How to choose a good fertilizer – HERE'S THE ANSWER

This product, also known as fertilizer, is usually made up of synthetic elements, although it can also be made with organic materials. However, if you want to opt for the use of the former, in this Gardenweb article we will help you choose the right chemical fertilizer for your plants.

Chemical fertilizers: what they are and their types

Chemical fertilizers are products made with synthetic materials to provide additional nutrients to plants. That is, it is not that these types of fertilizers directly cause plant growth, but they do give them a boost for it. Currently, within chemical fertilizers, we find two types:

1. Granular: This type of fertilizer is usually used on lawns and/or large areas of orchards or gardens. They are characterized by slow release, meaning that plants ingest nutrients during periods of rain or irrigation.

2. Liquid: This product is usually used on plants that are in pots or in small garden areas. Unlike the previous ones, chemical fertilizers are fast-acting, so they can be applied while watering.

N, P, K… What do these letters mean?

You will find the letters N, P, and K on any type of chemical fertilizer you are going to buy. These letters represent the value of the macronutrients that plants use for their proper functioning. These values are:

• N: Nitrogen

• P: Phosphorus

• K: Potassium

Any quality fertilizer must contain some level of these three nutrients, which are usually represented as a numerical NPK percentage, for example, 10-10-10. We must also consider that the higher the number, the higher the concentration of that nutrient in the fertilizer.

For example, if we see NPK 20-5-5 on a package, it will be informing us that this fertilizer contains four times more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium.

How to choose the right fertilizer for my plants

Now that we have a little more clarity on what type of product we are going to buy, we can choose one fertilizer or another. But for this, we also need to ask ourselves what we are going to use the fertilizer for:

• If we mainly seek to boost the growth of a particular plant's leaves, we will choose a fertilizer composed mainly of Nitrogen (N).
• If we want a plant's roots to grow faster and its fruits and flowers to do the same, the product we need to choose is a phosphorus (P) rich fertilizer.
• If, on the other hand, we are looking for optimization of the plant's general functions, the fertilizer should be rich in potassium (K).

IMPORTANT ASPECTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE USING A CHEMICAL FERTILIZER

Chemical or conventional fertilizers are still a widely used product in agriculture. However, excessive use of these products can lead to these two main problems:

1. Environmental pollution: when we apply an excess of fertilizers to plants, it can contaminate the water resources we are using. This fact poses a threat to both animals that drink from these resources and plants that are feeding on the water from this garden or land.

2. Burns plants: if we overuse this product on our plants, the only thing we will achieve is stunted growth and burned foliage. In addition to these problems, the continuous use of chemical fertilizers also makes our crops more vulnerable to both pests and diseases.

Due to these reasons, it is important that if you decide to use chemical fertilizers, do not overuse this product and rigorously follow the package instructions.

Where to buy fertilizers for my plants?

In our online store, you will find a wide variety of fertilizers that can adapt to the specific needs of your plants. Among the brands we have, we highlight Osmocote products, which are controlled-release fertilizers for all types of plants.