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Australian Native Plants

Fertilizer for Grevillea in California

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Hey Aussies. I have a couple of grevellias just planted here in So Cal, and I'm reading up on them. Regarding fertilizer, there seems to be 2 schools of thought:

Low fertilizer, but no P
No fertilizer at all

They are in heavily amended clay soil. What's your preference and why?

Featured Answer

trancegemini_wa

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Aussie natives are adapted to growing in very poor (australian) soil so I either use low p commercial aussie native fert or I just go with compost and/or blood and bone (without added p) fertiliser. they really dont need much in the way of fertiliser since they have adapted to our terrible soils over lots of time. homemade compost will usually give them everything they need imo.

I dont know what grevilleas you are growing but with your climate you cant really go wrong with the west aussie types since our climates are very similar, although some WA grevs (particularly the perth varieties) grow in very poor fast draining sandy soil naturally so with your clay soil, some varieties may prefer a better draining soil than clay.out in their natural habitat, they basically rely on leaf litter while growing in some really nutrient poor soil so there is no need to spoil them, they are great survivors in heat and poor soil conditions. At the moment, I have a number of olive leaf grevilleas, and also some ellendale grevillea. Unfortunately my robyn gordon (hybrid) did poorly and kicked up their toes so I stick to the genuine wa species now and dont bother with the hybrids.

over here, the flowers are very attractive to our native nectar eating birds such as various honeyeaters, wattlebirds etc. you might find in your neck of the woods nectar eaters might be interested too such as your hummingbirds? Im not sure though since our nectar eaters land and dont hover when they feed but they probably have similar beaks I would think.

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Comments (8)

sheckylovejoy
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the help. The Aussie natives tend to do pretty well here with little care.

So compost once a year in the winter and be done with it?
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trancegemini_wa
11 years ago
I'd probably give it to them in the spring at the start of the growing season. You could also give them another lot of compost in the start of the fall/autumn if the weather is still warm that time of year (active growth) but really once a year would be fine, you could do it twice a year while they are getting going, but after that, once a year would be fine. Don't kill them with kindness because they are tough and used to harsh conditions and do really well.

Aussie native can easily be killed with kindness so dont baby them and they will reward you.
sheckylovejoy
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the tips!
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
11 years ago
I don't think I would amend the soil. Mine get nothing and they are doing very well. The hummingbirds love them.
tete_a_tete
11 years ago
I agree with both statements.
1. Low fertilizer, but no P
2. No fertilizer at all
The reason being that it all depends on the soil.

When I worked in a nursery, we bought in the soil mix. Sometimes we would run out and so we would obtain small bags (at vast expense) of proteacea mix so that we could put up our rooted Grevillea cuttings. Trouble is, the mix in these small bags gave a poor result. When i told my boss this, I was told that the soil mixes were from the same supplier, and even though this was the case it was obvious that the mix in the small bags had been given extra fertiliser.

A forced native plant never looks any good. They become leggy.

So, choose a soil that is low in Phosphorus AND make sure that the company isn't putting too much of the other stuff (other nutrients) in.

What if you bought both things and then mix the two together?
sheckylovejoy
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the comments. Not sure at all how the grevelia were potted, but after a little transplant shock they seem to be doing nicely. I'm going to slowly cut back their water over June.

Having trouble finding a 0% P commercial organic fertilizer in the U.S., though I've seen some Aussie brands not sold here. Any idea on that?
User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I usually mix in some meal to my potting mixes (I make my own). Alfalfa meal has very low P content, but blood, canola, and soy meals have none, at least according to the suppliers. Here's my local source for meals: http://concentratesnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Showroom-List-No-Prices-150407.pdf

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