All round fertiliser.

As the title of the thread suggests, is there such a thing as a great all round fertiliser that caters for all? After visiting the garden centre earlier I was amazed at the choice of ferts and couldn't help thinking there must be an easier more straight forward way.

Just to narrow things down a bit. I'm not talking fruit and veg, just bog standard garden stuff like annuals, perennials and shrubs. Feed maybe twice during the growing season and that's it.

Is there a go to product that you use that gives great results?

 

One of the problems with feeding annuals is that it will encourage them to grow - which sounds good.
But, often annuals do much better in poor soils - they stay shorter so don't flop about and they flower eagerly to set seed in poor soil. Deadheading prolongs their struggle for our benefit.
Most decent soils don't need help, they contain enough nutrients.

It's always best to feed the soil, then let the soil feed the plants and manure, homemade compost are perfect for that.

As a general purpose feed, blood, fish and bone is well -balanced and will suit most outdoor plants.
For a soluble general purpose feed I use Phostrogen - Miracle Gro is an alternative.
Seaweed Extract is excellent as it contains loads of micronutrients that may be missing from the soil that will benefit plants in terms of keeping them healthy and more resistant to bugs and infection

 

You'd think that bog standard garden soil with regular soakings of rainwater alone would be enough for the vast majority of plants.

But as far as feeding goes we tend to get it rammed down our throats that you must feed a well balanced fert too. And the shelves of any garden centre will back that up.

My garden gets very little. Just an annual covering of the contents of my composter in spring. During the summer I may throw grass cuttings on from my lawnmower too. As well as rain, that is it.

Maybe I'm doing enough already.

Regarding manure?? I have a huge regular supply from a local farm. Fresh manure is bad right? Well rotted down manure is what's needed? If I fed both manure and my compost in spring that should be fine for the whole growing season?

 

Sounds like you're doing the right things already.
Fresh manure needs to rot down for a time before it can be used without causing burning the plants.
Your Spring routine is fine for the whole season.
Bugs, bacteria and fungi are all working on the compost turning it from organic waste into useful nutrients for your plants and it will last all season.
Unless your plants are showing signs of stress or infection they're getting enough food.
Just ensure they have enough water too and all's good!

 

Just one last thing. When you feed the soil in spring I tend to just surface dress, rather than digging it in. Common sense tells me this is more acceptable than aggressively digging it in where you could damage roots.

Thoughts?

 

I was talking to the woman at the garden centre a while back, I was looking for Vitax high potash feed, and she said you would be amazed the amount of people who come in and buy a Fuchsia fertiliser a shrub fertiliser a this and that fertiliser.
Someone even asked if they had a specific forsythia fertiliser, when she said no, the person said I'll have a look somewhere else then.

I've be using Vitax products much more recently, i sometimes think with annuals it doesn't hurt to get them off to a good start.

I never feed established plants like shrubs trees etc.

 

Badly trained shop assistant!
Never say 'No' to a customer,
its' Yes; but we sell this which will do that and almost every other shrub in the world...'(60+ years of sales experience tells )

Vitax Q4 is the organic equal to national growmore which is a compound chemical fertiliser 7-7-7 developed I believe as part of the WW2 Dig for Victory campaign. Digging/ploughing in is not necessary, cultivation limited to scratching the surface is very much the modern practice in agriculture where it is known as min-till, direct drill or regenerative according to crop.
The only exception is if uncomposted or notably offensive materials are spread- law requires incorporation within 24hours of spreading.You are very unlikely to use those in a domestic garden !
The application of composted organic matter is essentially to feed the soil micro-organisms which will break these down to basic substances essential to plants of any description.
More detail is available by researching the published works of Dr, Elaine Ingham.

 

Yes - a decent surface dressing is fine, and Spring is the best time to do it.
Ideally 3-4", but that's not always possible - no need to dig in.
Spring rains will wash it into the soil and worms will pull the organic matter under the surface - all ready for when your plants wake up.

 

Off the back of the Vitax tub I have.


And on the back of the liquid feed I'm using.


Something I've never understood is how the Irish analysis is always different from the EU and UK.

Or do they use the same packaging but change the formula.

I know made up things like alcohol "units" can vary, and do, but surely a percentage of something must always be the same.

 

I generally use extra food for potted plants [mostly annuals] - and that's usually tomato food, although I also use a slow release one for things like sweet peas or dahlias, as they need plenty of food to keep them flowering well, and planting those in the ground is far too hit and miss here because of slugs. The slow release stuff is ideal for the first few months, and the tomato food keep them going until, and through, autumn. I also use the tomato food for - tomatoes! Many Clematis also benefit from some extra food until they have buds, so it depends on the sort of planting you have, and where you plant it.
As already said - some plants will do better with less food - the soil is enough for them, but that's where the soil type and climate come into the whole mix. In a container, they have more dependance on you for nutrients.
The other thing that's useful is comfrey feed, which you make yourself, so that might be handy if you have access to comfrey @Esoxlucius.
I don't feed shrubs or anything woody, as the soil is good - keeping that in good health is the best way, and the well rotted manure will do a great job for that. I use a little B,F & Bone when they're first planted, and then that's it. The extra mulching with old/spent compost, or leaf mould etc, is what keeps them happy.

 

@pete Hurrah at last a chemistry question!
Essentially it's down to how the results are expressed.
Vitax (top label) England the P content is expressed as % P2O5, this is a result of how it is tested, they also say how much is soluble in water as % P2O5, the second figure, in brackets, is the same result expressed as the % P; this second figure is the same as the Irish analysis. I think % P is more use as that is the % phosphorus in the product and the user doesn't have to worry about changing % P2O5 to % P.
It's the same for Mg and K the English express these as % MgO and % K2O, the Irish simply as Mg and K; the English then have the Irish result in brackets.
The liquid feed analysis is the same; it's how the same results are expressed, they actual results are the same.
I think the Irish results are better expressed in terms of what a gardener wants to know.

 

The reason garden centres are crammed with fertilisers and potions is because manufacturers can put a few pence worth of chemicals in a bottle, add mostly water and a few 1000% to the price. In a garden situation I don't think they are generally needed unless you don't recycle the material. If you have a good compost heap and compost everything then you will be adding the nutrients back and as you are mulching, then you are building the soil as well. Fert are only really needed when plants are in soil that might run out of steam during the growing season or you want to manipulate an area of growth, like fruiting.

 

Yeah kinda get what you are saying but the average gardener doesn't have the space or possibly the amount of material required to do it on a small scale.

I think the reason for all the different feeds you see these days is because people are brainwashed into thinking they need a special fertiliser for any specific plant, why sell just a couple of types when you can fool people into buying multiple bottles.

 

Thanks Nigel, but it's a bit over my head, but atleast I now know it's the same stuff, it's just expressed in a slightly different way.