fertilizing information, please

I have 2 questions, please.
1.Should iris be fertilized now? It will be close to Thanksgiving before I get any frost.
2. What fertilizer would you use?
I think I have some 10-10-10 but would be willing buy something else. Oh, I also have some chicken poop pellets and some Black Kow.
Many thanks for all the help I get here.....

This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 11:19 AM

We prefer 5-10-10 but yours is fine. Make sure that the chicken dropings are aged so they don't burn. You could fertilize now as you are far enough south to have the plants digest it before cold weather.

IrisMA is giving you the straight info. You don't specify whether the droppings are
fresh or if they are incorporated into a commercial mix. Reflecting back to my old
farmboy days, I remember fresh chicken manure will burn most plant's roots and
is not normally used.

University of Georgia's Ag site has the chemical composition of chicken manure,
fresh as delivered:

N=64 P=54 K=48 Ammonium=10 This is very hot fertilizer. They recommend
4 months or more being spread atop open ground before using as plant food.
I think nitrogen dissipates into open air fairly quickly and the other nutrients remain
with some leaching loss if subjected to rains.

Probably a lot more information than you wanted but a lot more irises have been
killed with kindness than neglect. Go easy on the fertilizer. Take it from an old
fool who thought if a pound was good then three pounds would be thrice as good.

They are processed chicken poop in a box. I think it was made by the same people that make Black Kow and is called Black Hen. However, it is not composted like Black Kow. I think it is just dried and pellitized.

If it is processed as a commercial mix, it is most likely entirely safe. It should have
a label indicating the nutrient percentages. As irisMA said, nitrogen of 5% or less is
ideal for iris. Too much nitrogen encourages excessive growth of the leaves which
invites various forms of rot and fungus from lack of ventilation around the rhizome
tops. That is the basic story I have read in different publications.

hmmm, I'd better not use too much chicken poop then. Would you believe that I could not find 5-10-10 this year? Not even at Lowe's.

It has been hard here as well...got it once. So using triple 10's

I think that you can find tomato or veggie garden fertilizers that are 5-10-10. I did find it at my local garden store under that heading. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/Andersons-AGR540-5M-5-10-10-Fertilizer/dp/B001D222MS

Don't know what the shipping is for a 50 pound bag though. LOL

Hi Doss

Well think 50# would not even put a dent in the 3 acres:) do you...

I will try that and see if I can get it at the farm store, Will write later

D

If your in a country setting generally there is a place where farmers get their bulk fertilizer I get mine at such a place they sell a variety of different mixtures and they usually sell 50 lb bags too.

most of our farms have been taken over by high-end developement. All the locals are moving out because they cannot afford the cost of land nor housing. Neither could I except I bought a very modest house some years ago out of an estate sale. It was the last item holding up the closing of the estate so I offered a ridiculously low price and got it. We've been working on it ever since.
There used to be a lot of dairy farms here and beef cattle, and some huge gladiola fields. There are still some cattle but all the lowlalnds along the river are now in turf.

nope Denise, I couldn't imagine that 50 pounds would put a dent in your iris fields. :-)

We do go thru alot let me tell you.

D

Was digging in the soft rain, in 69F after the triple digits on Sat...

D

We have had the rain...luckily not the triple digits.

Well yesterday it cooled some then thunder and lightening storm last night but not much rain, today about 70 and off and on rain. Enjoyed digging in the rain

D

it is fun to dig after a rain, isn't it? our rhizomes just eased out, feeder roots and all, after a freaky 3" rain. But the clay was still in large chunks, just very soft chunks that were easy to break.

It's also unseasonably cold here, too. it's been to 60 at night and barely 80 in the day.

Still little rain here. Got a little over an inch last week. I can't water much because I am on a pump and the water is kinda low in the well.

It is nicer to dig in the rain than in triple digits...for sure. Hope it rains tonight and makes the digging go faster tomorrow.

D

just saw the weather report - we were all hoping Fay would bring our area much neede rain - it's looking like it'll pass us by. Drat.

Where is it now?