Because there are so many different things that you can feed your plants, it can be hard to figure it out quickly! When you take into account the different types of fertilizers, the quality of your soil, and what your plants need, it can be easier to just skip the whole thing. But if you don’t feed your plants, they probably won’t grow or bloom as much as you want. All plants need certain nutrients to grow, and if you don’t give them enough of them from time to time, they can get sick. People who care for their plants should read this.
Plants need fertilizer because they need it to grow well.
Plants, too, need a set of important nutrients to grow and stay healthy, just like people do. All plants need nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, which are called macronutrients because plants need these the most. There are also a lot of micronutrients that plants need in small amounts, but you don’t usually have to worry about them. If you don’t give your plants enough of these macronutrients, you’ll end up with plants that have weak stems, small leaves, few flowers, or poor color. There is good news: Most nutrient deficiencies can be fixed with a little extra fertilizer. If your plants are growing in your garden or in a container, the best way to feed them will depend on where they are.
In Your Garden, you should fertilize the plants.
People think that plants can get everything they need from their garden soil, but that isn’t always true. There are a lot of things that can affect the nutrient levels in your soil, like where you live and what has been growing there. Newer homes that have had fill dirt added to them after they were built may have poor soil that doesn’t have enough organic matter, which is the main source of plant nutrients. Even if your soil is full of nutrients, your plants can use them all up over time.
There’s more! Fertilizer should not be used until you know how your yard is getting its nutrients. The best way to start is to test your soil so you know what you have and what you need to add to make your plants healthy. Otherwise, you could waste money on fertilizer that you don’t need, or overdo it and hurt your plants if you don’t do it right. The results of your soil test will usually tell you how much of a certain nutrient you need to give your plants. For this reason, it’s a good idea to check the soil every year. This is because plants use up different amounts of soil each year.
There are a lot of things you can do with compost and mulch that make your soil richer, but they may not be able to give your plants the nutrition they need quickly enough. The reason for this is that organic matter has to be broken down a little bit over time before plants can use the nutrients in it. You can add fertilizer to your garden to get more quickly available nutrients to help your plants grow. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in liquid or powder form. Make sure it has enough of the big three nutrients. Look for a number on the label like 10-10-10, which means that the fertilizer has a lot of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Most plants will be fine with this.
Fertilizing your houseplants and your container gardens
You need fertilizer for houseplants and other plants that live in pots because they can only get nutrients from the soil in their pots. When these nutrients run out, your plants can’t spread out to find more. You should start with good potting soil, which usually already has some slow-release fertilizer in it to help your plants grow during their first few months. As soon as that runs out, you’ll need to add more or repot your plants with new soil.
The best thing to do if you’re not sure how much fertilizer to give your potted plants is to give them too little. It can be hard for the roots to get water if you add too much. The leaves can also turn brown or yellow if you take too much. That’s the opposite of what you want to happen. Make sure you dilute the liquid fertilizer that you’re going to use with water first by putting it in about half the strength the label says you should. There is less risk of over-fertilizing if you do this. Most of the time, your plants will be able to get enough of what they need (remember, a little goes a long way).
How often should I feed my plants?
When you eat food, you might get vitamins every day. Plants don’t need to be fed as often. A lot of things, like what kind of plants you have and the time of year, play a role in how often. Some plants in the garden eat a lot of food (meaning they need more nutrients than others). This group is usually made up of plants that grow quickly and bloom a lot. They include many types of plants like roses and hydrangeas. A general-purpose liquid fertilizer is good for these plants when they’re growing. They should be fed about once a month during the growing season. People who add a lot of compost or other organic material to their soil before planting some plants, like bee balm and coneflower, don’t need to use much fertilizer at all. This is true even if you don’t use much fertilizer at all. You might want to feed them once in the spring when they start to grow faster.
Many leafy and flowering houseplants also follow a seasonal schedule. They slow down in the fall and winter and don’t need as many nutrients then. A little liquid fertilizer is good for them when they’re growing a lot in the spring and summer. They should get it about once a month with their water. Make sure you use slow-release granules or a nutrient tab that you can just push into the soil every few months or so if you can’t remember to do that. One or two doses of liquid fertilizer per year should be enough for your indoor plants, which don’t need much fertilizer at all.