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CartHere’s How to Get Growing with the Right Fertilizers for Your Plants
Fertilizers feed plants, helping them grow strong, beautiful and healthy.
Also known as plant food, fertilizers can be organic or chemical and come in a variety of specialized formulas designed for lawns, vegetable gardens, blooms like roses and orchids, and even trees and shrubs. Here’s how to find the right food for every plant in your yard and garden.
Organic Fertilizer vs. Chemical Fertilizer
All fertilizers are either organic (natural) or chemical (synthetic) and provide nutrients to plants that include nitrogen (for growth), phosphorus (for root, flower and fruit development) and potassium (for drought and disease tolerance). While one type is not definitively “better” than the other, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here’s how they compare.
Plant Fertilizer Types
Whether organic or chemical, virtually all garden fertilizers contain some kind of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium combination. (Labels like 10-10-10 or 15-30-50 refer to the ratio of each nutrient). Confused? Don’t be: Finding the right food is easy if you shop by need. Here’s what to look for.
Fertilizer Formats
Plant foods come in a variety of formats, whether liquid or solid. Each has its own merits, based on ease of application, speed of plant absorption and so on. Here are the most common types.
Liquids
These concentrated fertilizers are designed to be diluted with water. These water-soluble chemical or organic blends deliver lawn or garden food in a flash.
Plant Spikes
Quick-and-easy plant food spikes are inserted right into the soil. Their slow-release formulas cut the risk of overor underfeeding indoor and outdoor plants.
Tree Spikes
These extra-large spikes require a mallet for insertion into the ground and are scaled to outdoor trees and shrubs.
Granules
A “shake and feed” solution that’s scattered around garden or potted plants, granules offer gradual release nutrients for steady feeding over time.
Pellets
Made from composted hen manure, these organic pellets are spread around garden plants to break down into the soil.
Powders
Available in large tubs or “single-serve” watering can packets, these water-soluble chemical fertilizers are diluted to provide instant nourishment.
Sprays & Mists
Sprays and mists are used to feed delicate plants, such as orchids and succulents, through their stems or leaves.
Hose Sprayers
These 2-in-1 fertilizer delivery systems attach to your garden hose to deliver the perfect proportion of plant food to water for your lawn or garden.
Compost & Manure
Loose organic compost, manure and earthworm castings are all worked into the earth to nourish plants and improve the soil.
