dyzzypyxxy said:Michele, do you use any additional fertilizer along with, or in between application of the alfalfa?
Cookies4kids said:I am finding your articles so interesting, Michele. I am thinking that maybe I haven't been using enough Milorganite when I do use it. I am an avid baker, so I need to know how much in terms of cups, lol. If I am planting a new fan or top dressing a larger, well established clump, how much Milorganite should I be using. I am off to buy alfalfa pellets this morning, so do I use those in addition to the Milorganite or alternate their use. We have what I call black sand for soil, so nothing stays very long. Your remark about watering, and watering some more is so true as I learned this year. A grower some place said that if you could choose only one thing, water or fertilizer, you should take water!!!! I thought I was watering enough, but with our wettest ever spring, I have the best flowers I have had yet.
Thanks again for your help.
tink3472 said:
Here's the conversion chart on the Milorganite site for flowers http://milorganite.com/Gardeni... it tells you in pounds and then at the bottom of chart it says how many cups equal a pound.
Yes you can use then together; I use everything together whether in the hole, tilling in the bed, or top dressing.
We water every day with sprinklers and leave them on for about 30 min per section even if it rains unless it is a long hard rain. We use the misting type sprinkler heads
Not a good photo (taken with phone) but you can see the height of the sprinklers in this photo but it doesn't show a good depiction of the misting. The misters will spray up to 15' depending on how much water pressure there is and how many sprinklers are on the line.
farawayfarmer said:
Do you lose more water to evaporation with misting than with impulse sprinklers? That is, if such a thing can be calculated.
Xenacrockett said:
John raises a good point in this era of shrinking water sources everywhere.
72% of overhead irrigation water is lost to evaporation. Misting would likely loose even more.
Plus this is putting lots of water on plants for fungus to grow.
For my own purposes, I'm doing a water set up using flex hose with holes put where needed, but will not spray on plants.
Also lots of mulching and adding of organic material.
Hockeyrabbit said:Hi-
I was wondering if someone can take a picture of the alfalfa pellets they are using. Are store carries two kinds. An actual pellet (looks like a woodstove), and then small squares which are like tiny bales of hay. Just wondering what kind you use?
I'm also thinking about spreading milorganite in the fall. I live in a zone 5 climate. What are others doing in the fall to prep garden for winter?
tink3472 said:
I know we don't lose 72% of the water to evaporation with our sprinklers, there is just no way. We would have to water each area for hours to get everything saturated if this was the case. I've tried other ways to water and they don't work as well. I've done it by hand (would take me 2 full days to actually get it water properly) and I've tried drip hoses (don't last one full season), I've made drip lines from PVC but since we use pine bark for our snoring medium it does not saturate the area but goes right through the bark where the holes are). Plus 50% of our plants are in pots and overhead watering is the only way to get them watered good.
During non-bloom season we water early in the morning so nothing stays wet very long for it to cause issues. Even watering early evening they don't. The plants stay wetter for longer from the natural moisture here than when we water.