I know this is a daylily blooms thread but since Milorganite came up …
The biggest issue I've seen with Milorganite is the growers who promote using large quantities year after year. It's fairly high in both iron at 2.5% and phosphorus at 6%. The plants are responding mostly to the nitrogen which is low at 6%. That locks the ratio at 3:2 N:P. Putting down enough to get maximum response to the nitrogen can lead to a rapid buildup of phosphorus, which is slow to be used or leach. Many other manure products also have high phosphorus. Don't assume that organic is automatically better. Anyone who is using these kinds of products should be having a soil test done annually. Don't let excess P sneak up on you.
Also get tests for iron, manganese, and zinc. Excess iron can drive these out of balance.
We have a bag. We mostly use it as deer repellent scattered lightly where we see damage. In addition to Bobbex. Nothing like reinforcement. It also seems to repel rabbits temporarily. I don't think anything stops our chipmunks.
I don't use it as fertilizer because I like to have better control of the nutrients I'm applying. So I use chemical fertilizers for the most part such as Osmocote in pots and Nutricote or lawn fertilizer for the beds.
I look at it as a trade off. A 50 pound bag of Milorganite at 6% nitrogen supplies 3 total pounds of N. There are substantial inputs to process it plus the fuel consumed and road wear to truck that from Milwaukee to here.
Or , a 12.5 pound bag of slow release N in Turf Builder [or comparable product] at 32% N supplies 4 pounds of N. Four bags cause about the same shipping damage as one of M. But I only need 75% as much. Lawn fertilizer with no phosphorus is the best choice for our soil. And there are no heavy metals or sewage contaminants.
Know your soil. Know why you are using a product. Check out any assumption you may have about it.
Pat
