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Garden: Favored fertilizer feeds only the plants

By JOHN A. STARNES JR.
Published May 6, 2006

We live in South Tampa and have trouble with citrus rats. Are they attracted by calf manna, the fertilizer you often recommend? What do you suggest to control citrus rats?

Pellets of calf manna, which is actually an animal feed supplement, disintegrate after one good watering and leach into the mulch, offering nothing for mice and rats to eat. I live in South Tampa too, and my Siamese, a good hunter, keeps the rodents at bay. In the absence of a prey-seeking feline, rat traps baited with peanut butter are a good idea.

Best rations for roses

You mentioned that you water your roses infrequently because of the thick oak-leaf mulch you place around them. Is more water harmful? I have other plants nearby and my sprinkler system hits the roses when I water them. I'm going to plant mermaid roses, and I plan to enrich the hole with potting soil. Is that enough? Is 2-10-10 fertilizer the right thing to use?

You can water more often if your mulch layer is thinner than my 8-inch layer. The fertilizer formula you mention seems low in nitrogen. I use menhaden fish meal, which promotes lush, healthy growth of roses, perennials, annuals, herbs and veggies all of which I grow in between my organically grown roses year after year. It contains all known plant nutrients plus ample slow-release nitrogen. It stinks for a week or so but boy, do things grow. Any feed store supplied by the Manna Pro Corp. can get it for you.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com.

[Last modified May 6, 2006, 06:23:30]