MAD zone9b_CA’s ideas

Reply to: Westes: Since you are in CA, the below fertilizer-regime done by MAD zone 9b_CA is more suitable than Frank Gatto's high-rain PNW. MAD uses MG or Scott's Water Soluble Bloom Booster Flower Food, 10-52-10. I tested that before and it's VERY effective in quadrupling the amount of blooms for petunias in pots. The logic of putting granular first in spring is to prompt canes to grow. After canes grow to your desired height, it's time to use HIGH PHOSPHORUS SOLUBLE to STOP the cane growth, and to prompt blooming. Phosphorus is an anion (negative) charge like nitrogen, so it competes with nitrogen. If you want to STOP the tall growth, and FORCE BLOOMS, then apply SOLUBLE PHOSPHORUS. Granular phosphorus DOES NOT work, since it binds up with clay easily. Phosphorus needs to be dissolved in water first to pass down to root-zone. I agree with MAD's logic of using granular fertilizer ONLY in Jan-Feb when Californians get rain. Applying manure in early spring supply trace elements for blooming. My roses in pots NEVER bloom as well as roses in the ground, since I can't pile up horse manure in pots. Iron deficiency is a problem in certain areas of CA. MAD posted pictures of tons of blooms below: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5272800/spring-explosion MAD zone 9b_CA I feed my plants a combination of Scott’s water soluble bloom food and Vigoro Bloom Fertilizer. I only use the granular fertilizer in Jan-Feb when i get some rain here. During the dry season, they get light feedings of the water soluble kind. I add in Ironite whenever they start showing iron deficiency. I also put down several bags of manure earlier in February. MAD zone 9b_CA *** From Straw: I checked the ingredients in Vigoro bloom SOLUBLE fertlizer, it's popular in CA with a good % of chelated iron. Iron doesn't work in my dolomitic clay soil, since my clay is high in iron but low in manganese. Iron deficiency is more common in CA. https://www.whatsinproducts.com/types/type_detail/1/7748/standard/Vigoro%20Water%20Soluble%20Bloom%20Builder%20Plant%20Food/19-020-194 Manganese EDTA, disodium salt015375-84-5--Iron(III) EDTA015275-07-7--Boric acid010043-35-3--Ammonium phosphate, dibasic007783-28-0--Potassium phosphate007778-77-0--Copper sulfate007758-98-7--Potassium nitrate

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Reply to: I found a horticultural abstract entitled, "Applications of Potassium silicate decrease black spot infection in rose Fuschia Meidiland". The conclusion: "The results indicate that using potassium silicate in irrigation water may be a useful component of a disease management system." Potassium silicate is a pH up, it makes the soil alkaline and imparts silicon to the leaves. Potassium silicate is sold as "Rhino Skin" for $7 at Planet-Natural .. I wonder how they extract that from Rhino Skin? http://www.planetnatural.com/product/rhino-skin-potassium-silicate/ I googled "Foods highest in silica" and found this info: "one of the best food sources for silica is oats. A breakfast muesli made with raw soaked oats eaten daily supplies lots of silica. (Guess why horses fed with oats are so strong and have such shiny coats?) Without silica there would be no lustre to our hair; we would have brittle nails, rough and itchy skin and no elasticity in our connective tissues." I got 42 oz, or 2 lb. of oats for $2 at the grocery store. I grounded that up in a coffee grinder, and fertilized Bolero, very pleased with the results ... cheaper than Rhino skin! Here is a link that might be useful: Horticultural abstract on potassium silicate This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 11:47

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Reply to: I don’t have photos myself. Here are some photos from the tutorial I followed in a Chinese rose forum. They keep bending new shoots to boost a band rose to a big shrub in one year. This have to be done with heavy feeding. But you loose the spring flush of that year. There is also a similar Japanese tutorial for hybrid teas, in which they break the stiff cane and bend to the ground.

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Reply to: Kim, I would not be surprised if these large standards are from the old Weeks stock. This nursery has a giant lot and looks like plenty more that they could pull out. Who knows how many years they have held them. I was wondering how they could move something like this:

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Reply to: chamblees order at the back and smaller pots from high country in the front. Plants from both nurseries are robust, healthy and Chamblees have buds and blooms already:D

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Reply to: Thank you lavenderlace, my collection of bouquet fillers have grown slowly over the years. I used to just cut roses and stick them in the vase and that was it. After seeing many beautiful bouquets by fellow forum members I have realised that the fillers are worthwhile additions. I like those plants that will continuously produce cut flowers over long periods of time. The sea statice is great as it is virtually in flower everyday of the year in my garden. I then also grew some snapdragons for height and they make very long lasting cut flowers and they self seed. Cutting flowers will keep them flowering for a long time. Bells of Ireland and Snow on Mountain provide fresh greenery for the bouquets and they are long lasting too. I then experienced with others such as Erygiums, Cosmos, Achillea, Jupiter's beard, and now Dahlia as well. Dahlias are not really fillers as they are too huge. They make main subjects for bouquets. I also have started Echinops from seed but they seem to take their time to flower. As you can see most of my fillers are perennials which will provide flowers year after year. Great for lazy gardeners like me! I also prefer those flowers that have a good vase life as fillers. In fact the only fillers that I use that have a shorter vase life than roses is sweet peas. Their intricate patterns and unique colours are irresistible though.

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Reply to: Here is a little gift I made with Evelyn and sweet peas. Even after cutting so many flowers there are still plenty on the bush to keep the garden colourful. These are gigantic flowers as they have been disbudded to one per stem. Sonia Rykiel is the same. Huge blooms. I usually cut them before they are this open but I have cut too many roses this week already so these can stay on the bush.

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