There is a wide variety of fertilizer formulations available at garden centers and home improvement stores. Among the items you’ll see are bags, bottles, powders, granules, pellets, sprays, and concentrates. As well, you’ll find a growing variety of organic and environmentally friendly fertilizers. Picking the right food for your flowering plants can be easier if you know your options.
Table of Contents
Complete Fertilizer
- Foliage growth is enhanced by nitrogen (N)
- Induces blooming and fruit formation through phosphorus or phosphate (P)
- Growing healthy roots: Potassium or Potash (K)
It is common for fertilizer packaging to list these three major nutrients in exact order (sometimes referred to as “NPKs”) with the percentages of each nutrient in relationship to other minor nutrients and filler ingredients. An N-P-K fertilizer, for instance, contains 10 percent of each nutrient. Three times as much phosphorus as nitrogen is contained in a 10-30-20 fertilizer. In liquid fertilizers, fillers are inert ingredients such as limestone, sawdust, clay, or water. Filler ingredients add weight and volume to the formula.
Pick Flower fertilizers that contain more phosphorus than nitrogen and potassium to stimulate blooming. You can give your flowers a good start with a potassium boost to ensure they have healthy roots.
Chemical Fertilizer
Chemical fertilizers are created by combining inorganic chemicals into compounds such as ammonium nitrate or magnesium sulfate.1 They are inexpensive and readily available, and fast-growing plants like annual flowers receive nutrients quickly (unless the formula is designed to release nutrients over time). Overapplication may cause burning, and there are no soil-improving effects.
In addition to pellets and liquid concentrates, there are also powdered, liquid, and salt based chemical fertilizers. Gardeners can apply some products to their landscapes, houses or containers with pre-measured packets that can be added to their watering cans.
Foliar Fertilizer
Foliar fertilizers are liquid nutrients absorbed by plants through their leaves. Not all flowers feed in this way because waxes and hairs on some leaves act as barriers to nutrient absorption. You might be able to address some nutrient deficiencies quickly by using foliar fertilizers on flowering plants whose leaves cannot receive all of the nutrients they need. You can address potassium deficiencies in the flower garden by using foliar fertilizers, as potassium is readily absorbed in foliar feeding applications.
Chlorosis, or yellowing leaves on your plants, may be the result of an iron deficiency. leaves on your plants, may be the result of an iron deficiency. leaves, may be a result of an iron deficiency. Foliar fertilizers achieve rapid results which may aid in resolving the problem.
Organic Fertilizer
In organic fertilizers, living organisms are used, such as animal manure and fish emulsions, as well as non-living substances, like rock phosphate or greensand.1 Organic fertilizers not only supply flowers with essential nutrients, but they also improve soil texture. Using organic fertilizers has several advantages:
- Burning plants is not a good idea
- Boost the immune system of plants
- Biologically inert and non-toxic to beneficial insects and wildlife
- Activate soil for long periods of time
Its higher cost, pet-appealing taste, and limited formulations are among the disadvantages of organic fertilizers. Using organic fertilizer won’t fix severe nutrient deficiencies overnight.
Simple Fertilizer
In the event that your soil is deficient in one major nutrient, you can buy a simple fertilizer that contains only nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium. Organic or chemical fertilizers are available. A simple nitrogen fertilizer would contain only urea or ammonium sulfate as ingredients. Simple phosphorus fertilizers contain superphosphate or ground mineral phosphate. Muriate of potassium may be listed on a potassium fertilizer’s container.
