I often hear people say to me they never fertilize their plants or maybe just once a month or whenever they remember!
Your plants need FOOD too!
Feed your plants minimally every 7-10 days
We don’t survive on Water Alone! So our plants won’t do well on water alone either, they need food too! A good quality fertilizer applied in small quantities on every watering or once every 7-10 days for a normal dosage will ensure your plants continue to grow strong and healthy. Why is this so important you ask? Survival! Nature can be cruel. Strong and healthy plants have a better chance of surviving the stresses of harsh conditions they may endure everyday. This includes weather conditions, harmful insects and diseases. In return, you will enjoy a Lush, Vibrant Plant with loads of beautiful flowers!
Fertilized Plants = Strong, Healthy Plants = Survives Stresses of Nature = Vibrant Blooms
What does the N-P-K mean on the fertilizer package?
Fertilizer contains macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients. Macro-Nutrients are your bigger percentages of nutrients which is symbolized as N-P-K on your fertilizer package.
Nitrogen (N) is for the strong, lush vegetative (leaf) growth.
Phosphorus (P) or sometimes called Potash is essential for building a strong root system and encourages new root growth. The bigger, healthier your root system, the more water and nutrients your plant can take up resulting in a stronger, healthier plant with more and larger flowers.
Healthy Roots = Healthy Plant with lots of Flowers!
Potassium (K) is another key component for the production of flowers & fruit.
Micro-Nutrients are smaller percentages of nutrients that make up your fertilizer. These include Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Na), Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), and Zinc (Zn). Each of these play an important role in producing strong, healthy plants, flowers and fruit.
Become a Plant Whisperer!
Water your plants according to the weather!
Check your plants 1-2 times a day especially on hot days to see if they need water. Hanging baskets and planters dry out much quicker then your plants in your flower beds. When watering, it is essential to make sure you are watering “Deep Enough”. This is for 2 reasons:
1) your plants will dry out too quickly if shallow watered especially during hot weather.
2) continued shallow watering creates a weak root system. Your roots will just hang out at the top of the pot waiting for the next amount of moisture.
Ideally, Bottom Water
To encourage root growth to reach for the moisture, sit your plant pot in a shallow basin of water. This allows the plant to sucks water up from the bottom. The roots don’t dry out too quickly and a stronger root system is created. This method is not always the most feasible way to water our plants though.
Water Deeply!
The alternative is to Water Deeply, right to bottom. Water should start to drip out of the bottom of the pot if the pot has remained somewhat moist. If your plant is really dry, rehydrate it. Add more water without fertilizer and let it pour out of the bottom. The extra water will eventually wick sideways instead of going straight through.
Hot outside, Water Without Fertilizer
If its really Hot outside just water your plants with plain water 1-2 times per day, morning and evening ideally. Fertilizer is not needed on these hot days. But if you continue to have repeated hot days, you would need to fertilize at least once a week. To successfully do this, water your plants in the morning to hydrate them. They are rapidly taking up water to stay alive during the high heat. Then fertilize water your plants again in the evening when it is cooler outside. Your plants will properly take in all the nutrients at that time. If you were to fertilize water your plants on these hot days, you could give your plants a fertilizer burn.
Watering Succulents
Keep succulents on the dry side with as much light as possible. In the summer, usually water once every two weeks is sufficient. During the winter, your indoor succulents are not actively growing. A light watering once a month is all that is needed. I like to use one of those old style ketchup bottles with the pointed tip. They are great for lightly watering and getting into those tight spots! These types of bottles are often available at the dollar store in the summer. A side note, if you don’t like those flowers growing out of your succulent you can prune them off. Use a small sharp needle nose pruner and trim the flower off as close to the base as possible.
Your Plants are Talking To You!
Ideally you would want to keep your plant with consistent moisture and fertilizer levels. That means you become a “Plant Whisperer”! Your reading your plants and they are talking to you! Your plants love getting a lower application of fertilizer every time you water them. This keeps the nutrient levels even in their system. Just like how we should eat small portions every few hours to keep our energy levels high!
Knowing the Signs to Watch for
In time of watching and reading your plants, as they are all different; you will learn what they are saying. The easiest one you will notice is when their leaves start to droop showing the beginning signs of dehydration. The second sign of dehydration is their leaf colour changing to a duller greying colour. Is your plant looking limp with sporadic leaf branches and flowering? Is the foliage yellowing and falling off along the bottom? These are some signs of too low or no fertilizer. Too much fertilizer causes leaf burn which is often associated with leaf tips and margins turning yellow to brown. There are many other signs that can be read on a plant if you watch them. If you properly fertilize and water your plants, your “Plant Whispering” job is pretty easy! Happy Plants!
How Best Do I Fertilize?
There are 3 main ways to fertilize…
1 )Add fertilizer to your Watering Can
This method may be a little more time consuming but is the more accurate way of fertilizing. This is suitable if you have a few Planters or Hanging Baskets to fertilize.
2) Use a Hose End Sprayer
This is the Quickest and Easiest way to go. Useful for flower and gardens beds, planters and hanging baskets. This method attaches a canister of water soluble fertilizer to the end of your hose. There are several on the market to choose from.
3) Incorporate a “Slow Release” Fertilizer
Incorporate a “Slow Release” Fertilizer into your soil before planting your new planter pots, hanging baskets, beds or gardens. Then every time you water a small amount of fertilizer is released to your plant. Most Slow Release fertilizers will last 3 to 4 months in your soil. For your existing pots and beds, incorporate slow release fertilizer in the first few inches. There are various brands on the market each specifically for flowering or vegetable gardens.
What Type of Fertilizer to use?
- For Annual and Perennial use something that has a 1-3-2 or 1-2-1 ratio such as 10-30-20 or 15-30-15. These are often called “Bloom Boosters” fertilizers. Balanced fertilizer such as 20-20-20 or 20-10-20 can be used if you need that extra boost once in a while. Often this type of fertilizer causes too much vegetative leafy growth and your plant will stretch, creating a weaker plant. If our growing season was longer you would plug up your plants system with this kind of fertilizer.
- For your Vegetable and Herb gardens and planters – look for fertilizer labels that are specific for Vegetables and Herbs. This is where Organic Fertilizers are good! These tender plants do not require very much fertilizer but they still need some food to produce tasty, nutrient rich herbs and vegetables.
- Tomatoes and Peppers require a Tomato Fertilizer because it has extra Calcium and Magnesium in it. This is needed to help prevent Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes and grow “thicker” cell walls in Peppers.
- Succulent plants are completely different. They only require a water soluble fertilizer at 1/2 strength in the spring. If your wanting them to grow a little faster, fertilize once a month with a 1/2 strength solution as well. Otherwise they may stretch and grow too fast and not hold their desirable shape.
All in all, there are so many different brands of fertilizer on the market and just as many options on what is best to use. The important message to take away from all of this, is to fertilize and water your plants…..consistently! Whatever type of fertilizer you use, become a “Plant Whisperer” and read your plants, they will tell you how happy or unhappy they are.