I finally found time to go out and fertilize my annuals, perennials and vegetables. I have always used Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food, either as the water soluble plant food granules I mix into the watering can or use with their refillable garden feeder or the ready to use Liquifeed garden hose system. All seem to work fine, just depends on what form I can find the food in at the store. I know there’s other plant food out there, this is just what I’ve always used and it works for me. If anyone uses something else, I’d love to hear your experience.
But, like anything, the best laid plans can go awry. When I opened the gardening cupboard, I apparently had pretty much used up everything last year and never bothered to buy more, or make a note of needing to buy it for this year.
So, I watered with what I had on hand, and then went to the store later in the afternoon. I did have a problem with the liquafeed dispenser in that it was clogged. That happened last year too. That is one downside to this set-up. It takes a while before you realize the food isn’t being mixed with the water and that you need to get it unclogged. I never had that problem with the older no-clog garden feeder. But, the downside is that you have to deal with adding the crystallized food to the dispenser (but that’s not really that big of deal).
To get it unclogged, first I rinsed out the sprayer bottle attachment pretty well to get clear any crystals or gunk. Then I squeezed the unnattached bottle really hard to get a little spray to come out to clear that little hole. That seemed to do the trick. Some hints I’ve come across to keep it working well include, run some water through the sprayer after detaching the bottle to clear any crystals, don’t leave the bottle attached to the nozzle during storage and keep the bottle capped when not in use to prevent unused solution from evaporating.
Watering the plants this way also gives me a chance to check everything out and see what might need attention. This is important as we get into the heat of the summer.