Hi Terry- That is a great price for Milorganite, I pay $12.95 for a 40 lb. bag @ HD, and can't seem to find it any cheaper... I go thru' 2 bags every month or so but put it around everything, and on the grass, I don't use any granular fert., but have also been using other stuff on my roses (abt. 150)...Alfalfa pellets, black hen and black kow, bagged compost from HD, fish emulsion... and keep a thick layer of compost, from tree-services, they drop it off free when they take down a tree, and they chip it good... a really large pile each time, have to let it heat and cool-off first...but my soil is sand-based and drains fast, and stuff breaks down fast here.... sally

Sally, my soil is good old Illinois River Valley clay, and it holds nutrients really well. I can understand how sand would drain off fertilizer really fast! Do you have a Menards in your area? They sell Milorganite on sale for $5.99; regular price is about $8.99. HD is very pricey IMO.

Milorganite is good, but I'm not sure it is beneficial to the soil as say compost or manure. I use a combination. I think I've narrowed my fertilizing down to compost, black hen/cow, shredded leaves, alfalfa and some bone/blood meal. I have clay soil, so I don't worry about the nutrients washing away.

Wow, Terryjean, that good news!! I'm sure shipping adds to our cost in Florida. I was told that worms LOVE Milorganite, and they're good for the soil. I think it's great stuff. How wonderful that the deer hate it!!

Sally, I don't know if it's "complete". I'm wondering who said that & based on what. (It wasn't me, was it?) It has no potassium. I'm also wondering if the worms' conversion process renders it more complete that it appears to be by its numbers alone.

And, Sally, 150 roses is a lot of roses. I think you're tellin' us a story about being pretty old.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

If you don't like your neighbors use Milorganite. The sewer-sludge stink will waft into their yard, last about a week, and is enough to gag a maggot.

RoseTone reeks worse than Milorganite. I had heard comments about the aroma with Milorganite, but quite honestly I don't detect a lasting odor. A great plus is that it keeps the critters away...the deer have left my hostas alone for the first time in years.

What is in this that makes it smell?

The ghastly smell probably comes from the anerobic bacteria found in poop.

It's dried sewage sludge. I didn't find that it had a smell. I can't be worse than alfalfa tea or fish emulsion. IMO, the worse it smells, the better it is!!!

Thanks folks, you-all are a great bunch ! Milorganite doesn't have much odor as far as my smeller goes, I don't make a 'tea' I just throw on lots of it around the roses and let the water wash it in... but I'd like to know what is the nutrition in it, the label is not much help, but seems it's pretty good stuff and ranks up there with other 'manures', if it is in fact 'complete' maybe I can cut back on some of the other stuff I use.... is there a Chemist out there?? Thanks again, sally

Official US government policy is the disposal of toxic industrial wastes in public sewers. Sewer treatment concentrates the chemicals in the sewage sludge. Pretreatment is no longer strictly enforced for fear of costing industries money and causing loss of jobs.

In 2007, tons of Milwaukee sewage sludge "Milorganite" had to be scraped off 30 public parks and disposed in EPA licensed hazardous waste landfill because of toxic levels of carcinogenic PCBs ( polychloride biphenyl ethers). In 2008 and 2009 Milwaukee had more problems with excessive levels of PCBs in their sludge biosolids.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/4284

In 2010, high levels of toxic lead (1100 parts per million) in the Milwaukee sludge biosolids spread on Kenosha, Wisconsin, farm fields greatly exceeded the EPA limit of 300 ppm in Class A EQ sludge biosolids.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/85012452.html

Sewage sludge Milorganite is a dangerous "fertilizer" which should not be used on home gardens or public parks and playgrounds where children and pets are exposed.
Class A sewage sludge biosolids has caused many incidents of illness:

http://www.sludgevictims.com/Class-A-sludge.html

Chemical pollutants and pathogens in sludge are taken up and internalized by vegetables and plants.
http://www.sludgevictims.com/plants/uptake.html

Wastewater treatment does not inactivate infectious human and animal prions which US EPA acknowledges are also present in sewage sludge.
http://www.sludgevictims.com/prions/PRIONS-EPA-EMERGINGCONTAMINANTSINSLUDGEBIO.pdf

Helane Shields, Alton, NH http://www.sludgevictims.com
http://www.alzheimers-prions.com/

For what it's worth, I don't believe there is anything even vaguely dangerous about Milorganite, and I don't believe the horror stories about it -- they always seem to come from questionable sources. Certainly, there are sludges (e.g. Detroit) that should have high heavy metals, but not Milorganite. But in any case, no it is not complete -- it's usually about a 5-2-0. And in Florida soils, Potassium (third number) is nearly always severely deficient. We use it as a supplement, but by itself, roses here would quickly become severely K deficient.

Thank you for all the data, and thank you Dr. Manners, I will continue using Milorganite and apparently will need more than just that, I did search Google and found numerous web-sites w/information, and it sounds like the stuff has a lot of minor-L, etc. Perhaps you can advise me what other ferts. are best for supplying what Milorganite lacks, I am low on my supply and do need to visit the feed-store, and usually stock up on Alfalfa pellets, Black Hen, cottonseed meal when he has it...please could you advise which has the Potassium lacking in Milorganite ? Thanks for the help, sally