JPIXI
Senior Member
Posts: 213
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:54 am
Location: France, Paris

When to start fertilizing?

Hiya Guys,

At last, winter is almost over. So excited to uncover my roses and to discover that they are doing very well.

Guys, I wonder when can I start fertilizing? The temperature in France now is 4 to 9°c in average, with a lot of rain and soft sunlight.

Have a good week ahead guys.

Cheers,
Pixi

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Bonjour PIXI,

Hey start with a good mulch of compost and manure ; this will leach in and give a nice gentle start that will really come on as things warm up. Water-soluable fertilizer would just wash through the soil profile and not do much for your plants; give the tea and emulsions a bit before we go there...

Scott

JPIXI
Senior Member
Posts: 213
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:54 am
Location: France, Paris

Thanks Scott,

I will certainly follow your recommendations.

Guys, I am a little worried that I have a little too much of coffee ground in my compost bins and carrot peels. I wonder is this a problem?

I intend to use the water used to wash cut fishes as fish emulsion. Could I throw in an air pump and let the water stands for a few days before watering the plants? I wonder are those bacterias created in this way good for roses, or will it be a threat?

Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Cheers,
Pixi

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

With aeration you should be fine. Anaerobic conditions (without air) is wher ebad things start to happen; Aerobic is how compost and other good things like emulsions happen. I say try it. Bacteria and fungii are friends as well as enemies; we would not digest food as well, every dead thing EVER would still be here and worst of all, NO BEER! (Yeast is our friend... :D ). So encouraging good guys discourages bad guys... like the milk recipe for fungii (called antibacterial counter-culture). There's an antibacterial I can get behind...

Scott

grandpasrose
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Bienvenue en arrière Pixi! Il est si bon d'avoir de vos nouvelles encore!

As Scott says, slowly introduce rotted manure and compost to your roses right now, but don't get into your feeding and spraying routine quite yet.
I have just posted a new article about roses in spring in this forum, that you may find some answers to.

I wouldn't worry about the coffee grounds and carrots in the compost. As long as you have been adding other things as well, it all mixed itself together in the end!

Bonsoir! :wink:

Val



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