is already a lot of it in most mineral soils, anyway.

Box store employees usually know nothing about what they sell, but they have to pretend otherwise. Every garden counter has multiple iron products, probably both the chelates and ferrous sulfate. Labels in this section feature the word "green."

For a quick fix, Miracid is high in both nitrogen and iron chelate.

Milorganite also contains 4% iron. It is basically sewage from Wisconsin.

I would suggest using some blood meal in with your fertilizers. Cut the amount of fertilizer back a bit if it has a high nitrogen content. Blood meal contains organic nitrogen and usable iron. It really makes the flower colors light up, especially if red pigment is involved. Don't use too much because too much nitrogen will cause burn. Some varieties are more sensitive than others. Blood meal is not all that expensive.