Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Late blooming time, 0 by woodspirit1

woodspirit1 wrote:
I struggled with this problem for 3 years and finally realized on the 4th year what my problems were. The first was under-fertilization. These brug nuts here on DG throw just about everything at them. I plant them in Black Kow (composted manure) and bone meal. I also use lime at that point because my soil is quite acid. About 2 weeks later I start fertilizing them. I use Bayer's 2-in-1 fertilizer which has a systemic insecticide as brugs are very susceptible to insects. I use about a capful of the Bayer's but then also use some 5-10-10 for a total of nearly a cupful of fertilizer, well watered in, of course. I use this about once a month.
In between the granular fertilizer I use Bloom Booster (now no longer made so I use Schultz's) If you can get a garden center to sell you some of their Excel, it is the best water soluble fertilizer you can get, but it's only sold wholesale.
Others also use a "tea" made with alfalfa, fish emulsion and liquid kelp.
There are other concoctions and it never hurts to read the brug forum and see what they are using. One of the things I have learned here is that Osmocote is only good to keep your plant healthy but not to bloom. Brugs are fast-growers and heavy bloomers; that's why they need so much fertilizer.
My second lesson was the lime. They prefer neutral soil and mine was very acid. I will have to add lime every year.
This is Solid Gold. As you can see; I am having success at last.