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About Garden Fertilizers
Confused over what fertilizers to apply, when, and how often? What do all these fertilizers do for your plants anyway? Is it really that important? Is more better? These are all common questions around one of the most confusing parts of gardening. Fortunately, you do not need to have a degree in chemistry to garden. Nor, do you need a n degree in agriculture to decide upon a basic fertilization program for all of your plants. Did you know? You should apply different types of fertilizer at different times. Different plants need different kinds of fertilizers. This is one of the ideas this section can help you with.
The Big Three Nitrogen (N), Potassium (P) and Phosphorous (K) are the three most important chemicals your plant needs to grow and thrive. When you purchase a bag or box of fertilizer, it's easy to tell home much N-P-K is in the container. The percentage of these three chemicals is expressed in big, bold numbers (like 5-10-5). Here is a simple fertilizer plan: 1. Early in the season, use a fertilizer that is high in Nitrogen, the first number. 2. Just before the flowering period for (flowers and vegetables), switch to a fertilizer high in Potassium. Potassium promotes big blooms, and blooming in general. 3. After fruits and vegetables begin to appear, switch to a fertilizer higher in Phosphorous. Many plants will respond well to a balanced fertilizer, like 10-10-10. If it's too much trouble to switch fertilizers, just get a bag of balanced, multi-purpose fertilizer, and use it all year. This works really well for people with small gardens. Getting three bags, can be too much.
Micro-nutrients With Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous, your plants should be off to a good start. But, plants require many micro-nutrients, too. They are called "micro-nutrients" because they are needed in small amounts. Most important among these is calcium. Calcium helps the plant to absorb other important chemicals, most notably Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. Calcium is best in liquid form, which is readily availabe to the plants. The other important micro-nutrients are:
Organic Fertilizers Many home gardeners want to garden organically. There are plenty of organic fertilizers on the market. Just look for it on the label. Other ways to organcially feed your plants come from natural compost and manures.
Liquid Fertilizer gives your plants a quick boost, and allows you to foliar feed. Fertilizer spikes are also quick and easy to use. Just pop them under the surfaece of the soil, and it feeds your plants for weeks. Buy Plant fertilizer spikes.
Soil Tests and Soil testers Anything you add to your soil can change the pH. Regular soil tests are recommended. There are two ways to have your soil tested:
The Envirocycle Compost/ Compost Tea maker is the perfect solution for people who want to make compost and collect compost tea. It does both! Buy Composter/Compost Tea Maker now
For more on composting, see Composting and Mulch at The Gardener's Network. |
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