Fertilizing your plants and giving them extra “food” is key to having happy, healthy plants that give big harvests. Read this post to see what we use to fertilize our garden and fruit tree’s and learn a little more about the process as a whole.

WHAT ARE FERTILIZERS

A fertilizer is a type of nutrient for the soil. Here at Azure Farm we only use organic fertilizers. When you fertilize it helps the plants absorb those nutrients and take them down through the soil into the roots and up the plants. The result are not only beautiful plants but also delicious produce that is very healthy for you. There are many kinds of fertilizer. Some are only for specific plants and others work for a variety of plants.

WHAT MUST FERTILIZERS INCLUDE?

Fertilizers need a few key ingredients to be effective in nourishing your soil and feeding your plants. These ingredients are called macronutrients. They help feed your soil! These are called the NPK.

N- Nitorgen- Energizes the plant and promotes vegetable growth. It’s what gives you a nice green leaf. If your leaves are a light green or too dark then there’s an issue with the nitrogen in your soil.

P-Phosporus- Helps with growth and expansion. Aiding your

K- Potassium. A great help by keeping bugs away and helps the plants digest and

Other nutrients your fertilizer might include are calcium, sulfur and magnesium.

NOTE: Too much fertilizer can damage your plant so be sure the follow the recommended guidelines for it.

What do all the numbers mean anyway? A general-purpose fertilizer labeled 20-20-20 means that each element—N, P, and K—contributes 20 percent by weight to the total formula (the remaining 40 percent is composed of inert materials and trace elements).

WHAT TO FERTILIZE AND HOW OFTEN

We just fertiled our garden plants, fruit trees and blueberry patch. It’s good to fertilize about once per month during the growing season. Take into consideration that during high heat and also droughts the soil can be depleted and it’s good to fertilize again if you see a need.

Blueberry plants need the soil to be cidic in order to thrive. We use an all natural Acid Mix fertilizer for our blueberries.

HOW TO FERTILZE

Fertilizing can be easy and can be done quickly. Simply follow the instructions for the recommended amount of fertilizer . Most of the ones we use are a powder and require no mixing or liquid. Then rake back around your plant or tree to expose the soil. Sprinkle fertilizer like you’re sprinkling powdered sugar all around the base of the plant. Voila! You’re done!

One of the brands we have really used and loved is Down to Earth Fertilizer. Their products are natural and organic and they work! They offer a wide variety of options and are definitely ones we all use again. Below are just some of the favorite ones we use around our farm! Their bags and boxes are made of materials you can compost which is wonderful

CLICK ON IMAGE

I hope this has been helpful to you when it comes to fertilizing your garden. There is also an IGVT video with Jared explaining all about fertilizing and what we do!

Much Love,

Annette