Milorganite to feed palms??

[Chris R]

I read somewhere that Milorganite can be used to feed palms. Now, trust me I’m fully aware that palms need Potassium and Milo has none in it, so right there it’s a sign that it’s not a good fertilizer on its own. However, is it good or bad to throw some down around the palms in between feedings of a more palm-focused fertilizer?

I live in South Eastern Florida and have young coconut palms that I planted last year in 25 gallon nursery pots, and they have about a foot of grey wood presently. I’m new to caring for palms as a new home owner but eager to learn. Appreciate any help!

[Darold Petty]

Milorganite is out of favor in some groups because of a belief that it has an excess of heavy metals.  I don't have any good links, this to me is anecdotal only.  Should be an easy internet search. 

[96720]

I believe it says on the bag not to use it on vegetable gardens because of the heavy metals basically it is refined sludge from sewage treatment plants 

[BigWaveDav3]

My best friends Dad uses it regularly as it is darn near impossible to over fertilize with it and you can always supplement with other nutrients. The downside is it stinks to high heaven. I don't know about the heavy metals for sure, but makes sense that could occur given its sourcing (even prescription drugs that get flushed end up in the water of sewage waste plants). They say it is not actually human feces, but the dead bacteria that feed on it from the treatment process...

[sonoranfans]

Yeah, fertilier from sewage with high heavy meta content is not a good way to go.  There are MANY better choices.  In south eastern florida you should have access to florikan which with osmotic release covers 6 months and maintains the various nutrients.

[Matt in OC]

Great on lawns, but I’ve never tried it on palms and probably wouldn’t.

[PalmatierMeg]

  On 2/25/2021 at 3:12 PM, sonoranfans said:

Yeah, fertilier from sewage with high heavy meta content is not a good way to go.  There are MANY better choices.  In south eastern florida you should have access to florikan which with osmotic release covers 6 months and maintains the various nutrients.

Expand  

Don't use it. You are surrounded by bodies of water and sheet flow during storms might wash it into estuaries or spread those heavy metals into vegetable gardens and fields. Here in my part of SWFL we have a "fertilizer blackout" from June 1 through Oct. 1 in which we are forbidden to use any fertilizers but potassium (K) because stormwater washes it into streams, lakes and Gulf.

[Chris R]

Thanks all for the replies. I’ll share my experience and observations in case anyone is interested. Based on what I’ve seen with my palms and what I’ve learned from reading and talking with folks.

I ended up spreading Milo a couple times maybe 6 weeks apart over the winter months. I occasionally watered. I did this on a couple coconut palms which have a foot of grey wood trunk, and on a trio of Christmas palms which have about 4 feet of grey wood  

It turns out I won’t be using Milorganite anymore and I DONT recommend it, for palms at least.

Palms love Potassium. They love it. And it turns out it’s vital to their health. There is no Potassium in Milorganite. I think that the high N and P content of the Milo pushed growth but did not contain the necessary balance of the K. Therefore, new fronds were ‘forced’ out over the winter, and my palms developed a deficiency in K because the N and P were unnaturally high and there was no supplemental K. So what I see now are the classic signs of K deficiency: older fronds are yellow with semi translucent splotches on them, eventually these old fronts turned totally grey/lifeless, and on my christmas palms the trunks actually started to show smaller diameter below the crown shaft and also have splotchy fronds.

None of this seems irreversible, however it IS unsightly and I’ll likely have to look at it for about a year while the newer growth replaces the old fronds (I understand that cutting off these old damaged fronds only worsens the K deficiency). And i have to believe that if all my logic here is correct, then these symptoms would only worsen and eventually cause real harm if I kept with the Milo. 
 

Since all this, I gave a hiatus from feeding anything to them for a couple months, and recently went back to the Sunniland palm fertilizer which is 6-1-8. The plan is to use this through the summer and cut way back when the dead of winter hits. 
 

Thoughts? Would love to learn if I’m right or wrong. By the way I don’t have any scientific background and am not a professional. Just a curious diy’er who wants to figure it out! Thanks for any replies. 

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 5/12/2021 at 12:54 AM, Chris R said:

Thanks all for the replies. I’ll share my experience and observations in case anyone is interested. Based on what I’ve seen with my palms and what I’ve learned from reading and talking with folks.

I ended up spreading Milo a couple times maybe 6 weeks apart over the winter months. I occasionally watered. I did this on a couple coconut palms which have a foot of grey wood trunk, and on a trio of Christmas palms which have about 4 feet of grey wood  

It turns out I won’t be using Milorganite anymore and I DONT recommend it, for palms at least.

Palms love Potassium. They love it. And it turns out it’s vital to their health. There is no Potassium in Milorganite. I think that the high N and P content of the Milo pushed growth but did not contain the necessary balance of the K. Therefore, new fronds were ‘forced’ out over the winter, and my palms developed a deficiency in K because the N and P were unnaturally high and there was no supplemental K. So what I see now are the classic signs of K deficiency: older fronds are yellow with semi translucent splotches on them, eventually these old fronts turned totally grey/lifeless, and on my christmas palms the trunks actually started to show smaller diameter below the crown shaft and also have splotchy fronds.

None of this seems irreversible, however it IS unsightly and I’ll likely have to look at it for about a year while the newer growth replaces the old fronds (I understand that cutting off these old damaged fronds only worsens the K deficiency). And i have to believe that if all my logic here is correct, then these symptoms would only worsen and eventually cause real harm if I kept with the Milo. 
 

Since all this, I gave a hiatus from feeding anything to them for a couple months, and recently went back to the Sunniland palm fertilizer which is 6-1-8. The plan is to use this through the summer and cut way back when the dead of winter hits. 
 

Thoughts? Would love to learn if I’m right or wrong. By the way I don’t have any scientific background and am not a professional. Just a curious diy’er who wants to figure it out! Thanks for any replies. 

Expand  

I'd say you're on target, but haven't used Milorganite as my N and P source for things, so i can't compare experiences.  Might use a high K fert ( like Sul Po Mag, or natural Langbeinite ) -in conjunction- with the Milo. each time you apply in the warm season.

Since i use single ingredient organics, do this when mixing up some plant chow anyway.  Never had any deficiency issues -that were apparent to me anyway- and everything valuable to me is in containers for now.  Only thing i'm working out a fert. schedule for atm is a pair of rare pines i don't want to kill.

As far as fertilizing in winter, i know it works wonders for many, i myself choose not to for the reason you mention. Even here in the desert, winter is nap time. Food is pretty much worthless when you're asleep. Fresh new leaves are potential food for that rare frost. imo.

[Looking Glass]

I use Milogrinite....  on my lawn.  It works great and is slow and steady.    I alternate it with Scott’s, which works like a quick shot of steroids and has potassium.   

Milogrinite is essentially just N, P, and a little Ca, and Iron, not a good mix for palms at all.   I use it very close to palms, but I always dump a lot of palm fertilizer to overlap the areas near the palms so they don’t get deficient in K, Mg and micros.  I also dump extra Mn in these areas, as Milogrinite is said to bind this up.   The palms seem to do fine with this.   

I actually just ordered 40lbs of some K granules, that I’ll mix 4:1 with Mg and hit the lawn and palms every once in a while, as these wash out of the sand here pretty quick. 

[Jimhardy]

I think it works good on tropicals like bananas but I don't use it

anymore because there are many better choices.

[Eddie S]

Looking fora good place to buy bulk palm fertilizer in sw Fl.

[southernperidot]

  On 2/25/2021 at 3:12 PM, sonoranfans said:

Yeah, fertilier from sewage with high heavy meta content is not a good way to go.  There are MANY better choices.  In south eastern florida you should have access to florikan which with osmotic release covers 6 months and maintains the various nutrients.

Expand  

There are different ratios of florikan. 12-6-8, 18-6-8, 12-6-6. Which one do you recommend for October feeding?

[sonoranfans]

  On 10/11/2022 at 12:34 PM, southernperidot said:

There are different ratios of florikan. 12-6-8, 18-6-8, 12-6-6. Which one do you recommend for October feeding?

Expand  

for palms ask for 8-2-12.  There is already too much phosphorus in our soil, so you want low phosphorus number.