Finding and choosing the right fertiliser can be quite a daunting task, the choice that we have now is huge and it's easy to get bamboozled by the science of it all.
There are Nitrate based, Urea based, diammonium phosphate, compound type, slow release, solid, granulated, powdered, the amount of choice in structure, chemical and usage type is wild, but here I will try and break it down simply so that you can choose the right one for your plants.
Firstly just a little bit of science;
There are three main elements that we use fertiliser for,
1. Nitrogen- nitrogen is what the plants need to form healthy green leaves and stems.
2. Phosphorus- phosphorus helps plants with root growth and development.
3. Potassium- Enables plants to better withstand temperature changes.
There is plenty more to it than that but if you break it down those are the main things that you need to know.
Most fertilisers that we buy would have a mix of all three of these elements, the only difference being the amount of each and where it is sourced from.
Here are some examples and what they might be best used for;
This generally contains 4% Nitrogen, 3% Phosphorus, 2% Potassium. It also has numerous other minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, boron and iron. It's a great all rounder and can be used on fruit trees, flowers, shrubs and root vegetables. It is also very easy to get organic versions such as Westland Organic Chicken Manure Pellets 2.25kg.
Seaweed contains a little more Iron than the chicken pellets as well as a good amount of sulphur and copper. This makes it an ideal fertiliser for lawn care. The Manganese in it discourages moss growth while encouraging grass growth. Maxicrop Organic Lawn Fertiliser is perfect for lawns.
Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food-
This is an artificially made mix of anything any plant could want. It has all the above chemicals including Urea, Boric acid, and Ammonium sulphate. It's a good mix for any house plants and a box of it should last a long time.
If you have a very large garden I would encourage you to seek out a more natural (and cost effective) method of fertilising. If you know of any stables nearby or have access to any chickens you can simply make up your own fertiliser. Certainly for the horse manure option you just have to spread a few shovels of it around the base of trees (try not to bury the stems/trunks as this can cause burning) and scatter it on top of your flower beds and let nature take care of the rest.
This time of year fertilising is crucial as all our plants are producing new growth and flowers and are generally very hungry. Fruit trees especially put a huge amount of energy into producing their crop, so do them a favour and give them a snack :)
