On last weekend’s radio shows, I got a lot of “clarification calls," which I love because they give me chances to make sure no one is overdoing any products, especially regarding schedule catch-ups, and the order in which products are applied.
Photo: E+
While I love clarifying for callers, emailers and Facebookers, I hate it when I’m misinterpreted, and wrong info gets passed on. For example, the manager of a nursery that sells a lot of products I endorse sent me a text this morning reminding me that my clarifications can get totally screwed up by people who hear only what they want to hear or by those who mix messages.
Maybe mixed messaging happened recently when a gentleman went to the nursery to get fall fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicide for his lawn. Before leaving, he asked the manager, “What spreader setting do I use if I put these in the hopper together to spread like Randy Lemmon said I should?”
First, I’ve never told anyone to mix those two products together and put ‘em out in one application.I have said that you can put them out on the same day, but always as two distinctly different applications.
Second - and here’s where the mixed message probably comes in - I have said frequently over the past couple of weekends that the fall fertilizer and trace elements on the schedule can be mixed in a wheelbarrow, then put in any broadcast spreader, and dispensed at full throttle.
But the fertilizer and pre-emergent, should never be mixed and applied at the same time.
So, I hope you will take away a couple of really important messages:
- Pre-emergent herbicide and fertilizer cannot and should not ever be mixed.
- Yes, trace minerals and fertilizers can be mixed, but first thoroughly in a wheelbarrow, not just in the fertilizer spreader’s hopper
- When you spread trace minerals and fertilizer together, dispense them with the spreader fully open.
- (And most important) Always call me whenever you need any clarification. I will always set the record straight and get you on the right track when it comes to following my schedules, rules, tenets or protocols.
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