The Vegas Voice 4-21

This Month’s Gardening Tip
By: Howard Galin / Happy Gardening
April is a good month to get outside and to
address the needs of your garden.
Nevada soil, besides having high alkali content,
lacks organic nutrients. As a result, anything put in the ground faces a
hostile environment when planted.
Therefore, in order to have a beautiful and healthy garden, it is
necessary to first lower the pH level by adding sulfur and enriching
your soil with the needed nutrients for proper growth.
There are various priced “plant foods” for sale so it is important to
know what your particular plants need. Then you can provide them
with the proper nutrients - while not exceeding your gardening budget.
All plant food labels display 3 numbers (#-#-#). The first number
represents nitrogen content which promotes green growth, the second
is phosphorus which stimulates flower, fruit and vegetable production,
and the third is potassium which encourages strong root and stem
growth. Therefore, depending on what you want from your plants,
choose the product having the proper nutrient levels.
Miracle-Gro numbers are: 24-8-16. This product encourages
green leaf/strong roots and moderate flowering/fruiting. If, however,
your goal is profuse flowering as well as an abundance of fruits and
vegetables, you would purchase a product such as Scotts Super
Bloom which has a rating of 12-55-612-55-6; a less expensive
generic Bone Meal (8.5-15-6); or any mid-priced plant food for
vegetables/fruits (8-40-8).
Certain native plants, such as cactus, agave and yucca, do not need
high concentrations of the “numbered” nutrients. They require high
concentrations of calcium.
Therefore, you should purchase cactus/succulent plant food with
high calcium content, such as bone meal, that are usually inexpensive.
I like to use cactus plant food with high concentration of phosphorus in
late February/early March to encourage profuse flowering in April and
May. It is my way of training my cactus to do what I want!
Remember: Apply plant food from February through early June and
then again from mid-September to late October. Do not feed any palm
trees until the soil is 70F or higher (May-September).
Have a question? Contact me at: Theplantwhisperer28@gmail.com.
Howard Galin, a/k/a: “The Plant Whisperer” is a retired NYC
school administrator, transplanted in Las Vegas who devotes his
time to communicating with and lecturing about our native
plants.
See pages 38-41
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