It’s an amazing thing: no one would be surprised if a canary would fall off its perch because nobody fed it. But although you feed your pets from inertia when it comes to plants, gardeners can even be amazed when you ask them this key question: “Have you fertilized? If so, when, with what and how much fertilizer did you use? “
From time to time you hear the following sentence: “It’s in my garden, so there’s no fertilizer!” But in this ostentatious praise about successful growth of fruit and vegetables there is something illogical. If something is big, certainly it needs a large amount of nutrients. A sufficient quantity of the right ingredients is required for plants to form valuable content. For this reason, it is important to fertilize each part of the garden differently!
Is the used fertilizer irrelevant?
No, it is not. Each fertilizer use, whether it be compost, manure or bone dust has a particular effect on soil composition. And each fertilizer works differently depending on the composition. Finally, nutritional needs of plants are different: fat-grass has different needs than shrubs, which has different needs than tomatoes.
In addition to a number of trace elements such as copper, sulfur, magnesium and the like, all plants require four main nutrients: nitrogen, the driving force of the main part of the proteins and increase in the chlorophyll equally; Magnesium also key element of chlorophyll; phosphorus, in particular to encourage flowering; and potassium to strengthen tissue and fruit ripening.
Various types of plants require different amounts of these nutrients; for information on which plants consume more and which less, read the tips below.
What about organic fertilizers?
The answer to the following question is very interesting: “Is organic fertilizer better than the artificial one?” Again the answer is: it depends! According to the information we have today about plants, the plant itself is not interested if it receives nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc. from an organic fertilizer or artificial. It can absorb fertilizer in a certain chemical formula that should be in the roots; otherwise, you cannot do anything. Whether or not receive organic fertilizer nutrients absorbed by the plant are not processed according to their origin, but according to plant needs.
The only benefit of organic fertilizer is that usually is best for soil due to small creatures that live in it. In an extreme scenario, only people using mineral fertilizers in the long run will ruin the garden soil, because it does not provide fertilizer and humus nutrients and waste required for the land and the creatures that live in it. When using organic fertilizer, remember that it takes at least three to four weeks, depending on weather, to scatter the ground so that the plants can absorb nutrients. So to feed a plant in April, you must apply organic fertilizer (such as bone dust or compost) in March! Mineral fertilization is especially useful when you want to give the plant a lot of nutrients relatively quickly. There is a third way: Organic-mineral fertilizers mixed with organic base and mineral supplements.
About adding elements: usually, garden soils have too much phosphate, while the nitrogen is almost always in limited supply. So you shouldn’t always use a fertilizer in the mixture. If you add more fertilizer, nutrient levels may be too high (and more is helpful, but not too much!). It is advisable to fertilize according to your needs, instead of using the same formula no matter what. For example, if the soil already has enough phosphate, use a fertilizer with nitrogen / potash instead of a mixture of nitrogen / phosphorus / potash. How can you find out? Every two years, take a sample of garden soil and check the level of fertilization. That means you always know what the current situation is and, in addition, you compensate the cost of soil testing with the savings made with fertilization. The two have similar costs. However, this method provides better care of your garden soil. In addition protects groundwater since excess fertilizer does not reach the water.
What needs to be fertilized now? And above all, how much fertilizer should be used?
For balcony and pot plants use a mineral soil as potting mixture. Stored fertilizer can be spread easily and is not vanished by frequent watering. A reserve of soil fertilizer it takes about six weeks. Now you need to add fertilizer. Therefore, on planting I add long-term fertilizer, 2-3 grams per liter of soil. In this way, I assure staple food for my plants until August / September. Also by watering every week I add a small dose of feed liquid, and 0.1-0.2 parts per thousand (ie 10 to 20 ml of liquid food in a container of water 10 l). Attention: follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the fertilizer packaging!
In gardens with shrubs, fertilizing measures proportions depend mainly on the size of the mass of leaves and flowers of plants. Fertilize only gravel shrubs here and there with a handful of bone dust or a little compost (less than one liter per square meter). In spring (March / April), shrubs of high growth layers can get about 50 grams of fertilizer per square meter mixed. Alternatively, you can give them around three liters of compost per square meter. Shrubs that grow less only need 30 grams or 1.5 liters. In mid-June you can feed them again with a second dose slightly reduced.
Vegetable gardens, extents fertilization depends mainly on the type of plants because vegetables can be divided into strong consumers, including cabbage, medium consumers such as tomatoes and small consumers such as lettuce. Here are some individual fertilizing recommendations:
Small consumers: Add 1.2 liters of compost per square meter, and further, if necessary, nitrogen (about 70 grams per square meter of bone powder) and potassium (about 35 grams of nitrogen fertilizer and magnesium per square meter ).
Medium consumer: Add 2.4 liters of compost per square meter, and further, if necessary, nitrogen (about 120 grams per square meter of bone powder) and potassium (about 70 grams of nitrogen fertilizer and magnesium per square meter).
Large consumers: Add 4 to 6 liters of compost per square meter and additionally, if necessary, nitrogen (about 150 grams of powdered bones per square meter) and potassium (about 100 grams of nitrogen and magnesium fertilizer per square meter).
Note: cabbage, onions and carrots should not be placed on surfaces freshly fertilized with manure. You can transplant these plants on such surfaces only in the next year.
To fertilize trees, you have to differentiate between deciduous and coniferous trees. Their annual growth cycles are quite different, which is why they need fertilizers at slightly different times.
Deciduous trees need nutrients especially in early / mid June, then between mid-July and August, for a second phase of development. Then there is no need to fertilize the trees. Thus, the first fertilizer applied to hardwood in April (about 55% of their annual), and then in June (45%). These figures vary slightly for fruit trees and roses, which require a division of 50/50 or 60/40.
Conifers need nutrients in the first and second dose, higher between late July and early August, when produce cones. Therefore, food distribution is 35/65 conifers.
The amount of fertilizer depends on the plant needs. For small coniferous is enough a quantity of 35 grams of fertilizer mixture per square meter, per year; for fertilization of trees and shrubs, it is enough 50-70 grams of compound fertilizer per square meter per year. In fruit trees, roses and rhododendrons you can go to the upper limit, adding 100 grams in both stages.
Remember that tree roots must have access to nutrients in the moments mentioned. If you want to use organic fertilizer, at times you must add the aforementioned waiting period required its decomposition.
