The Essential Fertilizer Guide for a Thriving Garden
June 5, 2023
HomeThe Essential Fertilizer Guide for a Thriving Garden
Fertilizer is made of three elements that are essential for plant growth: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K).
Like a trowel or garden hoe, fertilizer is another tool that gardeners can use to increase plant growth. Still, the numbers and chemicals on a fertilizer package can often be intimidating. Fortunately, you don’t need a chemistry degree to understand and use fertilizer effectively. By following this guide, you’ll be armed with the knowledge of how to use fertilizer in the best way to foster plant growth and minimize unintended impacts on the environment!
What Do the Three Numbers on Fertilizer Mean?
Fertilizer is made of three elements that are essential for plant growth: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The numbers on a fertilizer package indicate the ratio of these three ingredients, N-P-K, in that order. For example, a fertilizer with a 10-10-10 ratio indicates an even amount, 10%, of each chemical.
Sometimes fertilizers include additional ingredients, like calcium or magnesium, for specific plants or soil deficiencies.
A Guide to Fertilizer Ratios
Different ratios in fertilizer formulas have different effects on plant growth. In general:
Nitrogen (N) is responsible for the shoot, stem, and leaf growth.
Phosphorus (P) encourages root, flower, and fruit development.
Potassium (K) boosts disease resistance and overall health.
It’s important to consider the ratio when selecting fertilizer because each has a specific effect. For example, if you fertilize a tomato with a formula that encourages leaf and stem growth, you’ll have big plants but few tomatoes.
How to Choose the Best Fertilizer Ratio
It’s best to choose fertilizer formulas that are tailor-made to specific plants. For example, you’ll find ratios designed for vegetables, annual flowers, tropical houseplants, citrus trees, lawns, tomatoes, and other plants. Choosing the right mix will involve reading the label and knowing what you’ll use it for. If you need help finding the right fertilizer, don’t hesitate to ask our garden center staff for assistance.
What’s the Difference Between Synthetic and Organic Fertilizer?
Synthetic Fertilizer contains the pure chemicals mentioned above, N-P-K, and sometimes additional elements. It’s manufactured in many forms, like granular, liquid, slow-release, or quick-release. In general, they target plants, providing the essential ingredients for growth. Overuse of synthetic fertilizing can leach from lawns and farms into waterways, causing harmful algae blooms in lakes and dead zones in ocean estuaries.
Organic Fertilizer is made from plant and animal products and contains a more complex variety of nutrients than pure elements. They break down in a garden or lawn more slowly, so they don’t leach as easily into waterways. Rather than targeting specific plants, they improve the whole soil, which in turn helps plants. Organic fertilizers include compost, aged manure, worm castings, tea, bone meal, and fish meal.
3 Tips for Effective Fertilizing in Pennsylvania
Besides choosing the best fertilizer for each plant, here are additional tips for using fertilizer wisely in your landscape:
Do a Soil Test: only some people take the time to test their garden, but a simple test can inform you what’s missing in your soil and what is already abundant. With that information, you better understand what’s needed to promote plant growth and soil health. This can save you from overfertilizing and needless expenses. Remember, Primex offers complimentary soil testing in the garden center!
Fertilize During Peak Growth: Generally, it’s best to fertilize during the spring and early summer when plants grow the most. Some plants, like tomatoes, benefit from additional fertilizing when they are fruiting. Once plant growth slows in late summer and fall, stopping fertilizing is a good practice. At this point, the plants are preparing for dormancy and can be thrown off by the sudden influx of fertilizer.
Target Specific Plants: If synthetic fertilizers are used, it’s best to target specific plants with a specific formula rather than broadcast fertilizing. This gives each plant the essentials that it needs and saves you money. On the other hand, traditional organic fertilizers like compost and manure can build the soil in your whole garden.
The Difference Between Fertilizing and Building Soil
If you want to use fertilizers in the best ways, it’s important to know the difference between fertilizing and building soil:
Fertilizers: Synthetic fertilizers, and refined organic ones, provide the pure ingredients that plants need for growth. When you apply them to the soil, those ingredients become immediately available to the plants. They don’t build soil but boost plant growth in the short term, giving you the foliage, fruit, or flowers you desire.
Building Soil: the soil is more complex than the pure nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium elements. It’s a living mixture of millions of microorganisms, fungi, bacteria, decaying organic matter, and minerals. A high dose of synthetic chemicals can disrupt the natural and healthy functioning of microbiology in the soil. In contrast, compost, aged manure, cover crops, mulch, and compost tea add microorganisms and organic matter that build soil. In the long run, healthy soil leads to healthy, resilient, and productive plants.
Guided by this new knowledge, you now have the tools to choose the best fertilizer for your landscape. For more guidance on the best fertilizers, visit our garden center in Glenside, PA!