Grading finals, looking at roots, and planting seeds is consuming my time this spring, but I have just a few things to share today which might be interesting.
So, as those of you who follow this blog know, I love peanuts. This year we’re planting out a bunch of new varieties, a few of which are extremely interesting. Believe it or not there are not only red and pink peanuts but also black, white, and mottled peanuts. … Continue reading this article “This ‘n That”
One of the best organic fertilizers out there – at least in terms of how plants respond to it — is bat guano. As most of you probably already know, bat guano is made of bat droppings. What you probably don’t realize is that bat droppings need to be aged for a while in an arid environment before they become guano. Caves provide the perfect environment for this to occur, and so that is where most bat guano comes from.… Continue reading this article “Guano”
A few brave souls gave Friday’s homework assignment a good shot. Ryan did a nice critique of the bullet points; Kenny did a little digging on WFFF, the organization behind the email; and Tom chimed in with the fact that Israel managed to do this a long time ago without impairing plant health. Gold stars for all!
Here’s my initial analysis of the statements made, based on reading the bill (which you should do if you haven’t yet; it’s neither long nor difficult to understand):
WFFF: 1) The intent section contains scientifically inaccurate statements, creating a false precedent that turf fertilizer is a significant surface water pollutant and is not necessary for a healthy lawn.… Continue reading this article “Proposed phosphate fertilizer ban – a dissection of the criticisms”
Linda got a few comments and questions on her post a couple of weeks ago on fertilization and insect resistance. This is an issue I’ve been peripherally involved with over the years so I wanted to share a few thoughts. First, the relationship between plant nutrition and insect resistance is extremely complex. We often have difficulty predicting how a plant is going to respond to fertilization, let alone predict how an insect is going to respond to how the plant responded. … Continue reading this article “Insects and Fertilization”
Today I received an email alerting members of Washington Friends of Farms and Forests to a proposed ban on phosphate-containing fertilizers in the state of Washington. Here’s part of the text of the email (I’ve removed underlining, bolding, highlighting etc. so this reads as objectively as possible):
“Concerns with the HB 1271 & SB 5194 banning the sale of fertilizer containing phosphorous:
1) The intent section contains scientifically inaccurate statements, creating a false precedent that turf fertilizer is a significant surface water pollutant and is not necessary for a healthy lawn.… Continue reading this article “Proposed phosphate fertilizer ban”
In early December, I posted my thoughts about fertilizing crops vs. landscapes. An anonymous reader asked if we could follow up by discussing the relationship between excessive fertilizers and plant susceptibility to pests and disease. It’s taken a month to get the scientific literature (and my act) together, but here it is.
There are decades’ worth of articles about the direct relationship between increased nutrient availability and increased susceptibility to pests, disease, and disorders. One of the earliest articles linked the incidence of celery blackheart to over-fertilization. … Continue reading this article “Fast food is unhealthy for plants, too”
Today I’m going to write about fertilizers and worms. The purpose of this post is not to encourage you to use fertilizers. I agree wholeheartedly with Linda’s post – we don’t need many of the fertilizers which we’re using. Still, it’s important to know the facts about anything that you’re doing (or not doing) to and for your garden, and to do them (or not do them) for the right reasons. With that in mind, I’ve been reading about worms and fertilizers for the last few days and wanted to let all of you know the basics of what I’ve been reading, because it is somewhat contrary to what many gardeners believe.… Continue reading this article “Of Worms and Fertilizers”
Last week Jeff wrote about the dangers of using “balanced” fertilizers, especially in reference to phosphorus content. Comments quickly followed about using fertilizers in many situations – on farms, in container plants, on trees – and so on. One of the latest comments came from Nick and began “I don’t usually recommend fertilizer for perennials or woody plants to consumers. In most cases they aren’t needed.” And this leads into today’s topic.
Many of the horticultural practices we use in our gardens and landscapes have, unfortunately, been derived from agricultural crop production. … Continue reading this article “Fertilizers, crops and landscapes”
I’m in the midst of grading papers for my nursery management class, and something that I’m running across is an incredible number of papers where the students are recommending balanced fertilizers. Why are they doing that? Or maybe an even better question is, what is a balanced fertilizer? A balanced fertilizer is a fertilizer which has three numbers which are about the same, like a 10-10-10. The problem with balanced fertilizers is that they are much higher in phosphorus than what most plants need — at least in relation to the amount of nitrogen and potassium which plants need. … Continue reading this article “Balanced fertilizers are usually out of balance”
One of the products that I often hear gardeners raving about are their fertilizer / pesticide combination spikes which are supposed to not only feed your plants, but also kill all of the insects which attack them. I, personally, have not used these products, but I’m generally the kind of person who says “If it works for you then keep using it”. Still, these spikes bug me a little. Here’s why.
First of all I should point out that I’m not opposed to fertilizer spikes by themselves. … Continue reading this article “Are Fertilizer and Insecticide Spikes a Good Idea?”