Re: fertilizer when and how much
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: fertilizer when and how much
- From: B* R* <b*@networx.on.ca>
- Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 08:48:02 -0400
At 11:50 AM 17/09/96 -0600, you wrote:
>When I was telling Dorothy about the rebloomers i should have
>mentioned that the instructions which came with the irises said
>they should have fertilizer 3 times a year. I didn't put any on
>them this year at all. Do irises tolerate fertilizer in the fall?
>Should i put some on?
>
>--
>Diana Louis <dlouis@dynamicro.on.ca>
>Zone 4/5 Ontario Canada
>
>Diana
For strong plants (and best bloom) on any iris it is a good idea to use
a low nitrogen fertilizer such as 2-20-10 to encourge root development. This
is even more important for rebloomers as they have such a short time to make
new rhizomes in the fall. Might be better to use 4-20-10. If I have used or
applied fertilizer in the fall (and I always did when replanting TBs) then I
only used ammonium nitrate in the spring just as the ground was beginning to
get almost dry enough to eork and preferably when some rain is expected soon
or in a couple of days to disolve it and carry it into the soil. Ammonium
nitrate laying on the dry surface tends to evaporate and you could lose one
third of it in a week. Watering in is also a good way if you don't mind the
extra work. The way I apply any fertilizer is to punch a 5/8" hole in the
bottom of a quart tin can, fill it from a pail I carry with me as I alk down
the row letting it run out on the plants in the row. You can do the same for
clumps and shut off the flow merely by placing the can back in the pail. If
it is ammonium nitrate I am using I usually wash off the plants with a hose
soon after as this fertilizer can burn the foliage if left on (its sticks to
wet or damp foliage) and washing it off gets it into the soil quickly too
doing too jobs at once. Not hard to do and quick even for a lot of iris -
faster than I can type this.
Bruce Richardson (near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Bruce Richardson (near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
>
Bruce Richardson (near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
