February News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

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We are steadily marching through the winter months with spring getting close and time spent in the garden on a mild day will help you to get ready, but being seasonally affected I need some spring sunshine to get me going. I will try and get my broad beans in this month, but thumbs up to those who did it last Autumn, yours will be well under way by now. Snowdrops will show this month and the best time to divide and transplant is when they are "in the green". Also keep an eye on any winter bedding which can start to get a bit leggy towards the end of the month and may need trimming.

Last year I found time to do more fertilising and was impressed with the results. I do compost and use organic fertilisers but personally I am willing to use chemical fertilisers to get better results from flower and fruit yields. Most fertilisers comprise 3 main constituents which should be displayed on the packaging as the N:P:K ratio. The first of these is Nitrogen (N), which stimulates leaf growth and greens up the plant. It tends to be fast acting and the first nutrient to become depleted. The second is Phosphate (P) which stimulates a vigorous root system. The third is Potassium (K) or more commonly known as Potash which develops bud growth, flower and fruit. A well balanced general fertiliser has an N:P:K of 7:7:7 and is ideal for application early in the year to prepare soil prior to planting. A good example is Growmore. Anything above 7 can be considered a high dose and below 7 is low.

So, armed with this knowledge we can now consider what fertilisers we need at different times of the year and for different plants. For example let's start with the lawn. Grass starts to grow when the temperature gets above 6°C and in the spring we need to get it growing and greened up. What we want is high Nitrogen to give it a quick start and generate plenty of top growth. A low phosphate will steadily encourage the roots. Potash is not desirable because it will cause the grass to go to seed, however, low Potash is required to maintain good general health. A typical spring lawn fertiliser should have a ratio of approximately 30:3:3. The Nitrogen content should be made up of fast and slow release constituents which greens the grass up quickly but also prevents rapid depletion. Avoid fertilisers that have a P or K value of 0 as this will lead to a deficiency and disease. This mix is suitable for lawns from spring to late summer but in the autumn top growth should not be encouraged as this will leave tender leaves susceptible to frost. The purpose of an autumn fertiliser is to generate root growth to strengthen the lawn for the winter months and would typically have a ratio of 3:15:3.

With fruit, vegetables and flowers a general fertiliser is sufficient to get them going in the spring but when the buds and flowers start to show it's time to use a high potash feed to maximise the growth and keep everything flowering and fruiting throughout the year. Chempak High Potash has an N:P:K of 15:15:30 and will do the job nicely. There are a lot of fertilisers on the shelves including Miracle Grow which comes in a number of different forms, but also check the packaging for trace elements which are essential for the general health of your plants.

Click image to enlarge.

Another point to remember is fertiliser for ericaceous plants like camellia, azaleas and heathers. These are lime haters and only do well in an acid soil. The presence of lime tends to bind iron in the soil which cannot be taken up by the roots. This causes a condition called chlorosis where the leaves turn yellow and the plant normally dies. In containers this can simply be due to iron deficiency. If this occurs in the borders a simple pH test will identify if the soil is alkaline. If it is, transplanting the plant to acid soil or into a container is the only effective answer. If it is just iron deficiency in an acid soil the answer is chelated or sequestered iron fertiliser. This is readily available in the garden centre shop and water soluble.

So if you want to supercharge the lawn, borders and vegetable patch find time to fertilise.

Then find time to relax... good health!

We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk

Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society

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