Fertilize in the fall?

I was reading the Santa Fe Greenhouses newsletter which made note that now was a good time to fertilize all plants. I didn't know I was suppose to feritilize now. What kind of fertilizer would be good to use? 10-10-10, 20-20-20, or something else? I have Osmocote 19-6-12 too.

In order to determine what typ of fertilizer to use you first need to get a soil test.
This will tell you the analyis of the minerals in your soil. What is over abundant or what is lacking.

Second the type of fertilizer depends on what crops you are growing.

Normally fall is not a good time to fertilize, the days are shorter and plants tend to slow down or in some cases go totally dormant.

Nothing growing outside should be fertilized at this time. Paulgrow is right. With the shorter, cooler days it's time for plants to go into a dormancy period. Houseplants inside your home should also be weaned off feeding at this time and watered a little less.

I think lawns can be fertilized in the fall (I don't have a lawn so I wouldn't really know for sure if that's true, but I've heard it somewhere) But for anything else, you don't want to fertilize now because it could stimulate new growth, and new growth is going to be more susceptible to damage when you get frost.

Maybe that source was just trying to sell their fertilizer unless it was just a regional tip for New Mexico.

Maybe that source was just trying to sell their fertilizer unless it was just a regional tip for New Mexico.

I'm glad I posted. I could have really damaged my plants.

Thank you to all of you.

I don't think people in NM would want to fertilize now either, they'd have the same problems as anyone else would with fall fertilizing. I'm not sure why they were saying to do that, unless they were just talking about fertilizing lawns.

The recommendation for this area is to fertilize your lawn with a high phosphorus number, to enhance root growth.

Cordedawg, what happens when you fertilze now is the new growth it would bring on would be too tender for the winter's temperatures. Lawns however do well when fertilized in the fall.

If you are putting your plants into a greenhouse and they will be kept warm and blooming, you can safely fertilize as the new growth won't be exposed to the harsh elements that would damage them.

That newsletter was extremely misleading. They were trying to sell several of their fertilizers. It did mention now's a good time for "all your plants". I'd copy it but it's copy-righted.

I won't fertilze now, thanks!

Cordeldawg,

I'd fertilize the lawn, and that's about it. Here In Virginia we have the "son" schedule, that's Sept, Oct, and Nov. A lawn feeding program in those three months would be perfectly okay to do so. But you should have the soil tested fist anyway, to see what is required. But anything else, what until spring/summer.

Thanks. I'll wait. What's the last month for slow release fertilzer on plants in zone 8?

Since it was a greenhouse magazine, could they have been talking about fertilizing the plants in a greenhouse?

I don't think so but, that's a good point. I'll look again. It was the sister co of High Country Gardens in New Mexico. I'm on their Santa Fe Greenhouses (retail store) e-mail newsletter list.

Cordeledawg,

I do give my plants in the greenhouse a very light feeding every 30 to 40 days. I put about 1/8 teaspoon of Peters plant food in a old gallon milk jug filled with water. I give each plant about a cup each. Just enough to keep the soil from drying out. It gives the plants a little boost, but not enough to cause a lot of growth. But all outdoor fertilizing should stop in late fall unless you live in Florida or California.

We shouldn't be fertilizing either--even in warmer climates, plants aren't generally actively growing during the winter, they need a rest.

It obviously depends on the plants, the temp and the soil you work with, here in Scotland, I am already putting my garden to bed for the winter months and this is the time when I clean up my beds, remove the fallen leaves and foliage that has gone brown and died, I add an feed (general multipurpose food to my roses, Delphiniums, lupins and paeony, thing like that get a handful of feed scattered around the root area and then gets forked or hand troweled into the soil, have been doing this for over 30 years as learned from my Dad and most gardeners do this at this time of year, we also redo it when spring gets on it's way, yes the TOP of the plant dies down, but then so many plants have a root build up over the winter months, I also give all my Rhododendrons etc a good feed as these are already making buds for spring flowering, over here, we also do an Autumn weed and feed for the grass (lawns) as it gets rid of any moss, weed seedlings etc and thatch that has had a chance to build up over the drier summer months, we would also seed any bare patches that have been discovered after we rake all the moss, weeds and thatch that is removed before the real winter sets in, evergreens like box etc we would not feed though as they will make top growth and the new tender shoots could be killed by frost, so I guess it all depends on your type of plants, what zone you have etc, hope this helps some folks that will think we are unusual in our gardening care skills, keeping in mind the huge size of the USA, there will be some folks with the same zones as UK, good luck, WeeNel.

Fertilizing in the fall can be very helpful. If you are planting fall annuals like pansies, it makes a lot of sense to do. But, if you are happening to plant azaleas, and other woody ornamentals than it also makes sense to use a slow-release fertilizer like Dynamite All Purpose 18-6-8. The reason is that it will ensure that nutrition is available to the plants roots slowly, and even during the fall and winter. This, some say, will reduce stress on the plant and make it more likely to flourish come spring time. Stay away from 20-20-20 and water soluble fertilizers that will create too much fast growth for the plants when colder weather is about to come on.

All good points. Thanks.
I missed buying azaleas this fall. I'll bookmark this for next year. Getting the right fertilizer for my plants confuse me. I have so many different ones that I have forgotten which one is for what plant.