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How do I Choose the Best Flower Fertilizer?
Choosing flower fertilizer that will make your flowers healthy and beautiful begins with understanding plant nutrients. Plants need nutrients, and fertilizer is essentially food for your flowers. The best flower fertilizer will provide your garden with nutrients, which is particularly important in soils that are not nutrient-rich, such as clay or sand.
The three primary plant nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and plants need them in higher amounts than other nutrients. Nitrogen is important for growth, especially for leafy plants and grass. Phosphorus is beneficial for bulbs and perennials because it strengthens the roots and increases the size of the flowers’ blooms. Potassium helps with the general health and strength of your flowers. These primary nutrients sometimes are called macronutrients.
Fertilizer manufacturers usually include the levels of the macronutrients on product labels. The amounts of each nutrient often appears as a chain of numbers, such as 5-15-20. Nitrogen levels are represented by the first number, and the second and third numbers are the amounts of phosphorus and potassium, respectively. The best flower fertilizer will have high levels of potassium, because the nutrient creates bigger and brighter blooms. A 10-10-17 mix is popular among flower garden enthusiasts because of the high potassium ratio.
In addition to macronutrients, flower fertilizer contains secondary nutrients and trace elements. The secondary nutrients, also known as micronutrients, are calcium, sulfur, and magnesium. Micronutrients help flowers grow faster, maintain a dark green color, and sprout new roots and shoots. Trace elements include the nutrients boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. Also known as trace micronutrients, the trace elements also promote healthy, fast-growing plants with rich green colors.
Granular, water soluble, and natural organic are three main types of fertilizer. Natural organic flower fertilizer contains mostly manure and bone meal and although they are natural, they provide lower levels of nutrients than synthetic fertilizers. Water soluble fertilizer is meant to be mixed with water, and plants absorb it quickly. The drawback of water soluble flower fertilizers is that they only remain in the soil for one to two weeks and require more frequent application. Granular fertilizer is the most common, and provides flowers with nutrients for six to nine months.
Once you understand the nutrients plants need and the types of fertilizer available, you are ready to choose the best flower fertilizer for your garden. Remember that plants will not grow well with higher levels of unneeded nutrients, but will flourish if you provide them with the nutrients they lack. Checking your soil's pH levels and texture is also a good idea. Clay and sandy soils may not absorb nutrients properly, and soil that is too acidic or alkaline does not promote strong growth.
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![Granular fertilizer provides flowers with nutrients for six to nine months.]()
By: singkhamGranular fertilizer provides flowers with nutrients for six to nine months. -
![Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the primary nutrients needed by flowers.]()
By: VidadyNitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the primary nutrients needed by flowers. -
![Good flower fertilizer contains micronutrients that helps flowers grow faster, such as calcium, sulfur and magnesium.]()
By: Ivonne WierinkGood flower fertilizer contains micronutrients that helps flowers grow faster, such as calcium, sulfur and magnesium.
Discussion Comments
@irontoenail - Even compost can be a bad idea if it hasn't been rotted down enough. And any kind of manure especially needs to go through a proper composting process before being used in the garden, even on flowerbeds. This isn't just to protect the flowers, it's also to protect you from bacteria.
@Fa5t3r - Just don't make the mistake of thinking that natural fertilizers and chemical fertilizers are different and you can use them both without referencing the other. If you're already putting a lot of nitrogen in your soil from your compost heap (bird manure in particular is chock full of it) then you don't need to add even more with a chemical fertilizer, and in fact you might end up harming or killing your plants.
The best fertilizer is usually natural compost because it's much easier on the soil and much more likely to have the right composition for a wide range of plants. But if you are going to use a store bought fertilizer as well, be careful you don't overdo it.
I would suggest that you look up your particular flower's needs before dousing it in fertilizer. An average plant fertilizer will probably be fine or most but all plants have slightly different needs and some have vastly different preferences.
Roses, for example, are extremely picky and will do best with a fertilizer tailored to their needs. Or you could look online to see what you should put in the ground around them (I've heard that banana peels work well, as they provide potassium).
Some flowers will turn different colors with different minerals in the soil. Some flowers will only bloom if they get the right nutrients at the right time. If you are really hoping for a particular plant to flower, then it's best to see what it wants first.
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