Dear All, The topic of the week this week is fertilizers. In my Gordon Summerfield summary I included his prescription for fertilizing and am repeating it here as a starting point: "He advised avoiding super phosphates which he says many of the bulbs hate and feels bone meal has no value at all. Also he doesn't think foliar feeding is helpful. Here is his formula for feeding: Magnesium sulfate--If leaves are yellow or the tips brown need this Ammonium sulfate--Provides nitrogen. He says contrary to opinion bulbs need nitrogen Potassium sulfate--Helps the new leaves, if they are purplish they need this Kelp--This helps with formation of the bulb for the next season. He adds 1 Tablespoon to a gallon of water in the middle of the growing season. Both he and Henry Pauw add small amounts of these and dissolve them in water instead of mixing them in the soil." So what do the rest of you do? Does anyone still use bone meal? How about the mixes you buy at the stores that are advertised for bulbs? Has anyone done a test with planting using two kinds of fertilizer? Do others feel that bulbs hate phosphorus and if so which ones? Who uses miracle grow and how often? How about manure? We had some osmocote horror stories from Uli's Hippeastrum a number of years ago and from Diana Chapman too if I remember correctly, but are some of you having success with this? How about nutricote which is supposed to release fertilizer slowly and not be temperature dependent like osmocote? Who uses liquid feed only and how often? Will Ashburner once said (if I remember right) that he "suspected" it didn't matter what fertilizer you used as long as you got your mix right. I imagine most of what we know is anecdotal, but please share your experiences and remind us where you live and what you grow. I'd expect there might not be one formula that works for everything. Also tell us about minerals that you have added successfully. Anyone use Spray n Grow? As always I have the questions and hope some of you will have the answers. Mary Sue PBS List Administrator, Wiki Worker, TOW Coordinator (Whew!)