Lauren’s Favorite Fertilizer Recipe
It’s not secret that roses like food. They haven’t survived for 35 million years, and 5000 years of cultivation by being picky plants. But they thrive with food. I picked up this fertilizer recipe in August 2021 from the Rose Chat Podcast and I immediately had to try it out. I love being able to use naturally derived inputs when possible. They tend to be gentler on young plants, less harmful when overused, and in general more well rounded. Natural inputs frequently contain micronutrients that manufactured fertilizers don’t. But, in reality, nitrogen is nitrogen, no matter the source. And roses need NPK to thrive.
Gaye Hammond is a well known rosarian based out of Houston, TX, and she has shared her favorite fertilizer recipe far and wide.
Gaye Hammond’s Not Secret Fertilizer Recipe:
1 cup alfalfa meal (or alfalfa pellets)
1 cup cottonseed meal
1 cup fish meal
1/2 cup bone meal
1/2 cup blood meal
1/4 cup Epsom Salt
Mix all together in a container and apply the whole amount to ONE rose. Yup you read that right. 4 1/4 cups of fertilizer for one rose. Gaye’s recommended application right is once in the spring, and once in the fall, which is a very low maintenance fertilizer for roses. If you are a casual gardener, this is a great low labor method. However, for better consistency at delivering nutrients and encourage my roses to pump out blooms, I modify the application slightly.
I buy the recipe ingredients in bulk, sourcing from whoever has the cheapest price with a reputable brand. This can be Amazon, Walmart, or even local farm supply stores on any given day. Make sure you price check because these can fluctuate wildly!
I use a large mortar pan to mix up all the ingredients. Make sure to wear gloves and use a mask for this! Aerosolized alfalfa dust isn’t great for your lungs (not science but common sense). About 10lbs of the 1 cup ingredients - alfalfa, fish meal, cottonseed meal - and 3-5lbs of the 1/2 cup ingredients - blood meal and bone meal - and then 2lbs of epsum salt, mixes up into a mixture that feeds my 150 roses for half the season or longer.
How I have modified the application of Gaye’s recipe is to apply ONE CUP of the fertilizer mixture in the spring and then following each flush. This continual application is a lot more labor intensive than Gaye’s method, but it delivers a more consistent dosage of nutrients when roses need it during their rebloom cycles, and encourages the continual production of the cut flowers that make my business run!
If that explanation was too “food blog backstory” for you, check out my summary below:
Gaye Hammond’s Not Secret Fertilizer Recipe:
1 cup alfalfa meal (or alfalfa pellets)
1 cup cottonseed meal
1 cup fish meal
1/2 cup bone meal
1/2 cup blood meal
1/4 cup Epsom Salt
Lauren’s Modified Application:
Mix and apply 1 cup of mixture in spring, and after each flush of blooms, approximately 4-8 weeks depending on weather. Sprinkle in a ring around the rose base, covering the approximate root zone. Water in well, and cover with mulch or compost, depending on application time. Rake back applied mulch to apply fertilizer if using mulch as a ground cover or weed suppressant.
Happy Growing!
