So you went to Home Depot, or Lowe’s, or a plant nursery, looking for fertilizer. And you stood in awe of all the types of fertilizers with confusing jargon and numbers and long scientific words. It can be overwhelming finding the one you need.
We know the feeling! But we’ve done the research, and we’ve broken down the terms, so you shop in confidence and decide which fertilizer is best for your situation.
First, it’s important to understand the nutrients that plants need to thrive. Here’s a quick crash course on the main nutrients plants use to grow. There are six primary nutrients: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Plants absorb these nutrients from the soil, through their roots, and they use them to create plant tissues to grow and produce fruit.
Now that you have a surface-level understanding of the nutrients plants need, let’s start to break down the types of fertilizers, their ingredients, and ratios.
Synthetic and Organic Fertilizers?
Synthetic fertilizers are manufactured using chemicals to process raw materials, while organic fertilizers consist of natural minerals and organic matter like manure, bone, and plant meal. Besides how they’re processed, there is one big difference between synthetic and organic fertilizers: their water-solubility.
Generally speaking, the nutrients in synthetic fertilizers are much more water-soluble and require very little time for your plants to absorb. For this reason, synthetic fertilizers are helpful early in the spring when the microbes in your soil aren’t active. Synthetic fertilizers are a quick fix, but they won’t do much for the overall health of your soil.
Organic fertilizers take longer to break down for plants to be able to absorb them. They’re a slow-release fertilizer. So if your plants need nourishment now, you may want to go synthetic. But if you want to improve the overall health of your soil and it’s not urgent, then organic is the way to go. A good time to apply organic fertilizer is in the fall because the nutrients have all winter and spring to break down, so when the plants need nutrients most in late spring through summer, it’s there waiting for them.
What does pH mean and why does it matter?
The pH level of your soil is very important. If your pH levels are off, then the nutrients you’ve put into your soil with fertilizer don’t really matter because plants won’t be able to absorb them properly.
pH runs on a 0 to 14 scale, with 7.0 being neutral. Fall below 7.0 and your soil is acidic; rise above it and your soil is alkaline. A healthy pH level for peak plant performance is between 6.0 and 7.0. You can check the pH levels of your soil by sending samples to a lab, or you can buy a DIY test kit.
What to look for in a fertilizer
Let’s say your pH levels are good, and you just need to know which fertilizer will help your plants thrive. Here’s what you need to know.
Most all-purpose fertilizers will have three numbers separated by hyphens, for example, 5-5-5. Those three numbers represent the amount of the most important ingredients: N-P-K or nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.
If a bag of fertilizer contains 5-5-5, then the contents of the bag should have 5 pounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The rest of the contents in the bag will contain filler and other material to help disperse the active ingredients.
You may also see a Guaranteed Analysis on the label. This will tell you all of the active ingredients, including the N-P-K and the percentage of them in the bag.
Many fertilizers will advertise that they are formulated to help with flowers, fruits, vegetables, and more, which makes finding the right product for your purposes easier. But, again, knowing the pH levels of your soil is important because you may find that your soil is deficient in certain nutrients. Knowing that information can help you find the fertilizer that will level out your soil.
If this is a little over your head, and you’d rather pay a professional to check your soil and apply the correct fertilizers, shop around your local lawn care companies. Some companies provide very affordable lawn care packages that include seasonal fertilizer treatments to keep your lawn healthy and lush.