MartyS
Seed
I have been doing bonsai for 21 years (11 in South Florida & 10 in Northern N.J.). I currently have 11 old medium - large very fine trees ( 2 Black pines, 1 Zushio and 1 Scotts pine, 2 Gingkos, 1 Boxwood, 1 Coastal oak, 2 Junipers & 1 Azelea). I apply Biogold to all as well as Mycominerals regularly. I used to apply MiracleGro to deciduous trees and Miracid for conifers / junipers (using the MiracleGro spray bottle) about every 7-10 days from May to end of September +/-. Trees did well and I did this for 19 years but 2 years ago, switched over to just Miracid (local water is alkaline) and trees continued to do well. Two years ago, I also began "precise" hand watering with a can ( 2 tablespoons Miracid / 2 gallon can with 2 tsp. of Superthrive ( I know it's smoke & mirrors but been doing it for years). I now feel that hand watering is a P.I.A., takes too long and gives me no pleasure!
I want to go back to fast application of Miracid with the spray feeder but re-thinking this, the proper amount is 1 tablespoon / gallon (by hand). Anyone who has used this feeder always sees bluish water at first then pretty clear water. I used to shake the container while spraying, in order to see bluish water, confirming fertilization but now realize that was probably resulting in too much applied. I will now probably use 1/2 of the 1.5 pound bag in the feeder for the 11 trees (MiracleGro said NOT to leave unused fertilizer in the bottle for the next application).
The specific question is does anyone do this and if I don't shake the bottle, is the fertilizer still being applied when the stream is clear?
I want to go back to fast application of Miracid with the spray feeder but re-thinking this, the proper amount is 1 tablespoon / gallon (by hand). Anyone who has used this feeder always sees bluish water at first then pretty clear water. I used to shake the container while spraying, in order to see bluish water, confirming fertilization but now realize that was probably resulting in too much applied. I will now probably use 1/2 of the 1.5 pound bag in the feeder for the 11 trees (MiracleGro said NOT to leave unused fertilizer in the bottle for the next application).
The specific question is does anyone do this and if I don't shake the bottle, is the fertilizer still being applied when the stream is clear?