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DEcODE tHE MYStERIES Of pLaNt fOOD SO YOUR pLaNtS caN tHRIVE.

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Burning plants with fresh manure

Its hard to resist free or cheap fertilizer or compost, and an allnatural product may also appeal to you. Farmers sometimes erect signs advertising free manure, and you are lightening their load if you take some home. Assuming the manure is from vegetarian animalscows, sheep, horses, bison, or chickensit is probably ne to use in your yard and garden. However, if it is fairly fresh, hot, or quite sticky and stinky, it is denitely not ready to use. Shoveling fresh manure onto a garden can have the opposite effect of feeding the soil and plants and improving soil texture. Fresh manure is nitrogen-heavy and will literally fry your plants. Youll see the damagescorched, wilted plantsquickly and know you did something wrong.

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THE RIGHt WAY tO DO It Let fresh manure sit so it can decompose. Shovel it into an out-of-the-way corner for a season or so. Or add it to your compost pile (but not all at oncelayering remains important). Once it has dried out somewhat and is not as smelly, and you can squeeze a handful and appreciate its rich, crumbly texture, it is okay to dig it into your vegetable or ower garden, sprinkle it lightly on the lawn or over the groundcovers, or include it in homemade soil mixes. IF I GOOFED, CAN I FIX It? If you realize your blunder pretty quickly, grab a shovel and remove as much of the hot manure as possible. Then let it sit and plan to return it to the garden later. If a delivery of hot manure has already damaged or killed your garden plants, its not a total loss. You can cart away the hot manure and its victims to your compost pile or a backyard corner and, again, let everything sit and break down for a while before pressing it back into service.

Using the wrong type of fertilizer

Fertilizers are not created equal, and deploying the wrong kind can have consequences. Sprinkling something meant for lawns on your vegetable garden can be destructive because these products often include weedkiller, which will harm unintended targets. Also, your soil can wind up with excessive levels of phosphorus and potassium, which can damage plants and adversely affect benecial soil microorganisms. It helps to know what kind of N-P-K formulation youre using. (N = nitrogen, P = phosphorus, and K = potassium; these are the major elements plants need to prosper, and their relative proportion is

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always listed on the fertilizer package.) Specialized fertilizers can have strange imbalances. Bonemeal, popular for bulb plantings, has no potassium and plentiful phosphorus (2.5-24-0). Wood ashes, which some gardeners have in abundance, contain no nitrogen at all (0-2-5). Plants that are given the wrong food react in different ways. For example, excess nitrogen prevents eggplants from owering and causes carrots to fork. Other plants may simply shrivel, grow slowly, or sulk. Not what you had in mind. THE RIGHt WAY tO DO It Plants generally need more nitrogen than the other two, so its best to look for a formulation with an N-P-K ratio of 5-1-2 or 5-1-3. This is preferable to fertilizers in which the ratio numbers are the same for all three elements (such as 10-10-10). If youd rather use natural or organic fertilizers, dried cow manure (approximately 2-1.5-2) and sh meal (usually 9-7-3) are good bets. And many perennials and woody plants need no fertilizer other than good, homemade compost. If you are growing plants that need or would benet from a specialized fertilizer, research what type or formulation to use, how much, and when. IF I GOOFED, CAN I FIX It? Hopefully you realized your error after only one episode. If you did not feed with a heavy hand, chances are the plants will forgive and forget. However, if they are damaged or they die, learn your lesson. Dont do it again.

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Feeding plants at the wrong time of year

Feeding your plants is generally a good idea, particularly if you are trying to coax maximum performance, such as lots of blooms or robust growth, in their early years. What the plant-food label may not emphasize, or you might overlook, is that it is meant to be used on actively growing plants. If you fertilize perennials or owering shrubs in the fall, youll spur the plants to generate fresh new growth just as they should be slowing down for the year. And that growth is tender and vulnerable to cold weather, so your good intentions might lead to the plants being harmed. THE RIGHt WAY tO DO It Apply plant food only to plants in active growth in spring, summer, and maybe late summer. Wind down and stop as fall approaches. Plants should head into winter hale and healthy, but not bursting with energy or fresh new growth, or jacked up on fertilizer. Also, be sure to match the fertilizer to the plant, and to follow the dosage, application, and frequency information on the product label. Finally, it is always a good idea to apply plant food to damp ground and to water it in well afterward. This ensures the food reaches the root system and gets taken up to benet the growing plant. IF I GOOFED, CAN I FIX It? If you realize your error within a day or so of dosing the plants, water the area thoroughly to dilute or rinse away the fertilizer. If you realize your error too latefor example, you start seeing new buds and a killing frost is predictedtake steps to minimize damage. Cover the plants with old sheets, blankets, or upended cardboard boxes for the night.