I buy it in a bag ...home depot
What kind of fertilizer do you use on your gingers?
?????????
Learn something new everyday.
I use aged chicken and horse manure compost mixed with leaves,pine needles,and lawn grass..LOL...I don't buy any stuff to feed my gingers..LOL...Here is a pic of Curcuma Panama Purple after I put that stuff on them back in March before they started to come up from dormant...will have to divide again soon..LOL
Gorgeous ginger you have there.
Thank you!!! If anybody want some for a trade...send me a Dmail..
Nadine
Can you put me down for one - at the swap?
Yes I can..
thx
Hi guys. I just came across this thread when I was searching for the answer to a related question.
I use fish emulsion on all my tropicals, including the gingers. In the past I did that spring and fall.
My H. Coronariums and H. Coccinaem have never bloomed. I'm hoping they will this year.
Question: Would fertilizing more often help with the blooming, do you think? (they're nice and big and full looking already). If yes, should I not fertilize this close to time to bloom? Or does it make a diff.
Thanks!
Deb
Deb, fish emulsion would make the gingers very leafy IMO. It's high in nitrogen. Perhaps, you could try something with the last two numbers equally preportioned.
Aha! Thanks, Dean. I will try that suggestion.
Deb
My gingers are looking super lush and zero blooms so far...I need to do that too!
Hmmm. Well, my butterfly ginger looks really bad. I gave it Buds and Blooms by Rabbit Hill farms last spring. I've tried that Brug recipe they've been talking about in the brug forum since then. I don't know if it needs more sun, less sun, more water. Maybe I used too much brug stuff on it. It gets morning sun only.
I don't think gngers need much fertilzer at all..usually tuborous rooted plants pack their own nutrients in those bulbs and tubors.
Brugs are a heavy feeders, and gingers are not...
I've I put anything on them, it's usually fish emulsion. Believe me I've tried the gamit too.
You might try moving it. Places that I thought gingers would do great, turned out to be not. I find an area that has bright light most of the day. Alot of my gingers are on the west side of the house, under the eve of the house, and afternoon sun grazes right along the area they're at. I think they like sun more than they dislike it. Areas around trees or dappled sunlight seem to be ideal.
I am wondering if the crinums next to them are stealing all the water also. Don't they need lots of water?
Fish emulsion would be mostly nitrogen wouldn't it? I have some of that, but haven't had much time to use it. I was also thinking of trying alfalfa.
The Alfalfapelletsare great..I pour on a 50# bag or two over all of the planters in the fall.. with plants or empty soil...and I let it sit and work all winter..when things sprout out..or are planted in the spring... they really do quite well as a result of this..
with so few sheep or goats..or rabbits or other such animals in Brooklyn ..Ihave to find it in the country ag stores..
Gordon
Do you have gingers Gordon? Would it be OK to spread it now?
Silver.. yes I have a few gingers.. not the specialty of the house.. but I have a small collection that winter inside with me..
Yes.. it's still early enough for it to break down and still be a growth inhancement for this year.. although it might promote more late growth than you might like.. I think of it as pelletized compost.. and in winter sewing..it's like plowing under an alfalfa crop.. whenever you do use it..it's in the soil then..inhanceing it.. for whenever the plans might like it.. Gordon
Robcorrea, sorry if I took over your thread.
I've heard there are different grades of alfalfa. I think somebody said that some have weeds seeds in them, and then there's organic alfalfa. What do you buy?
Silver, it's OUR thread! ; ) By the way, I would not put gingers in direct sun in texas...they would bake, don't you think? Mine are all in mostly shade and they still beg for lots of water...
Yes, must agree with alfalfa pellets.. I use them by the 40 lb bag, this particular brand mixes all the good stuff in, so one doesn't mess with Teas, or adding the other ingredients..The alalfa is infused with fish emulsion, seaweed extract, molasses, cotton seed.
I find it somewhat ironic that some of the best plant micronutrients,comes from another plant.
You might enjoy this link...you may learn the answers to your questions..
http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/2294.html
Great link! And, I have many many delphiniums (my favorite flower, I think) and apparently they like that too! Tell me which brand you use!
We seldom fertilize the gingers here...but I do hit them with a scoop of 14-14-14 when I cut the blooming stalks down. I also foliar feed them, along with everything else, with MG or Mighty Plant.... DH sometimes throws Chicken stuff on them.... With the price of ferts over here...we are going to use more and more chicken poop....
Chicken poop is great fertilizer as long as it has been aged somewhat.
That was a wonderful link Rjudd. I have read about alfalfa tea before and I thought they said to dilute it, but maybe that was for foliar spraying. Or am I confused - again.
There was also a discussion about whether to buy it from a feed store or to get an organic brand from a nursery.
When you use the tea do you water first or after or does that matter. It's been so brutely dry here, I'm concerned about burning things if the dirt is dry.
I use a brand called Earth Essentials.
I always water first- although am not sure that it is necessarry with this particular modem of fertilzing organically. It gets a bit stinky.
Yes if ya'll haven't been to the "Botanary" lately, it's a great place! You find out all sorts of goodies there, and it links to everywhere...who knows where you'll end up!
Just found this thread....
Of course, what you need to feed your plants will depend on your own conditions, right? Your soil, rain, kind of water (city? rain? well?) I am going up the coast to visit a grower who is one of the world's known ginger (actually plant) nuts!!! He has described a number of gingers he has collected....and he has a ton of them. I will ask him what he uses...and I am going to guess it is going to be Chicken or Cow poop.
We use calcium nitrate for cell growth/structure (our soil is deficient in it)...and also for root health/growth.
Around our place we throw on them anything that happens to be in the cart: 14x3, Coffee Cherry, Palm Citrus...a mixed bag...and it is NOT very often, maybe once a year. When I go around with the tank to foliar feed, it is usually with Miracle Gro. Not terribly scientific here...they just grow!!!
Talk to you later....
Carol
Uh oh, all I do is plant the ryhzomes in Miracle Gro potting soil and when they are big enough, I plant them in Miracle Grow garden soil. I didn't know I was supposed to do something else.
I do the same for my tropicals
And roses and EE's and everything. Should I add something else.
Hi RJ, Christi, and Jaye.
All my gingers are doing fine and healthy...but no blooms yet! argh! What am I doing wrong!
Drapelady, we like exactly the same plants....your second pic could be mine, lol! I'll post a pic of my patio later, you'll know what I mean! : )
Hey drapelady..how ya doin?
You know..Carol I went looking for Calcium nitrate for my BOP but I haven't found it yet. It is existing in other stuff, but can't find it by itself. suggestions? I haven't looked at our mega have everything fertilzer store yet, because I can't get out of there for under 100 bucks, I keep putting things in my shopping cart.
Hi rj, you sound like the rest of us. I never imagined I would love buying dirt. LOL
I feed anything on my butterfly ginger and they are just fine and growing and multiplying like weeds! I have both in full sun and partial shade. The shade plant does much better as the full sun tends to make the leaves wilt. Doesn't affect the blooming though. I think my plant in full sun gets more blooms.
no kidding...I build my own planting medium now. I picked up one of those huge barrell mulchers with a handle on the end, never intending to use it for mulching, but mixing my potting medium up. 4 turns...big batch of taylored potting soil - saves $$$$- and the mulcher was used..-- and cheap.
Hummm...LiliMercy, maybe my gingers aren't getting enough sun them. They're in light shade, getting about 2 hours direct sun at the end of the afternoon...but they would fry in full sun over here!
Yeah...I have mine in very bright light...sun glazes by the edge of them..but no full...they seem to like that. Some are in full sun, but they are surrounded by other types of foliage
Mine are in the same kind of light rj. Are they supposed to bloom the first year?
My butterfly gingers did not bloom the first year. The jury's still out this year. They are in similar light to Robcorreia's. I do keep wondering ...to move or not to move.
Having said that, I have a hedychium coccinaeum in the same spot that is about to bloom for the first time since I planted it 3 years ago.
Deb
We are a patient sort of folks aren't we. LOL I planted 2 of my shell gingers in the sun. No blooms yet either. The sun does make them look a little shriveled. I have peach colored butterflies, as well as one pink one (Thankyou Rita) and several white ones. They are all in rj's type of light. None have bloomed. But I love the foliage, so that's fine with me. That and the fact, they will die down in winter, but in spring, they will be right back up, no planting required. LOL I am seriously thinking to move my shell gingers out of the sun as well. When it gets hot in Louisiana, it is reaalllly hot with all of our humidity. And we are just in July.