Know How To Choose the Right Fertilizer for Your Plants

Plants, like all living creatures, need to take in a certain amount of nutrients. They can get most of their nutrients from the dirt in which they grow, but what about plants that grow in nutrient-poor soil? The easy fix to this situation would be to feed your plants with a good-quality fertilizer, but how do you know which one to buy? It might surprise you that fertilizing plants can be quite an intricate business. Here are three tips to get you started:

1. What's In a Good Fertilizer?

You might have noticed what are referred to as NPK numbers on the back of your fertilizer package. This stands for the amount of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous that each fertilizer contains. Nitrogen is responsible for leaf growth, phosphorous is associated with root growth and flowers blooming, and potassium regulates many other functions of plant growth. If you are a serious gardener, you'll want to get your soil's pH tested to determine exact what nutrients your plants need.

2. Are There Different Kinds of Fertilizer?

If you've read up at least a little bit on fertilizing plants, you probably understand that different types of plants require different fertilizers. Liquid fertilizer is great for potted plants and annuals, but it will need to be applied more often than granular formula, which often contains timed-release pellets that stay in the soil and feed your plants for a longer amount of time. Organic fertilizer is made from materials already found in nature, but it will take longer to affect your plants than synthetic fertilizers will. Synthetic fertilizers, on the other hand, affect plants quickly and are not as expensive.

3. When and How Do I Fertilize?

How often you fertilize will depend on whether you buy a liquid concentrate or granular form of fertilizer, as detailed above. It'll also depend on your plants: annuals like to be fed every few months, roses need a dose on a weekly basis, and trees and bushes are happy with a twice-yearly fertilizer. Never fertilize before a large rainstorm, as your product will simply wash away before it is absorbed by your plants!

Make sure to do your research and find out what kind of fertilizer your plants need before buying one and applying at random! The type you buy and the way in which you apply fertilizer can make or break your garden. Contact us today to find the perfect fertilizer and to personalize your garden's nutrients.