help with extra fertilizer, bone meal, granular humic acid

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blossomr Aptos, CA Sep 10, 2015

Hi,
For one season, a few years ago, my husband got very into tomato container growing, the Cynthia Sandberg Love Apple Farms style. But now we have leftover products from it and I'm wondering if they are of any use to my potted perennial flowers. I have about 4 lbs of Sustane 4 6 4, and a box of both bone meal & granular humic acid. Any advice on how I could use them on established and/or new transplanted potted or flower bed perennials would be most appreciated. Thanks!

This message was edited Sep 10, 2015 3:19 PM

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Sep 10, 2015

I would use these in new planting areas, blending them with the soil, wherever possible.
In established planting areas I would rake it into the soil between the plants before putting down mulch.

4-6-4 will grow roots and flowers (the 6 is phosphorus) as well as leaves (the first 4 is nitrogen). Looks like a good starter fertilizer where you are trying to get the roots going well, while encouraging some leaf growth.

Bone meal is usually high in phosphorus, and not much else. It is very slow release. It needs to be broken down by soil microorganisms before plants get the benefit. If your soil is low in phosphorus this is a good material to add.
Good to add to potting soil, and when you are preparing new planting areas. Especially well thought of for bulbs, but good also for fruiting sorts of vegetables (tomatoes, squash and anything else you eat the fruit of). Great for flowers, too.
Like the 4-6-4, you could also rake it in around established plants. The winter rains (if any) will begin the decomposing and soaking it into the root zone. Aptos is mild enough that soil microorganisms are active year round, though they are slower in the winter. Applying it now (any time in the fall) will make it available for several months. If you applied it in the spring and early summer it would be decomposed faster.

Granular humic acid could be added to new planting areas, potting soils or existing planted areas, about the same as the other materials.

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blossomr Aptos, CA Sep 14, 2015

thanks so much Diana_K !

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