What’s your fertilizing routine?

6 years ago

I usually just throw down some semi composted horse manure once a year and toss some pine bark fines over it, but I have new beds that hasn't gotten much of that treatment. Normally I try to make new beds in the fall by turning a boat load of compost into my clay soil and letting it sit over the winter before I plant, but I didn’t plan that well this time. So while my soil in those beds is trying to catch up I’m thinking it might be good to add some bonafide fertilizer to my roses. This is brand new territory for me and I really don’t know the how much, what kind, and when of it all. What’s your suggestions?

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P TW

6 years ago

I put down a couple of inches of compost in the spring over all of my beds (during April and May). This is usually bagged, finished cow or sheep manure because the free yard/kitchen waste compost from the city has too many people fighting over it.

The roses start really flowering in early to mid June. I will give them some granular rose food (also has micronutrients for roses) in June and then again in late July or the first half of August. Around here they will keep blooming usually until it gets too cold in late October. Though with climate change I have had some roses bloom into November.

At some point during the summer as the compost layer diminishes I will put down some wood mulch. Thin layers if it just needs a top up, and every 2-3 years a couple of inches to form a good, new layer. The mulch plus the compost is really combining to make my garden soil nice...at least the top layers. More than a foot down the worms haven't made much progress in working through the clay.

If I am feeling up to it and it's not too rainy then I'll also put down a thinner (maybe 1 inch) layer of compost in the fall. At this time it is usually easier to get the free compost from the city so I use that.

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Comments (20)

Zack Lau Z6 Connecticut
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
A soil test is a good idea to find out what you really need. In some places you can get state subsidized tests quite inexpensively.

Based on soil tests, the cheapest option was lawn fertilizer, 32-0-4. I used that for a couple years.

Now I'm using a much more expensive time release fertilizer, as a $20 bag will do 200+ roses and I only need to apply it once a season. I can easily afford that.

I know that rosarians with sandy soil use a lot more fertilizer than I do, but my HTs are doing really well this year. Some of them have two dozen buds for the first flush of the season.
HalloBlondie (zone5a) Ontario, Canada
6 years ago
I have sandy soil, so I add a lot of organics when I make a new bed. Bags of compost, cow & sheep manure, enriched soil, triple mix & topped off with mulch. Pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. But for existing beds I like to spread fresh compost & mulch around plants annually. I also use a slow release granular fertilizer once or twice a season.
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I suspect most roses will be a bit sluggish after the first flush. Since they usually have a built-in "rest and recuperate" schedule, there doesn't seem to be much one can do to shorten that time-out period, but after all the energy a rose has to use for a big flush of blooming, it only makes sense to feed it again during the rest cycle in preparation for whenever it decides its next bloom period will be. I often go one of two ways (depending strictly on my mood and energy level): in the spring I feed with Osmocote, a 4-month continuous feed--perhaps supplemented near the end of the season by a short-term quickie feed if the roses look like they need some help in, let's say, September. Alternate method (but I'm usually too lazy to follow through): Feed the rose monthly (per package instructions) one of the organic --Tones (RoseTone, Plant-Tone, etc.). Variation on this method: Feed the roses RoseTone before and directly after the first bloom cycle, ignore the hot summer months (roses often go semi-dormant in that heat anyway), and then supply a final feed of Rose Tone in September. Actually, I'm rather erratic in practice--depends a lot on the weather and my energy level. I think I concentrate more on watering them rather than worrying very much about fertilizer. Sometimes I just toss on whatever fertilizer happens to be on the shelf--often just a general 10-10-10 or something like that. And I think sometimes I just don't get around to feeding them--sometimes. They bloom anyway. Kate
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In the spring I check to see which Rose bush has a bird nest in it. After they bloom I just sit back and enjoy the view. Once the BS has wiped off most of their leaves I take my handy dandy clippers and remove the dead canes. I also tie up any loose cane so the wind doesn’t harm them. Other than that I do nothing as I figure these guys have been growing a lot longer than most of us. During that time they really haven’t needed us worrying about them…. Oh, I may put down some fertilizer if I remember to do it. Plants are close to 20 years old and still going strong…. well a couple need some trimming of the larger canes. Relax folks and enjoy your roses…..lol
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Hey Jackie, I have the schedule taped to my garage wall, right by all my all my fertilizers and sprays :). I followed it for all my roses, newly planted or old, and got great results. I've grown to look forward to mixing up a batch of whatever according to the calendar. K&M roses of Mississippi, where I order most of my plants, recommends a similar routine. I posted Ryan's routine because I like his calendar format, but that's two great rose professionals in the humid south doing about the same thing. Sharon, I think it'd be great for the frigid NE too, of course you'd adjust the calendar a bit. Dingo, Yes, Mills Rose Magic is similar to Rosetone. Mills Easy feed is more like the dissolvable MiracleGro, except it also has a bunch of organics, too (fish emulsion, seaweed etc). It smells bad but works great! It does come with a nice tight lid haha. I thought using Urea to jumpstart roses in early spring was interesting too, might try it next spring. One more thing: That list was made in 2013. If anyone plans on spraying miticide, may I recommend a newer treatment called 'Forbid 4F'. It's special in three very important ways: It's known to kill Eriophyid mites, which transmit RRD, while many of the others do not. Mites cannot build resistance to it. It has residual of a month or more. You can buy it economically by the ounce on EBay (we have the booming Cannabis business to thank for its availability, lol). An ounce will last a season or more, unless you have hundreds of plants.
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You're welcome, Bart. Young plants are like infants, kittens, puppies, etc., they are small and rather tender. it doesn't take much to over dose them and since you're applying "salts", which is the form of the nutrients their tissues can absorb, you want to make sure you're not applying too strong of a solution. So, the half strength is like the "baby dose" of a medication or even baby food. It really doesn't matter how weak the solution is, as it's going to be higher in the nutrients than the water and soil surrounding the roots so they will take it up through osmosis. Nature demands balance. If the nitrogen level is higher outside the root than inside, water is drawn out of the root and replaced with nitrogen, so you want to insure there is enough water IN the plant and that the nitrogen (and other salts) level isn't so high it can damage or kill the plant. Making the full 10 L of solution allows you to spread it around further in the 'baby food' concentration. I think the only way I'd apply the full 10L to one plant is if it's something really large, like a full grown climber or a huge shrub. Otherwise a couple of cups full per established plant should suffice as you have applied fertilizer pellets and you try to use organics so you're really just giving it a boost, like a shot of caffeine or something. If the plant is large enough, like a five gallon sized bush, a liter may be just fine. It's a half strength solution so it's going to give some nutrients, not a full feeding. You're probably only going to use it on new or infant plants as the established plants can easily tolerate the regular application dose. I'll usually use about 12 oz (.35 ml) on a gallon can; about twice that on a two gallon; perhaps a liter on a five; maybe two liters on a larger plant in the ground. That's about what I would apply of the regular concentration on established plants, too, but it's up to what it seems to you works well in your conditions. It really isn't "scientific", just neurotic. I don't want to burn tender plants with a too strong solution, so I cut it in half and apply it twice as often. As long as they are sufficiently watered and the drainage is sufficient, how much you feed the plant depends upon how "thrifty" you are. I don't want to waste the food and I'd like to make it go as far as possible while still providing the benefits desired from it, so if it seems the plant needs more of a boost, I'll likely dump a bit more on it. If the plant is pushing, I may not give it AS much (or perhaps I will, depending upon what it feels like to me at the time). At half strength, you aren't likely to do any damage so how much will likely depend upon how far you want it to spread. If they don't appear to be responding as well as you wished, apply more. If they are established plants, use the normal application rate.
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R pnwz8a
6 years ago
plant tone, fish fertilizer and alfa alfa??
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
6 years ago
Subk3, you sound like you fertilize the way I do. I plant the roses with compost, manure and alfalfa mixed into the native soil (mostly loamy clay), but usually don't do anything else for the beds except top dress with leaves as mulch that break down to lovely organic materials over the season. This year I exerted myself and put down some 10-10-10 and Ironite (maybe a 1/4 cup each) plus a good-sized handful of alfalfa hay around each established rose that had any cane showing, some time in March. I have ambitions for repeating that sometime in June after the first flush, but it's not really that likely. This is the first time in 4 years I've done any fertilizing for established roses, so mostly they're on their own from what they get from my soil.

I may still give diluted liquid support (fish emulsion, root growth solution) to the wimps as they identify themselves over time, but I've only just finished rose planting season for the spring so I'm giving myself a break from tough tasks for a few weeks. Time to enjoy the rose blooms for a while.

Cynthia
summersrhythm_z6a
6 years ago
I bought a 40lb bag Alfalfa last year, and I think rabbits like it. Trying Holly Tone on some roses this year, found 27lbs for $14.99 at BJ's.. Still have some miracle gro left from last year, have to use it up.

Zack, what kind of fertilizer are you using? Once a season sounds wonderful.

Cynthia, you have over 1000 roses too, how long took you to apply diluted liquid to each rose? :-)

I still have 40ish roses to be planted for sure( 50+ potted ones not sure if they are going in the garden this year) more roses are on their way from Linda and JP. Applying diluted liquid to over 1000 roses is becoming a back breaking task. One way to lose weight. Lol

Thinking about using miracle gro hose end sprayer after used up all the fertilizers I have. That might be the easiest way for me.
Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
6 years ago
This spring I picked up some worm compost and used that to start , maybe march I used it? Then I used some bloom booster from dr earth in late April I was pretty happy with the boost in growth from those. Now end of May I used my watering can and a mix of more bloom and fish emulsions. I have a can of compost ready to go but I cheat by using weed fabric ( either use that or search for my roses in knee high weeds! Lol ) so I'm dreading pulling it apart to add compost . We are next to fields on all sides and weeds constantly blow in .

This is my first year trying to keep up with fertilizer.

I have a pike of horse manure that was fresh in march but I never got around to turning it . I need to check on that too !
dchall_san_antonio
6 years ago
Handful of corn meal scattered under each plant every month.
summersrhythm_z6a
6 years ago
Is corn meal rabbit food?
barbarag_happy
6 years ago
I feed 2 to 3 times a season, rotating Holly or Plant Tone, fish emulsion, seaweed, and alfalfa pellets. I also maintain 2 to 3 inches of hardwood mulch which feeds the soil nicely.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
6 years ago
I spread some well composted homemade yard waste every October then throw down alittle well shreaded oak leaves...Sometimes I repeat spreading the compost in the Spring..
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
6 years ago
Summers, I haven't yet successfully applied any liquid fertilizers in the last several years because I get too durned lazy by this time in the season. If I do it this year, it would only go to the roses that are lower than knee high by mid-June (maybe 100 of them) so it by no means would go to all of them. Quadra needs liquid fertilizer like I need a second piece of cheesecake - he might appreciate it but he REALLY doesn't need it.

It already took me a good three weekends in March to get through all the roses with surviving cane with the granulated products/hay that I did use, and that was only the fraction of roses with any surviving cane whatsoever (maybe 20-30%). Most of the roses are totally on their own with only the good soil and self-composting leaf mulch if they are neither cane hardy (March fertilizer) or below knee high in summer (June liquid, maybe). Obviously they're doing fine without my help if they recover that well by June, so I'm not going to fuss.

Cynthia
allielawson
6 years ago
Here's more than you'd ever want know:

I try to push as much growth as I possibly can without burning my plants so my routine is kind of intense. It's a delicate balance. My regimen consists of compost, manure, fish emulsion, slow-release granular ferts, organics and water-soluble Miracle-Gro.

Every other year, I have a few cubic yards of compost delivered from these amazing guys. This is applied to everything I grow from roses to containerized lemon and orange trees to sunflowers. I scratch in a cup of Mills Magic Mix and top it with the compost (about 1-2 inches). In the off-years when I don't get a delivery, I buy bags of fully-composted cow manure, worm castings and Leafgro compost and mix them. Finally, I apply a tablespoon of Osmocote Plus and cover all of it with a layer of newspaper to suppress to weeds and mulch to prevent desiccation. The damp newspaper also attracts lots of hungry little earthworms.

Once a week, I apply Neptune's Harvest or Alaska brand fish/seaweed emulsion (2 tablespoons/ gallon of water). Once a month, I apply alfalfa tea (1/2 gallon per rose). My alfalfa tea is a witches' brew of alfalfa meal, compost tea bags, molasses, fish emulsion and Miracle-Gro for Roses at quarter-to-half-strength. This is applied April through August, sometimes September because we don't get hard frosts until November. Before flushes, I use Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster but I go easy on it because I have clay soil and I don't want to accumulate salts.

Looking at what I've written, I feel like I'm going totally overboard. I'm sure I could do well with simple annual compost applications and some slow-release fertilizer. I kind of enjoy feeling like a mad scientist with my current routine, though.
mzdee
6 years ago
Wow, I'm tired just thinking about all that you guys do. I use milorganite a couple of times a year. Plants love it and neighbors don't complain if I don't do it on a windy day. Its cheap and seems to do the trick. My soil is clay and my roses adapt as do all of the other plants. Only exception is the mophead hydrangeas so we parted ways.
pink rose(9b, FL )
6 years ago
Allielawson

I am like you ! I love to experiment with fertilizers .I have fast draining sandy soil . Every 3 months I give my roses compost/manure also Osmocote plus .

then rose tone and Alfalfa tea every month . then fish emulsion every week .
Ken Wilkinson
6 years ago
I exhibit my roses every Spring and Fall, so I go bazonkers. Yeah, right. I do exhibit but I sure don't go crazy. I'm getting older and I REALLY like to keep things simple. In the early spring I throw down composted leaf mater. Then do fish emulsion before putting down large pine bark nuggets. Then starting the first of April I put down a handful of 10-10-10 around every bush the first of every month until Oct. I'll also do fish emulsion some time in Sept. My roses are happy. I'm happy.
User
6 years ago
Wow!! What a mixture of ways to make roses grow!!!

My Johann Strauss bed gets 1/4 cup for each rose of Osmocote for flowers (pink cap bottle) in March or whenever the snow melts. That takes it for the whole year here.

The Austin roses get thr rose food from David Austin 1/4 cup for each rose in March and again after the first flush. That's it. Done deal and tons of roses for zone 4. It works, so I don't mess with it. :)

Rebecca
summersrhythm_z6a
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I missed applying manure to my roses this spring. I couldn't get my 2 little scooters- " iron horses" out of the garage, they are parked behind other bigger motorcycles which I can't move. I will get them out somehow and ride to Lowes for some manure. :-) It can carry 2 bags at a time, it goes 40mph, and 100mpg. Here is one of my little iron horses, the other one is in black, both are Honda Ruckus. :-)
User
6 years ago
ADORABLE, SUMMER!!!!

Rebecca
subk3
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you everybody for responding. Hearing about all the different strategies is really helpful!

What’s your fertilizing routine?

P TW

Comments (20)

Zack Lau Z6 Connecticut

HalloBlondie (zone5a) Ontario, Canada

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subk3
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What’s your fertilizing routine?

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