Even though we use these Friday Profiles to actually profile the 4 Ps – People, Places, Products and Plants – You can also consider this week’s product profile a bit of insider’s tip. Because there are so many plants that you may not be thinking of that can benefit from what we’ve wittily referred to for years as “Yah-Yah” plant food. That’s the kind of plant food that benefits the acid-loving biology, such as Azaleas, Camellias & Gardenias. I can also include (are you understanding the Yah-Yah reference?) Magnolias and even Hydrangeas.
But for this week’s profile, I want to show off a local Yah-Yah plant food that goes even more to the point by the fact that they renamed their Yah Yah food from just an Azalea headline to Acidifier! For those of you not familiar with the product line MicroLife, then here’s your introduction to their MicroLife 6-2-4 Acidifier.
This is one of their main players in the MicroLife lineup, and contains more sulfur that most ‘azalea foods’ plus extra humates, which acid-loving plants love. Plus, their standard 6-2-4 ratio is also the perfect N-P-K ratio for Azaleas. And since MicroLife has always infused their plant foods with all manner of trace elements and special bio-inoculants, you can rest assured that it will do its job safely and biologically. Not to mention, it’s 100% slow release, so it won’t ever burn the plant or its roots.
And if you know anything about Bayou Bend Gardens, the hub of Houston’s Azalea Trail, know that the garden curator from there had a helping hand in developing this all organic acid-loving plant food. Ergo, that’s all they use for their azaleas.And here’s a great link to the story behind the Hogg mansion at Bayou Bend and azaleas. https://www.mfah.org/blogs/inside-mfah/the-story-of-azaleas-at-bayou-bend
So now let’s go a bit deeper into the “Insider Tip” to this week’s profile, and that’s to list for you all the other plants, that aren’t obvious because of the Yah-Yah phonetics, that this Acidifier will work great on. Let’s start with Pine Trees. Think about for a moment. Where do Pine Trees thrive the most in our state? Northeast parts where the soil is naturally more acid. There are situations in the lawn, where you know you’ve a bit of Necrosis, or a yellowing of the grass blades, possibly because there’s a lack of iron, or even if you think you have enough iron out, understand that the grass/plant in question won’t pull up the iron for greening, if there’s not enough acid in the soil.
Other plants I’ve seen benefit from Yah-Yah plant foods, and thus MicroLife Acidifier…
- Roses of all kind
- Lorapetalum
- Hollies of all kinds
- Junipers
- Arborvitaes
- Jasmines of all kinds
- Pine Trees
- Necrotic Lawns
Standard Yah-Yah Plants:
- Azalea
- Camellia
- Gardenia
- Magnolia
- Hydrangea
And of course if you know of any other plants that you have also experimented with and have benefitted from the twist that acidifier-type fertilizers can offer, please feel free to give us a call this weekend on the radio show and share your experiences. We are on Saturdays & Sundays from 6 am to 10 am exclusively on Newsradio 740 KTRH, and here’s the call-in number 713-212-KTRH (5874).