M33R4 ....My mindset is to help the plant, not adjacent weeds, but should help in your situation. A mini-watering can would be lighter, or a household spray would apply a concentrate in lesser volume.
I previously sunk 1 foot long pieces of pvc pipes at the root of any big shrubs or future trees as I planted them - the idea is that the pipe would act as a vessel to pour feed down to the roots. Over time, they got blocked. I might try that again, this time drill holes along the length, fill it with pea gravel so feed drains through the holes into the roots.
I can’t help feeling that @Fairygirl is right (as she usually is!) and that if you feel the need to feed, a slow-release granular fertiliser would be far easier for you and just as effective, if not more. I would go for an organic-based one though in your beds, because constant use of inorganic miracle-gro type stuff is supposed to be bad for your soil biome long term via the build-up of salts. Kinda like crack for plants, they get addicted and just keep needing more..
Would putting liquid fert down a sunken tube actually be effective or just wasteful? I can see that working to get water deep down to the roots, especially for plants with long tap roots, but what about shallow, fibrous rooted plants? In any plant, isn’t liquid fert better taken up by the fine feeder roots anyway so top down is best? I don’t know the answer, just positing the question!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Dyes (usually blue) are added to some fertilizers to identify them as a fertilizer and so that you can loosely determine how much you are applying. As you would expect, a dark blue solution contains higher amounts of nutrients than a light blue solution.
Why is Miracle-Gro fertilizer blue?
The blue color of those crystals is derived from copper sulfate. I've grown over 150 vegetable & flower gardens and I have never seen nor heard the need of using copper sulfate in the garden, except as a fungicide.22 Apr 2020
Don't believe all you read on the internet.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
On thinking, I have a problem in the spring when the fertiliser I have kept has deliquesced. I should use the colour of the dye, or whatever, to get the concentration right. Instead of what I do now: guess the solid equivalent.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I think it's a situation where there has to be compromise @M33R4. I agree with @Nollie that long term use of something like MiracleGro, or similar products, probably isn't ideal for permanent planting in beds/borders, but most liquid feed isn't ideal either, for the same reasons, but also the one I mentioned earlier - it can get washed through too readily and is therefore less effective. You have to do what is best, and easiest, for your health - ie your wrists/hands. That may change if/when you get stronger, and can then go back to a more beneficial method of improving the soil and feeding your plants.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Would putting liquid fert down a sunken tube actually be effective or just wasteful? I can see that working to get water deep down to the roots, especially for plants with long tap roots, but what about shallow, fibrous rooted plants? In any plant, isn’t liquid fert better taken up by the fine feeder roots anyway so top down is best? I don’t know the answer, just positing the question!
And other carnivore visiters.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Why is plant fertilizer blue?
Dyes (usually blue) are added to some fertilizers to identify them as a fertilizer and so that you can loosely determine how much you are applying. As you would expect, a dark blue solution contains higher amounts of nutrients than a light blue solution.
Why is Miracle-Gro fertilizer blue?
The blue color of those crystals is derived from copper sulfate. I've grown over 150 vegetable & flower gardens and I have never seen nor heard the need of using copper sulfate in the garden, except as a fungicide.22 Apr 2020
Don't believe all you read on the internet.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
You have to do what is best, and easiest, for your health - ie your wrists/hands. That may change if/when you get stronger, and can then go back to a more beneficial method of improving the soil and feeding your plants.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Found an old pic of mine:
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
What is unnecessary feeding?
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border