Fertilizer and rainfall.

[Billyd13]

Planning on applying 19-19-19 and Epsom salt this weekend but the forecast
Is for 1.5” of rain. Will that much rain wash or leach it away? Should I wait
for a lighter rainfall?

[MorpheusPA]

I'd wait. Look for something up to 1" absolute maximum, with 0.25" to 0.75" being optimal.

[Green]

A forecast of 1.5 inches can easily turn into 2, 2.5, or even over 3.5 inches, as I found out recently.

[Green]

Morph,

What's your take on how much risk there is of losing nutrients if you apply your soluble fertilizers toward the end of a large rain event when most of the rain accumulation has already occurred, but the ground is already saturated?

[MorpheusPA]

Modest to high. I vaguely considered dropping urea on the garden yesterday when we were "supposed" to get 0.5" of rainfall. Surprise, there was a thunderstorm in there that dumped 2" of pouring rain on us in the middle of that as temperatures dramatically rose ten degrees.

Grand total rainfall for the weekend, 3.5".

[Green]

[quote=MorpheusPA post_id=353201 time=1682947767 user_id=112]
Modest to high. I vaguely considered dropping urea on the garden yesterday when we were "supposed" to get 0.5" of rainfall. Surprise, there was a thunderstorm in there that dumped 2" of pouring rain on us in the middle of that as temperatures dramatically rose ten degrees.

Grand total rainfall for the weekend, 3.5".
[/quote]

Yeah, another 3 inches here (added to 3.5 last weekend).

So you're not too concerned about putting soluble fertilizer on saturated ground?

[MorpheusPA]

I wouldn't do it, personally. At this point, I'm waiting for the ground to de-saturate a bit before I even consider feeding. It's. Still, Raining. And it's not forecast to stop until the end of the week, so while the weather is fine to put in the gardens and has been for ten days, they're only about 75% planted due to the fact that it's either raining or pouring.

On the up side, I don't have to worry about adjustment watering or too much heat and sun shock...