Doing what's right for your plants in the Carmel Landscape

Leucadendrons are in a family of plants ( Proteacea) that are adapted to soils with low phosphorus. It is important to know this when fertilizing your garden. A fertile soil is always better than a fertilized one but if your Leucadendron requires additional nutrition it is best to use a fertilizer that works. If you don't fertilize properly, serious and costly damage to your garden can occur.

Some additional considerations before you fertilize- the weather, soil type and moisture level, the EC, pH of the soil, variety and salt build up. Salt build up from fertilizer can harm plants and inhibit growth. Leaching excess minerals is required to avoid burning root tips. Hot days should be avoided and soil should be moist before fertilizing. Root damage can occur by applying fertilize to dry soil. Organic fertilizers require microorganisms in the soil to ionize the minerals for plant uptake. These fertilizers can help improve the structure of the soil. Inorganic fertilizers are fast acting due to ionic form but can often destroy the structure of soils overtime. If you have questions about plant nutrition and want to build a program that improves the health of your soil, we can help.