Please do let us know.
Epsom Salts
We have spent the last two October's with another couple in a condo on Mustang Island.
We are in their car and I have had a "fit" everytime he passes a nursery and he has yet to stop. I'll bet I make him stop this next time. Just from the road they all looked so good.
That is not for a month.....just a week.
LouC
Oh boy Gessie. I would love to come now, but I'll have to wait. I'll ask DH if he knows when we might go. I have been to Bloomer's and Adams in Rockport. The last time we were down there DH and DD went out on a fishing boat and I went nursery hopping. I was on my way to CC when DD called on the cell p;hone asking where I was. They had come back early from the fishing trip because the water was too rough and couldn't get into the room. They seemed to think I was going to wait there for them. Ha! Not a chance! The nurseries in Corpus sound very enticing.:) I will definitely let you know as soon as I do.:)
good, silverfluter!!!! Look forward to a surprise call some day!!!
Gessie, I just found out lastnight that DH is going to Aransas pass today. I leave today for a church retreat, so he decided to go fishing. I don't fish and he doesn't do church, so... Is that anywhere near you?
Aransas Pass is 20 minutes from me......Lowe's is usually real good there....on the same farm to market road that Lowe's is on is a fabulous nursery called Johnsons.....just head out towards Ingleside from the street that Lowe's faces and go down about 4 miles and Johnson's is on the left....
I wish I could think of the cactus I got here with pink blooms....it starts with a P......to die for plant....it is a shrub like plant....
Gail
Are you talking about a rose cactus? http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57249/index.html
Patty, you just named it!!! Now you have to make me remember this name............mine is wonderful!!!!!!
My friend is here from Houston for 4 days and she is helping me to clean up my front porch. She even brought me new shelves from The Container Store for the porch!!!!! Don't you wish we had shopping like the cities do!!!!!
I bought a new gro-light stand from a friend in CC....we went to get it and I couldn't pass up 2 new cane begonias at Turner's Gardenland.
Hey Loonie1. When you talked about laying down the grounds, compost, newspaper and mulch in your clay soil did you dig down first? I finally abandoned trying to grow veggies in my heavy clay (been adding compost and soil additives for a year now and haven't seen much result) and built a raised bed yesterday for my veggie seedlings. Am thinking of making another one and using your method at the bottom of the bed before filling with soil. After a few weeks do you turn and mix the layers? When do we start planting fall crops in south Texas and what does everyone grow in the fall/winter?
Folks, quit killing yourselves fighting this Texas clay. Just apply AT (alfalfa tea) about every 6 weeks during the growing season and go with it. Apply it to your plants AND your soil. Use 2 1/2 - 3 C. alfalfa pellets per 5 gal water. Stir occasionally. Do not cover. When you check it after it has been undisturbed for a while and see bubbles forming on the surface, it is ready to apply. The warmer the weather, the more quickly it ferments. You do not need to leave it till it gets smelly. The addition of molasses is desirable because it feeds the aerobic micro-organisms, but it is not necessary. You will have gazillions of micro-organisms (called the micro herd) either way. I would advise against adding ES. ES has its own benefits, but I add that as a foliar spray to the plants, and I do NOT add it to the soil.
Drench your plants with the AT, and drench all the soil in your beds with it. Add more water to the dregs that are left in the bottom of your bucket and cast it all over your lawn. Buy some 10-gal plastic paint buckets and keep some AT brewing in front, back, side yards--wherever you have beds or gardens. Use it in your containers.
There are many, many benefits of AT, but the one that is often overlooked is that it feeds the soil. Feeding the soil attracts earthworms, and the worms will make your clay into garden soil. Also it is SAFE. You cannot over apply, and you will not harm the soil or any plant. When you start adding soil-type amendments to clay, you always run the risk of making it into brick mortar if you add the wrong proportions.
Try to keep your soil fairly moist to keep the worms active.
Think of AT as a super fast action compost and more. And it's easier. And it's cheaper. No one will tell you about it, because no one benefits commercially from selling it except the feed stores, and they seem content to sell lots of alfalfa just for horse feed.
I use the pellets and not the meal.
--Pen
I totally agree about the alfala pellets, but it doesn't do the same thing for a plant that epsom salts do....I have a friend who grows the most gorgeous plants (roses too) in containers.....she uses both plus a few other things....
What about peroxide, don`t you think it helps to add to the o2 of the plants, especially if over water in clay. Everyone told me about it and it helped some of my shocked plants start to come back. It is hard to get the AT sifted. I make mine in my plastic wheel barrel.
I`m going to tell a funny story, sorry if this is a long post.
Yesterday coming home from the RU, my DD who is 21 looks around at all the alfalfa fields and says, "Mom why do we have so many alfalfa fields here?" she continued on saying that, she always wondered because she never heard anyone ever say , I love alfalfa it`s my favorite vegetable.
I laughed so I hard I cried and again right now while typing this.
Oh, Hellnzn, that is too funny. It's amazing the things our "grown" children can come up with. My son and DIL were going with me somewhere when we came upon a field of cows grazing in a pasture. She is a self-admitted city girl and doesn't know anything about plants or animals. I can't remember the breed of these cows, but they are black with a wide white band around their middle. DIL asks "What is that white thing around all those cows for?" My son says "You mean that wide white stripe around their middles?" to which she replied yes. He then says "That white part is cow hide, just like the black part and it's to keep the cows from falling apart. Those are called Oreo cows." She wanted to whack him over the head, but was laughing too hard!
hellnzn, cute story. Tell DD she apparently hasn't talked to many horses about that subject.
Yes, alfalfa, ES and CO2 all have their place, but not mixed together.
Alfalfa is for micronutrients and for a special chemical that helps plants take up nitrogen, and the fermentation of it grows beneficial micro-organisms that improve soil.
ES is for magnesium and is good for many plants but not necessarily good for soil.
I have sprayed ES on flowers in the a.m. and the color improves the same day. Two plants I have read that don't like ES are sage and impatiens. There are probably others, so be cautious about applying to everything.
CO2 is good for delivering quick oxygen to water-logged soil. It would be counter-productive to add to AT, because the CO2 will kill many of the organisms you are trying to grow.
--Pen
makes sence. I keep adding all the left over sludge from the tea into my lasagna garden. That is a funny story too. It is fun to remember when your kids cracked you up in their innocence and ignorance.
Well dang! I didn't know the alfalfa tea was a countermeasure to clay! Thought everyone was raving about it because it was a natural fertilizer or something (looking up feed stores. . .)
I can't determine if what I'm battling is Texas clay or if it was put in back of our duplex when the trees came down and subdivision went up sometime in the 80s. I've read really good things about gypsum, also, and found it pretty cheap on ebay.
I got yelled at again by our local nursury man about using gypsum as a large way to break up clay because he says it will pack tighter later as the particles are smaller than clay. He said it is better to use some organic humous with soil conditioners added in small amounts at a time.
I heard dish soap or laundry soap works too, Do you know which thing breaks up clay?
all right I'm hooked on this thread - learning a bunch - keep the info and the funny stories coming.
hellnzn11, don't laugh but I live out in the country where the soil has sooooo much hard clay..........where the washing machine runs into the yard, you would think I was living in the jungle the way tropical plants grow in the 12 x 12 ft spot..........it almost looks out of place with the rest of the yard, so laundry soap must do something wonderful!!!
Hallelujah! God is good EVERYDAY. He has brought so many wonderful people together as we all learn about His wonders.
So true and everyday is a brand new learning experience all over again......I always think about something a good friend emailed to me when she said, "I think maybe there are no limitations on how many new beginnings is in each of us"....I like that!!!
This message was edited May 21, 2007 9:17 PM
How true. I will be keeping that close to my heart.
gessiegail, I always enjoy your posts.
That is true and as a gardener in a difficult area to garden, it needs to be a mantra I recite daily. Yes more stories too. love you guys
Would Epsom salts solve the problem of very pale leaves and dark veines? Quite a few of my plants are doing this.
I have one Bush Morning glory plant that is doing that too. I gave it some Epsom salts, but it hasn't changed, I am afraid to give it more because it might be too much. I also gave it compost, so it should change, we shall see.
I did have a Tulip magnolia that was looking pale and I scattered some ES around it, and it is looking great now.
Josephine.
I asked about that at the Rose Emporium and they said to use Tx green sand. I used it around the butterfly ginger and it seemed to help alot but did not make a difference with the tropical hibiscus
Where did you find the Tx green sand, Silverfluter? I have a couple of mini roses that are doing that as well. They are in pots and I put the shake and feed MG for roses in them. Of course, afterward I read the label and it says not to put it on roses in containers. It didn't kill them but it seems to have stunted their blooming. They are just now getting blooms again (did it in March), but the leaves are pale with deep veins also.
shortstuff, I am not sure what to tell you because I don't use MG. I use only organic additives, because the synthetic stuff doesn't feed the soil. When I started gardening I wasn't really organic and nothing was doing well. I accidentally stumbled on some organic info and it made so much sense, so I did more research and decided that having healthy dirt was a good idea for the plants and me as well. My yard looks so much better now, but I still a few minor problems like pale leaves here and there. I'm sure that's caused by some mineral deficiency, I just don't know what.
Would the pale leaves and dark veins be sign of iron deficiency, Silverfluter? That sort of thing would be evident in acid loving plants such as azaleas and magnolias. Just a thought..
Ann
Yes I think it is iron deficiency, because it's mostly roses, ginger, and hibiscus that are affected, but I can't remember what to add. I'm louzy at chemistry, but as I understand it, there is something that should be in the dirt to make the iron available to the plant. Just adding iron doesn't necessarily work.
Maybe if I could make the dirt more acidic?
I have used something called (vaguely) soil acidifier - a liquid that if I remember correctly had to be diluted. Think it was by Green Light. It worked for me.
Ann
I've sucessfully used MirAcid by Miracle Grow in the past. More recently I use Ironite and Epson salts and it's worked on my hibiscus, hydrangeas and magnolia really well. Just don't get the Ironite on any concrete like driveways or patios because it will leave a rust colored stain.
OK. I'll check those out. Thanks.
thats what I was thinking too. I have that problem with a pine, it is alive but pale lime green.
Hmmmm.
The pale green between darker veins indicates the plant is having problems developing photosynthesis and producing chlorophyll. Magnesium is essential to chlorophyll, but even when present, the uptake of magnesium can be hindered by too heavy a concentration of potassium. Here's a short example:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0701/magnesium.asp
So I just need to spray ES instead of pouring it on the soil? If so, then I guess I just do this until everything greens up? What does the addition of green sand do to the situation? The butterfly ginger is much better, but not the hibiscus.
Silverflutter, I haven't tried the ES as a spray. I have scratched it into the soil at the base of all my roses every year. When I earlier mentioned it on the magnolia & hydrangea, that was also applied to the soil. If you try the foliar feed and it works, let me know. I may have to try that out. I tried the milk & water foliar spray solution that Josephine recommended for black spot on my Nearly Wild roses and it worked great. I prefer organic over chemical whenever possible, so let me know if that stops the chlorosis.
i am not from Texas, pls. allow me to add my 2 cents in to clarify some stuffs that is not too clear. over the years i have learned the following:
soap - soften the soil
sugar - feeds bacteria in the soil... the reason why i recommend to use alfalfa pellets with molasses.
Epsom salt - stimulate root growth. 2 tbsp. per foot of plant height.
Lime "sweetens" or neutralizes soil pH
Sulfur makes soil more acidic
here are a link that may help. warning... be sure to follow each link recommended, some thread/s maybe lengthy but it will be worth ur while cuz lots of research and people's experiences and contributions made it worth while reading. be prepared to cut and paste notes that will be worth ur while.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/490106/
i once used to use Miracle Grow plant food. i stop when i learned it accumulate salt and not good for the environment.
in the orient, good basis of strong healthy plant is in good soil preparation. nothing fancy, composted steer manure is added during planting time. no fertilizers are used. unlike in the western world, everything is dependent on what people add for the plant to grow.
all of us differ, same thing with plants. all plants and humans come from different cultures ... therefore, if we meet both people and plant's need, everything is just fine. jmo ... ma vie
edited for typo error.
This message was edited May 23, 2007 7:54 PM