How to choose a good fertilizer
If you have a lawn, garden, flower beds, or houseplants than you have probably bought fertilizer before, but what you might be wondering is how you can buy good fertilizer. Or perhaps you are wondering what good fertilizer is. The problem that many people face when trying to buy fertilizer is that there are so many different types of fertilizers available that nobody ever really knows which kind to pick or which kind is better than the others. Some people say that in order to purchase good fertilizer you are going to have to spend a ton of money because you get what you pay for, while others say that cost is not an issue if you know what you are looking for. And the good news is that if you know what you are looking for and know a little bit about fertilizer you can choose a good fertilizer for relatively cheap.
Difficulty rating: Moderate
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Step one:
The first thing that you are going to need to do is to determine what you are going to be using the fertilizer for. Different companies make fertilizers for different purposes, such as lawn fertilizer, lawn fertilizer plus weed control, and plant fertilizers to name a few.
Step two:
The next thing that you need to know about is the numbers that are on each bag of fertilizer, you also need to know that more is not always better because when it comes to good fertilizer too much of a good thing can be bad for the soil. But when you are reading the bag you need to know that the ratio on the bag will tell you the ratio of nutrients in the fertilizer. The first number stands for nitrogen, the second number stands for phosphorus and the third number stands for potassium.
Step three:
In order to choose the right ratio for your fertilizer you are going to need to know what those nutrients do. Nitrogen is used to promote top growth, so if you are applying fertilizer in the late summer or early fall you are going to want to choose a fertilizer with a lower nitrogen level then if you were applying it in the spring. Phosphorus actually promotes root growth so if you are just trying to get something established you are going to want to choose a fertilizer with a higher level of phosphorous. Potassium encourages root development and disease-resistance in plants so if you are looking for garden fertilizer you will want something higher in potassium or if you are getting your lawn ready for winter you would want a fertilizer with higher potassium.
Step four:
The next thing that you need to think about is if you want liquid or granular fertilizer. The difference between the two is that liquid needs to be applied more frequently but you will see results a lot quicker. But with granules they stay in the ground longer so they have to be applied less often, but it needs to be watered in after it has been applied. So when choosing between the two, because both are good types, you are going to have to choose the one that works best for your needs.
Step five:
The next thing that you need to think about is what kind of plants you are going to be growing and what kind of soil you have. If you already have pretty healthy plants you will do fine with a balanced fertilizer, but if you need to grow specialty plants or you need to adjust your soil you are going to want to choose a fertilizer that has other things added to it, also known as specialty fertilizers.
Step six:
The last thing that you need to think about is organic fertilizers or synthetic fertilizers. As many of you know if you are growing food of any kind it is better to use organic fertilizers, but the problem with using organic fertilizers is that one type of fertilizer may not contain everything in it that your plant needs so you might have to use more than one type of fertilizer.
Just remember that the key to choosing good fertilizer is choosing the right fertilizer for your needs.
