Slow Release Fertilizers

From another post:

Been thinking about Osmocote this year (to feed as I water, rather than mixing up liquid feed and most of it pouring out of the bottom of the pots). Slightly put off by the price 'coz 25kg bags are £80-90 ... but then I realised that the Westland Feed-All Slow Release Plant Food which I have used for last 3 or more years is £6 / 2kg, so actually there is not much in it, and I suspect that the Osmocote is far more sophisticated.

Dunno how the application rate compares though - amazes me that Scotts [or whatever they are calling themselves this week ...] put so little useful information about their products on their website.

I'm also thinking about if for some Palms as I have read that slow-release (including Mg) suits them better - probably means I need a range of different "types" of Osmocote :(

Where do you get your Osmocote from Shiney? (and what sort of sized containers?)

 

Obtain a large washing up bowl, partially fill with the S.R.F of your choise and plonk your plant in there, pour the stuff into the top and any excess will run out the bottom back into the bowl. Stand your plants on a brick (still in the bowl) untill the dripping has stopped. Easy peasy, plant watered and all recycled Slow Release Fertilise back in the bowl ready for your next plant. Cheers, Tony.

 

I've heard that too - from people who have grown nice Palms.

 

check these:
http://www.bshamenity.com/products.php?mc=fertilisers-adjuvants&cat=slow-release

marketed for lawns, but maybe there is something there that you can use ... prices are fair

 

I usually buy osmacote from the gardencentre, just a couple of kilos.

I dont use that much, and I still feed, as the season progresses.
I've heard about "palm booster", but it sounds very expensive, I'm very sceptical, I'm afraid.
Bonemeal is a good one, I'd buy that rather than PB.
But I'm not sure, if a palm is suitable for our climate, it needs much fiddling around with.

 

Now if I had been gardening longer, and had a brain of what was good for what
I would now own a 25kg drum of Bonemeal reduced from£28 to £3 as the drum had lost its handle
I looked at it, toyed with the idea of buying it, then thought somewhere it was just for when planting new TREES so no use to me duh

Jack McH

 

It promotes the type of feeder roots that palms need to take up nutrients. Promote those and the plant will be able to take up the fertilizer (otherwise it is, in part, wasted). People who have used it swear by it and have Palms that have grown faster than "normal"

"But I'm not sure, if a palm is suitable for our climate, it needs much fiddling around with."

Plenty of fanatics mollycoddling them for sure. But Trachycarpus fortunei is hardy down to -18C or lower. But Palms are relatively slow growing, so finding ways of speeding them up is common ... not unlike fitting a go-faster stripe to a Boy Racer Wagon ... its just another branch of the gardening hobby

 

I plant loads of palms .... mainly Trachycarpus fortunei and Trachycarpus wagnerianus ... both of these types are hardy and have survived the last 3 winters in Cambridge with little or no damage at all and with merely a thick mulch of well rotted organic farmyard manure (I never wrapped them with fleece)....

If you are planting in a windy area, plant the wagnerianus, as the leaves are a lot stiffer than the fortunei

there are several species of fortunei and some are said to be hardier than the others .... The ones that I have planted are the standard ones

Last year, I planted 2 Chamaerops Humils palms ..... I nearly lost one of them a few weeks ago (after the 2 days of -16 degrees C) ... I applied some stuff called Revive (made by Advanced Nutrients), and it seems like it is working (still early days though, and will be gutted if I loose that palm)

On the weekend, I worked in a village, and saw a large Chamaerops Humilis that was completely brown .... judging from the size, I would guess that that palm has been in the ground for more than 5 years

As regards bone meal, I have recently read that bonemeal does not work if the ph of the soil is above 7

From what I have seen and read, the 1st year, the fortunei does not do much (it sulks).... the 2nd year, it is said that the roots grow, and from the 3rd year, the palm then grows faster.... I have achieved over 1 foot of growth per year on all the fortunei that I have planted, and have not fed them with much fertilzer

As regards palms, I have recently read that they need a fertilizer with an NPK of 15-5-21 +2mg + micros

I am experementing with Actively Aerated Compost Tea, and will try replicate the 15-5-21 +mg/micros .... (and I will adda few extras including volcanic rock dust for minerals and a bit of epsom salts for the mg) ....


as regards Palmbooster, from what I understand, it is not a fertilizer, it is a root hormone ...

many who use it rate it very highly ..... it is not expensive considering the amount you use when you dilute it (a bottle lasts a very long time) .... I have not used this but have read lots about it

I will try adding stuff called 'Voodoo Juice' or similar (there are loads of nutrients for root growth) to my compost tea and see how that works

 

I put Bonemeal under a yew hedge I planted Autumn before last. Foxes dug them all up - smelt a "buried animal" I suppose ...

 

Yep, a small problem with bonemeal, its bones, so foxes do like to rummage.

I've got a 15ft waggie that has never been fed, and a couple of slightly smaller fortuei, which have never been fed.
They are hardy trees, in the same way we might grow a native species so I cant think they need much special attention.

I must admit they do sulk for a year or two after planting, but I put that down to being in most cases totally potbound when bought.
Also most are grown in warmer climes and brought over to the chilly UK, so often forced to some degree.

A seed grown Chamy I have is fairly large, its never been fed either.

In fact I feed very little around the garden, but spend a good part of January most years cutting everything back to keep things under control.
I do have a clay subsoil.