Dry Fertilizers

At planting time and once a year thereafter, bushes require dry fertilizers that break down gradually throughout the growing season.  At all other times fertilizers are applied in liquid form so that nutrients are immediately available.

Commercial chemical fertilizers now have precise extended-release qualities which work wonderfully well.  Marketing is by formulas expressed numerically for the basic elements:  nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash.  The three elements are always expressed in the same order--nitrogen first, then phosphorus and potash.

The best blend I've found is 18-6-12, formulated for a nine-month slow release.  It really does work the way it's supposed to, and the release is triggered by soil temperature, so that the nutritional material won't go to work until growing conditions are right.  The fertilizer is in the form of small granules about the size of coarse sand.  You will need one-half cup per hole, distributed evenly around the base of the bush.

Several different organic fertilizers can be used, but I prefer hoof and horn (14-0-0) and bone meal (.5-30-0).  Two cups of each one should be sprinkled right over the chemical fertilizers you just applied.  I have used bone meal and fish meal as satisfactory substitutes for hoof and horn, and super-phosphate instead of bone meal.

Dry fertilizers should be applied and watered into place before the remaining soil is added to fill the hole.  Once water has drained, fill the hole and tamp down everything.  Water again.