Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Best Iron to Use is EDDHA Chelated Iron

3 Comments / iron chelate, iron chlorosis, landscapes, preference /

Q. I’m starting to think about the springtime approaching and the need for fertilizing. Do you have an “iron Fertilizer” you recommend? We added the compost you suggested but I want to make sure we are on top of the iron needs of our plants. Iron chelate fertilizer that works in all soils. Its a bit more expensive but it is a guarantee. The others will work most of the time. A. The iron chelate I like to use is a little bit more expensive. The reason I recommend it is because of its stability in both highly alkaline and highly acidic soils. It works regardless of the soil or its alkalinity (soil pH). I consider it cheap insurance. Severe iron chlorosis on a peach seedling. Chlorosis is any yellowing leaving behind green veins. Iron chlorosis occurs all summer long but it is on new growth. Iron should be applied sometime in the early or mid spring, before April in our climate. The chelate I like to use is EDDHA iron chelate. It comes under several names but as long as the iron is bound to the EDDHA chelate then it is what I recommend. Other types of chelates and iron fertilizers stop working in highly alkaline soils. This is another iron chelate fertilizer called EDTA. It works in most soils. It is the most common form of chelated iron fertilizers for plants because its more available and cheaper.             If you are adding compost to compost amended soil then any chelate or iron fertilizer will probably work whether it is iron sulfate, brake filings, or iron chelates such as EDTA or DTPA This is because soils that have compost added to them usually are not strongly alkaline. The compost additions, along with water, usually lowers the alkalinity of the soil. The chelated iron I prefer, iron EDDHA, works over all of the different soil pH or alkalinity.             Any iron fertilizer or chelate MUST be applied and mixed with the soil in the early spring (sometime soon after February 1 in our Las Vegas climate). Soil applications get less effective as the growth begins stopping. By mid to late summer you must switch to iron fertilizers applied as a liquid to the leaves for acceptable results. This usually requires several applications to shrub leaves. Iron fertilizers applied wet to the leaves (foliar applications of iron) are not as effective and may need to be applied to the leaves of trees and shrubs several times to work.

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Differences Between Xeric and Mesic Plants

Leave a Comment / landscapes, mesic, shrubs, trees, xeric /

             Many homeowners don’t know the names of plants in their yards or landscapes. Most can look at a plant and know if it is a tree, shrub, or flower but not its name much less how often it should be watered and with how much. This pyracantha was known as a “plant with berries” to a homeowner trying to calculate its landscape water use. Pyracantha does have berries but it is considered “mesic” in its need for water. Xeric plants vs Mesic plants Lower water use trees, shrubs and flowers are watered less often. They should get the same amount of water when they are irrigated but don’t need it as often. That’s how xeric, or lower water use, plants operate.             One way to find out if an unnamed plant is xeric is to water it less often during the cooler months. In the long run xeric plants are watered less often. That’s how they, and you, save water in landscapes. If it starts looking bad to your eyes or dies, then it is most likely not xeric. Big Trees are Seldom Xeric             Another method is their size. Big trees are seldom xeric. Xeric plants are not big. They tend to be smaller. The bigger xeric trees and shrubs grow where water collects; arroyos, waterways, and desert springs. This young shoestring acacia is a 40 foot tall mesic tree from Australia that grows along waterways. This shoestring acacia was “topped” (not done that well I might add) probably because it was getting too tall for that spot. Shortening its height will reduce its water use but not how often it needs water. Big trees use more water than smaller trees. This is true even if you buy one that is small and it grows big when it gets older. Just like kids. You don’t know if your child will become tall or not until they get closer to that size. Oh wow…which side of the family did HE/SHE come from? How to Reduce Water Applied to Your Landscape             During these cooler fall months, start watering less often and see what plants start looking not so good. Try adding more drip emitters to those plants looking not as good as you are watering less often. This gives these plants more water but still less often.

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Are Organic Fertilizers Really Organic?

1 Comment / biosolids, compost, landscapes, lawns, Organic fertilizers, turfgrass /

The organic movement has a foothold in the turfgrass and ornamental industry. The same industry brewing for decades in home vegetable gardens, and then with small-scale producers, has emerged as a significant market percentage for commercial landscapers. Homeowners are asking for “organic” landscape plants, organic methods of controlling pests and applications of “organic” fertilizer to their landscapes. Migration of Organics to the Landscape Industry             Alternative methods for producing and maintaining ornamentals and turfgrass have been around for a long, long time. In the past, very few residential clients were willing to pay for the additional costa associated with the product. That may be changing thanks to local food movements and organic agriculture1. The word “organic” has become synonymous with “wholesome” and “safe”. Organic fertilizers for vegetable gardens             Organic has a different meaning in landscape horticulture industry. Organic can mean sources that are not synthetic or conventional. Organic amendments, such as municipal and animal sources of biosolids, can be applied to improve soil physical and chemical properties which in turn can improve turfgrass establishment rates, growth, and quality. We know, for instance, that in poor or marginal soils the incorporation of compost improves soil properties, increases soil nutrients and consequently improves plant growth. In soils with a naturally higher percentage of organic matter these improvements are less noticeable. Nitroform urea used in the landscape industry could be classified as an “organic” fertilizer even though it is manufactured  Composted Dairy Manure Reduced Turfgrass Disease in Colorado             Research at Colorado State University evaluated the effects of applying composted dairy manure as topdressing to Kentucky bluegrass. Researchers applied compost at the rates of 13.3, 26.6 and 40 cubic yards to the acre. Applying composted manure as topdressing to established bluegrass in 2003 through 2004 improved the soil’s physical properties and nutrient content. EZ Green Is a composted chicken manure product for the landscape industry that is OMRI listed product for the organic program by USDA             Although nothing new, the application rates are important. The two higher rates improved turfgrass overall quality and allowed the grass to retain color in the fall, early winter and green up faster in the spring. Not bad for a product that is not considered a fertilizer.             During the hot summer months the two higher application rates produced about 50% more clippings. The researchers concluded that compost improves turf quality and shoot growth via its action as a slow-release fertilizer. Lawn clippings remove from the grass and left on the curbside for dumping in landfills. These clippings are filled with valuable nutrients that could be returned to the lawn resulting in one less fertilizer application each year.             More turfgrass clippings sound like a potential landscaper’s nightmare but there is a positive side to this “problem”.  Increased amounts of clippings in summer months helps suppress the incidence of hot weather diseases. Infected leaf blades are removed through regular mowing and mulched back into the turfgrass sward or removed from the property.             Disease suppression by composts, composted biosolids and compost teas in vegetable crops has been documented fairly well. But research has been conducted on the suppressive effects of composts, such as biosolids, on turfgrass diseases as well, dating back 20 years or more. Compost tea applicator used for soil applications             This research shows promise to “organic” gardeners by reducing the application of fungicides, synthetic fertilizers and other chemicals to home lawns. Composts show promise in controlling turf diseases such as Pythium, summer patch, brown spot, dollar spot, red thread, necrotic ring spot and others.  Reductions in the applications of pesticides such as fungicides, directly supports the “organic” movement whether it is truly organic or not. Lawn clippings from commercial properties represent a huge amount of fertilizer that is removed from the lawn grasses and buried in landfills. Composted Biosolids Benefits To Landscapes Shown by Texas Researchers             Researchers at Texas A and M University, from 2005 through 2008, demonstrated the benefits from composts used for soil improvement and nutrient enrichment can be transferred from the sod farm to newly established landscapes. Previous studies with sod that recycled manure-based soil amendments as topdressing indicates that 77% of the phosphorus and 47% of the nitrogen might be removed and transported in a single sod harvest.             About one quarter of the cubic yard of composted biosolids was incorporated to rootzone depth in a cubic yard of native soil when establishing Tifway bermudagrass sod. Researchers measured that five times more nitrogen and seven times more phosphorus was available to turfgrass grown in biosolids compared to grass grown without biosolids. Fertilizer content of composted biosolid product by a local Las Vegas supplier             After two sod harvests, all of the nitrogen and phosphorus applied from the biosolids was removed with the sod. These nutrients were transferred, with the sod, to the landscape.             Although not demonstrated, researchers claimed that this could result in faster establishment times and better turfgrass cover in a shorter period of time. This, of course, would reduce the amount of fertilizers needed during sod establishment. Another coup for the organic movement.             They also found that sod established with biosolids was lighter in weight than sod grown without biosolids. Biosolids-grown sod contained more water but less native soil than sod without biosolids. This helped preserve the native soil. Less fuel is needed for transporting the sod. Organics, are you listening? Composts Release Fertilizer Nutrients Slowly             Composts, when used as a fertilizer, releases nutrients slowly, acting like a slow-release fertilizer. When establishing turfgrass in sod farm operations, rapid turfgrass establishment is important so a rapid release of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, is needed.             This was not going to happen with compost-amended soils. So the researchers applied either 50 or 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre at the time of sprigging (establishment) to supplement the slowly-released nutrients contained in the compost.             Because of the application of supplemental nitrogen, the time between harvests in biosolids-amended soil plus fertilizer was reduced 60% compared to

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