Hi BoS ~ would tomato spikes be ok to use ~ package says 2 spike per plant? I use Rose-tone for the few roses I have ~ do we use all 3 in combination per package recommendations (somewhere I read to use 2tbs of the Alfalfa pellets per plant) or do we use less since there are 3 of them?

TIA!

Tomato spikes don't deliver fertilizer very well other than right under the spike. Not very efficient. They certainly would not hurt. I use Rose-Tone myself and I just toss handfuls of the alfalfa pellets which I buy cheap at a feedstore. Big bags for horses are much cheaper than small boxes for rabbits and don't have added salt.

buyorsell, do you have any problems with rabbits or deer being attracted to the alfalfa pellets? Just toss some around the clematis sounds like an easy way to use them. I did the alfalfa tea last year, reeked!

What about bone meal? Is that too much nitrogen? Also, my clematis is planted in landscape fabric with river rocks on top so I really can't amend to soil with compost although we do have a big compost pile. What do you suggest I do about that?

mnwsgal, I also just put pellets around my plants, and used to worry about rabbits. What I do is really water the pellets in until they turn to mush, and I haven't had a problem. I also alternate between rosetone, and alfalfa, and I did use fish emulsion once.

No rabbits or deer in my neighborhood. I'm too lazy to make tea.

I would never put river rocks on top of Clematis. They can block rain/water which is never a good thing for Clematis. Clematis thrive on compost as well. You do not need to shade their roots with rocks or anything else. Organic mulch and kept well watered is what they need. Not shade.

Is not high nitrogen. Would be fine.

I planted a hydrangea close to where my new clematis is going ... they won't be in the same 4x4 bed but the clematis will be in the next bed. I used organic soil acidifier for the hydrangea as recommended by the nursery and was wondering if that can be used on the clematis?

If not, I'll get some bone meal if I don't already have some. Thanks

Clematis don't require acid soil but it won't hurt it.

I'd like to share an easy way to use the alfalfa pellets. Although we are having a terrible drought right now in normal times we will have a prediction of heavy rain, perhaps even a prediction of 3 days of rain. I try to wait until the sky is dark & rain looks certain, then sprinkle the alfalfa pellets in some of the flower beds. The rain waters them in & makes them into mush (probably helpful for rabbit problems as opheliathornvt says above, tho' I don't have rabbits). When the beds try out a bit I take a hand tool, like my long metal sedge puller, & work in the mushy alfalfa. I work around & do different flower beds with different heavy rains. Easy, done!

I use wood ashes as well as organic fertilizer. I also cut my clematis back twice a season and have blooms most of the spring and summer. We are having a cold period right now, here in Tennessee, yet I have clematis blooming.

I use milorganite for everything except veggies. Myflowers love this stuff and the critters hate it.