Fall Fertilization

[lieuz]

We are about 2 weeks into fall and I haven't made the effort to make my own organic fertilizer. I have been using miracle grow but want to switch over to the slow release organic fertilizer. Is it too late to start mixing and using that since I know that November is typically the cut off date for fertilizing.

 

[chansen]

If you're moving to a organic cake fertilizer, I wouldn't bother with it at this time of year. They take a while to have an impact, so you won't get much bang for your buck this year. I'd save your time/money for the spring.

If you want to move to organics in general, there are liquid organics out there that will work well. I use organics now, but I've used a lot of Miracle Grow in the past and it worked well too.

I tend to use both a slow release fertilizer and a weekly liquid. I made fertilizer cakes once or twice, but it was a pain and stinky. Now I just put together the dry mix and put it all in a tea bag and use a toothpick to hold it down. I try to get a pretty balanced mix, but tend to go a little lighter on phosphorus than nitrogen and potassium. Then I use full strength liquid fish emulsion through the growing season. I stop fertilizing when the daytime temperatures stay at or below 50.

 

[lieuz]

Thank you for that! I too think that it's probably too late to do the organic fertz now. I'll keep up with my miracle gro and hope that next year I can start off fresh with the organic mix. I actually have some garden lime, cottonseed meal, bone and blood meal since I use them for my hydrangeas. I just have never gotten around to applying it to my bonsai since I have been using miracle gro. I didn't want to make the switch because I didn't want to shock the tree. I actually have empty tea bags where I can use to fill the dry ingredients and toothpick onto the soil. Oh well, start a new next year!

 

[yenling83]

IMO just make the cakes whenever you have time, you can use some this year if you do it soon. I would recommend making a large batch that you can save and start using in spring. If you don't get around to it just keep using the Fertilizer you are using now.