Hi, I have used different things. A liquid, triple 10, slow release, leaf compost. I am just curious what you have had success with.
Thank you,
Teresa

Teresa, I have used many different things over the years. Milorganite, Osmocote, Alphalfa Pellets, Alphalfa Meal, Mycorrhiza, Dr Earth all purpose fertilizer, Dr Earth compost, Miracle Grow garden soil as part of a mixed amendments when planting in new garden extensions, sand to help with clay soil, vermiculite, perlite, Worn Castings, Bat Guano, manure, garden compost, leaves and grass clippings from fall collection and on and on

Lol, me too but I was wondering what you think has done the best?

There still appears to be debate whether compost should be considered as a fertilizer or a soil amendment.
This one says they are different:
https://www.thespruce.com/comp....

This one says not so much:
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/darby...

I have been covering my beds in compost the last couple of years instead of mulch. I also use Milorganite and Espoma Plant Tone. I usually use the plant tone when I plant a new plant but I know other gardeners who cover their entire garden beds in it. I may try doing it that way this spring.
https://www.espoma.com/product...

Oh, I use Hollytone from that list for azaleas and rhodies. They seem to like it.
But I just dump it at the base and walk away. If I bury it animals think there is food in there and dig the plant up. Putting it on top they can sniff it and realize "nope, not tasty".

Last couple years have started using a guided nitrogen product. A 12-0-0.
All a slow release nitrogen made from feathers. My soil does not need the P or the K.
Like the results so far, and not paying for stuff my soil does not need.
See if I can find a picture of the label.


I think it cost $43.00 for a 50# bag. I got it from a greenhouse supply store , near you Teresa.
Looks a lot like alpha Pellets. But is made from feathers, an as you see a few other things . Slow release, last 3 months up to 6 mounths.

Kind of hard to find here in Ohio, but I can go to Kentucky for Ammonia Nitrate and will use it at a tablespoon at a time with my potted evergreens to give them an extra boost. I also use it with all of my other gardening, potatoes, corn, beans, strawberries, rhubarb etc. You need to be very careful so you don't kill your plants, but it is the best fertilizer I can find. There was a big thing about using it to make bombs, but I think they have changed the formula to where it isn't capable of doing that now. With my extra special small seedlings, I use a pair of tweezers to insert one grain near them in the pots.... but not too close! My cousin uses liquid Nitrogen in his farming, and I do use that in a very weak solution when I water the new plants I buy. My garden is just too large to use any kind of fertilizer for the whole thing. Milorganite did work really well, but there again, it is hard/ impossible to find here.

Love the question. Looking forward to seeing more responses. I like to add something in the spring before I mulch. I used to use a mix of alfalfa pellets wtih mushroom compost and potting mix to make a mixture I could add in handfuls and work into the top of the soil. Sometimes sprinkling slow release 10-10-10 (and slug bait) over the top. But it wasn't long before it became apparent the alfalfa pellets were attracting rabbits, and so I gave up on that. I haven't had a set mix/fertilizer since.

I add tons of leaves, grass clippings and pine straw to my beds as mulch every year. After one year that mulch will have pretty much disappeared, so I assume it becomes food for the plants.
I finally broke down and had some soil test done on the beds inside my fence. I was shocked to find the PH so low, low in all of the beds I tested. So that has changed to some degree what I am adding this year to my beds. I suppose the huge amount of organic matter has contributed to the very high phosphorus ratings but I depend on the mulch more for weed control so I won't be able to cut back much on that.
I am always on the lookout for fertilizer on sale, and a lot of times it is a great buy often over a half price savings, sometimes even more. I love to use commercial fertilizer in the early spring. It is normally something with a high nitrogen rating, and a low to no phosphorus rating, and a low potassium rating.
16-4-8, 15-0-15, 16-0-8 something in that range. That is pretty much what I stick with, but if fertilizer is on sale I will often pick up a bag of 28-0-5 or something similar with a higher nitrogen rating. I have thought for years my garden really did not need anything but nitrogen, but I am always afraid of burning the plants with Ammonia Nitrate, but I have used it.
I have for the past few years mixed in some lime, but after my soil test I am doubling the amount with each time I add fertilizer and then this fall I will add even more lime. I would love to get my ph up from the 4.9-5.2 range and up more in the six range. I expect that might take a few years.
I still use some alfalfa pellets, mostly in the bottom of pots, but also in the bottom of holes for new plants if I am not in a big hurry to get thing planted.
I am not using milorganite probably for the rest of the year being the fertilizer I have currently has minors and iron already mixed in it.

I covered one of my daylily beds for the first time last fall with mulched leaves (mostly oak). Are we supposed to rake that off in the spring?

Manufacturer in Hartville, Ohio. Not sure what part of Ohio that is.
Greenhouse supply business my have it. Or local vegetable growers know about it.

Be careful with that ammonium nitrate. It is highly explosive.
Terrorists use it to make bombs.
And then there are the accidents....
https://www.bbc.com/news/expla...

The last bags I got were totally different from the old stuff that was "explosive". Rather than being solid white fertilizer shapes, it was larger tan BB sized pellets. I think after Oklahoma City they decided it was too dangerous in the hands of extremists and they changed it. For gardening purposes, I can't recommend it enough.... except that it will certainly kill your plants if you use too much or put it very near the plant. My daylilies are planted in rows so I can run the rototiller easier. When I pull thousands of scapes, I simply till them under, along with some leaves- except that I sometimes have maple and oak saplings come up. Once in a while a pine tree. We have very lime rich soil here from limestone, so I don't use that, but our town does have a recycling center where people take their brush and yard waste. I can get that compost free, except that the idiot who mulches it will toss in plastic trash bags while he is chipping, and I won't use it.

I always get ammonia nitrate through Southern States.

Thanks everyone for posting. It is interesting to read.