Fertilizing your garden means adding nutrients to help your plants grow. It’s basically plant food with nutrients.
- Why should you fertilizer your vegetable garden? Healthy, well-fed plants tend to produce more and take in nutrients and water more efficiently. Looking for a higher yield in your vegetable garden, use fertilizer.
- What does NPK mean? When you look at a fertilizer package, you’ll notice an N, P and K. These are the symbols for 3 key elements that help plants perform their best.
- Nitrogen (N) helps plant foliage to grow strong.
- Phosphorous (P) helps roots and flowers grow and develop.
- Potassium (K) is important for overall plant health. It regulates metabolism and water absorption.
- How to apply fertilizer in your garden? Organic soil nutrients such as compost or aged manure can be added to the soil before planting or side dressed around established plants. Vegetable producers such as tomatoes, squash, peppers and melons need regular feeding. Consider a liquid fertilizer every 7 to 10 days. Remember to hold off on the fertilizer during periods of extreme heat.