I usually add compost to my beds at the beginning of the growing season to help restore any lost nutrients that may be needed. I don't use any store bought fertilizers. I find that the compost is more that adequate for my clems.

Tracy

I have the liquid form you mix with water in both the rose and tomato formulations. I've been alternating them later in the season after the 2s are cut back a bit or before the 3s bloom. For the first feeding tho I use something dry like RoseTone.

When I am planting something in the ground or in a pot/tub, I mix my lazy womans compost (throw anything that will decompose,.... cotton clothing, books, newspapers, weeds and trimmings, grass when the lawnmower worked, on to a pile in the backwoods edge and let it sit for a few years. It never gets really warm enough here to cook as compost is supposed to do, but it does give a better composition to the soil, if not nutrients), dehydrated cow manure, a bit of bone & blood meals, and some slow release fertilizer in the bottom, another layer of compost, put in the plant as sidewise as I can get it, cover the roots with more compost, and top off with the loosest soil I can find.

Remember not to use any fertilizer when the plant is blooming.

Marie

We use MiracleGro every 3 to 4 weeks during the growing season and our clematis (and roses) do well. I wait a month or 2 before giving any to newly planted ones. Each plant gets around a gallon per feeding. We just use regular MG or MG for Roses, whichever is cheaper. We don't use the Bloom Buster (?) product or whatever it is called.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deb & Digger's Clematis

I use fertilizers when I pot up smaller clematis and when I plant them in the ground. I do tend to use a slower release organic fertilizer in these situations so as long as you don't over do the application of the Miracle Gro, you should be fine. Too much high nitrogen fertilization is what you want to avoid with clematis, especially newly planted ones.

What you will find here is that different people do different things in their gardens and that clematis do well regardless. Trial and error is the best method to find out what will work for you. Your soil's natural fertility will determine how much and when you have to fertilize any plant, clematis included.

When the clems start their big rush of growth in the spring, I start giving them a hit of The Blue Juice right then, every week until they stop growing so fast and start putting on buds--3 or 4 times. I don't do this until the 3rd year. The 1st year I let them grow roots in increasingly larger pots, the 2nd year they go into the ground and get used to their spot. No fertilizer at all, just compost those first two years--perhaps just a splash of fish emulsion when I first pot them up.

Works for me.

Diggerdave - great album. I just planted Madame Julia Correvon today, and I planted Warsaw Nike earlier this season, among others. After seeing your pics, I'm getting anxious though I know it will take a few years before mine establish themselves.