Here's my take on the agricultural sulphur/ferrous sulphate and iron chelate. Agricultural or elemental sulphur will provide more acidifying power per pound of material applied, however the soil microbes have to convert it from the sulphur form to oxides of sulphur, which can then act to acidify the soil. It takes time for the acidification to work and it will occur over a period of time, you have to get the sulphur into the ground for the microbes to attack, and the effect will be a bit longer acting. The larger the sulphur particles you spread, the slower the process. Elemental sulphur is relatively cheap so is often used agriculturally. We generally use sulphur strictly as a fertilizer to replace what the crops are removing from the soil, being leached away, or tied up into mineralized compounds, plus it is relatively low volume. As a fertilizer, we often apply it at 30 lbs/acre. Another option is to use gypsum, calcium sulphate, which is commonly used to treat highly alkaline/saline soils as it is quite cheap, acidifying, and provides additional calcium. (In moister climates where soils are more acidic, they do the opposite, applying lime -- calcium carbonate-- to raise the pH). When applying gypsum, we would apply it on the order of 1000-2000 lbs/acre or more. With ferrous sulphate, you have moved up a step in cost but you are providing sulphate ions (or is it anions?) that will provide the acidifying effect, and because it is already converted to a soluble and ionic form, it will work quite quickly. At the same time, you are providing free iron that the plants can take up and the acidifying effect of the sulphate slows the process of tying the iron up in the soil. Many soils, particularly in alkaline areas, have plenty of iron, but it is tied up in the soil and unavailable to plants, and that is the situation here. We have a lot of red soils, the red coming from oxidized iron (rust). There is no deficiency of iron but it is mineralized and unavailable. Combine that with a pH of around 8 or higher and there are a lot of plants that will die of iron deficiency. Conifers, golden willows (lost a row of them in the cemetery to that, and nearly lost the spruce trees), petunias, raspberries, and even kentucky blue grass where the lawn is only sprinkler irrigated, for example. With iron chelate, you have a form of iron that is more available to plants, however it is relatively much more expensive. The chelate can be absorbed into the leaves if used as a foliar spray, though too strong a solution will burn. Because it can be pretty well directly absorbed by the plants, it can have an almost immediate effect on new growth. I've seen it recommended to water the ground with the iron chelate, but I think it tends to get tied up in the alkaline soil fairly quickly (I think the chelate breaks down fairly quickly, then the high pH ties up the iron again, and you need large quantities which become quite expensive. I had always had recommendations from the extension service to use iron chelate for iron deficiency, but later I was advised to use the ferrous sulphate by a professor for the combined free iron/acidifying properties. When I used the iron chelate, I never had much in the way of results unless I sprayed weekly at least, and that just doesn't happen with me. With the ferrous sulphate, I could spread it once and see lasting effects for anywhere from the remainder of the summer to several years. Part of my lawn is watered with a sprinkler using well water which is very high in lime. Gradually it turns yellow and thin with iron chlorosis. Fertilizing with nitrogen had no effect. Add some ferrous sulphate and in a week it was turning green, growing like it was badly overfertilized, and the stand thickens up. One year my supplier stopped carrying the ferrous sulphate but had ferrous gluconate and said it was much easier to use and worked the same--so I wondered but tried it. Think I still have most of the bag. It showed no effect on the plants, smelled like molasses and had no irritating dust so I found a new supplier for the ferrous sulphate (I'm not going to apply it if I don't get results). I don't fully remember my chemistry from school, acids/bases, oxidizers/reducers, strong vs. weak acids & bases & the chemical reactions that take place when these chemicals are placed in solution and I'm sure there are those out there that can more than adequately cover the subject (not that I'd want to learn it all over again, though!) I mainly try to cover some of the principles and describe what has worked from experience. Plus, I've never tried to grow blueberries as trying to provide an acid environment in my soil seems like too high a maintenance. Overall, what is being dealt with here is that in drier climates, the soils tend to have a large reservoir of lime and an alkaline pH. Acid loving plants may not need acid to live, however they consume quantities of minerals which are mineralized and unavailable at high pH, but become readily available at lower pH and blueberries have adapted to soils where these minerals are readily available. Trying to lower the pH of the soil to create an acid one suitable for blueberries is very hard, because to make the soil acid you have to essentially eliminate the alkaline lime in the soil, and it will take tons of amendments to do that. To compensate, you remove the soil, replace it with organic matter which is naturally acidic, then work to counteract the ongoing process of your climate and geology from turning the new acidic, organic soil back into an alkaline, mineralized soil and add a few of the more important nutrients the plants need so that they are readily available, even if the pH is a little higher than the plant desires. One last caveat--in acidic soils, NEVER add ferrous sulphate for an iron deficiency. You don't need more acid (unless you actually want a more acidic soil). Use iron chelate or the ferrous gluconate. Sorry this is much too long, but hopefully it explains the basis of my thoughts so you can judge for yourselves what is best in your situation.

Most of the images show water shortage. Not disease. Perhaps occurred suddenly, as in windy; extreme high temps that burst in on a hot spell; very low humidity; too small a pot (are they in pots?)

Hi again! I'm back with an update on how my lawn has done this year and some questions on what to do next. I did the recommended amendments in the spring, and things greened up and filled in pretty nicely. We had a ridiculously dry summer and early fall, and I don't have irrigation, so things didn't stay totally green all summer, but mostly looked okay (except for a patch near the street - more on that in a minute.) I've been a little behind schedule on the amendments this fall, but here's what I've done: -around 8/15: milorganite -around 9/26: milorganite, encap lime (front only), overseeded part of front and back w/Pennington Sun & Shade mix -10/11 and 12: encap lime (back only), potassium sulfate (front only) I ran out of lime on 9/26 and had to order a new bag, so that's why only the front got done then. That put me behind schedule on the back yard, but I'll do the potassium sulfate on that in 2 weeks. I know I'm late overseeding, but it was so dry in Aug/Sept and I knew I couldn't keep up with the watering, so I decided to wait. I only overseeded some sections that were pretty bad that I felt like I could keep watered this fall. We also, luckily, got some significant rain this past couple of weeks after I got the seed down. Here are some pics of how things look now. This is the good part, closer to the house (most of it looks like this): This is the part we're still having problems with, right next to the street: Most of what's there is actually crabgrass. I just overseeded this section and have been keeping it watered, but germination is sparse (another area up by the house has much better germination). This also happened last year when we seeded and this area just didn't take. Some questions: It occurred to us that part of the problem in this area might be road salt. If that is the problem, is there anything we can do about it? I didn't get in 3 rounds of milorganite this fall. Should I do another one, or just skip it and winterize at some point? If so, when? I saw that Espoma now has a winterizing product. Can I use that? Anything else I should do this fall? Since irrigation is a problem for overseeding the whole lawn, I was thinking I might try dormant seeding this winter. Is this a good idea, or a waste? Thanks so much for your help!!

It's tough to tell at this point. You probably need to wait until the leaves unfurl. Then you can tell if there's abnormal growth. The bend is probably just from the obstruction it encountered, and the squashed looking leaves may be just that...squashed, since the growing point was forced up against the weird soil/medium. Give it a few more days and see what it does. In the mean time, I'll go check my Anna Olivier to compare the color of new growth; but if I recall correctly, the new canes are very red. John