Roses Unlimited recommended using liquid fertilizer the first year for roses. I had some deodorized fish emulsion in the shed that I bought several years ago from Meijer so I thought I would give it a try. Rather than mix it with water, I just poured some on the ground near the new rose bush and watered with the hose. The new roses seem to be doing OK. I just use 12-12-12 on my roses which is much easier and less expensive. It would be intersting to see a scientific experiment with roses given 12-12-12 vs. various expensive concoctions to see if there is any noticible difference.

I don't have to use it ever in the house....I use a softer version or Neem mixed with alchohol and a bit of natural soap and at times I ad Rosemary Oil since I hate the smell of Neem. Or I get lazy and just use Horticultural Soap to get me through but so far I have had no need. Maybe the reason why I have no scale and other pest of that nature that everyone else seems to get is because I make a much stronger mix. Still my mix has never burned the leaves on my plants when spraying early in the morning or later in the afternoon or even in the afternoon when it was the only time I had time to. There is also a very good product that will wipe out mites and other pest rather quickly that you can put on the end of a hose and do a very good soaking on all your plants that many I know that do and have great success..They us All Seasons Dormant Oil...

No matter what level a person converses on, said conversation is bound to be over someone's head. The only people who resent direct questions are those who aren't here for the right reasons and can't answer because they're operating at beyond the limits of their knowledge. What moves me to want to help any individual is their level of enthusiasm and their desire to learn, not necessarily in that order. When people are serious about wanting to learn, they can express both that desire and their enthusiasm by asking questions and/or asking for clarification when something just isn't 'clicking'. When you want to learn, good people see it, and will never make you feel small so they can feel big. If they do, there is usually someone around to let them know that sort of behavior is boorish and uncalled for. Too, whenever I'm answering a question someone asked, I'm always talking to the entire forum, so I might be talking to neophytes and advanced gardeners at the same time. The more advanced don't need to ask for clarification, but I always hope those newer to gardening buck up and ask for clarification when there is ANYTHING they don't understand. I don't think we should be here to see who can be first to post or tally the most posts by the end of the day. I'd rather spend an hour making sure you understand something than leave a dozen poor posts that lack of qualification has rendered meaningless. Why bother? If you say something like, "I don't get it, but I want to", almost everyone that CAN, WILL be more than happy to see that you DO get it - I know I would be. When you think about it, the forum wouldn't be much of a draw if no one asked questions. Have a good weekend, and thanks for the kind words. Mike - I get a LOT of mail from the forum. What's said confirms that how I manage my time here makes a difference and is appreciated by all but a few. It's an unusual day that I don't get at least 15 questions from lurkers or people too embarrassed to ask their question(s) publicly. I answer as many as I can, but I'd rather spend time on the forums so more are exposed to the things I share. I guess what I'm getting at is, given the overwhelmingly positive responses I see daily, it's really difficult for someone to do or say anything negative on the forum that harshes my mellow. Thank you for the kind words, too. Al

Yes, there are dos and dont's. Yes, you CAN apply it simultaneously with other fertilizers, but consider: For containerized plants, there is no substitute and you can't improve on a supplementation plan built around the grower supplying all the nutrients essential to normal growth, at the same time, in an NPK ratio that closely mimics the one at which the plant takes up those nutrients. The wider you stray from that goal, the more likely there will be limitations associated with nutritional issues and the more readily apparent they will be. When you start mixing fertilizers and using fertilizers with nutrient ratios that vary significantly from the ratio your plant actually uses, you have very little control over what your plant is getting (nutritionally) and when it's getting it. Example: Let's say a plant is chlorotic (getting yellow) due to a manganese deficiency, and someone says emphatically the plant is exhibiting symptoms of a "classic iron deficiency" and gives dear grower an iron chelate to cure it - just the thing, he says. So, our grower applies the iron, the plant greens right up ......... so, problem solved - yes? No. The iron greened the plant up just fine; problem is, it not only masked the manganese deficiency, it made it worse because an excess of iron in the soil can (and does) cause antagonistic deficiencies. Our grower is now all happy because the plant turned green, but the plant is actually sicker than it was before the grower applied the "remedy" no matter how healthy it might look. There are dozens of pitfalls like the one above that result from well intended but less than ideal fertilizing practices. Too, if a grower is growing in a marginal soil, it's VERY difficult to fertilize correctly because so many nutritional issues are related to cultural conditions in the rhizosphere (rootzone). Al