Which fertiliser will make my plants bloom?

Now the question is, have you ever treated your plants to a good feed? Possibly not, or if you have, was it the right one!

A lot of people will throw chicken pellets onto their shrubs and perennials by the handful, thinking, hoping for the desired effect of non-stop colour and flowers in abundance. However, you couldn’t be more wrong; it isn’t simply a case of throwing “fertiliser” on, you need to be using one with the right balance of nutrients.

All fertilisers have a certain balance of nutrients which all in turn encourage the plant to grow differently.

“N”(Nitrogen) encourages strong growth and gives the plant the get-up-and-go factor, making it grow quickly and look a lush green colour.

“P” (Phosphorus) helps the development of the plant to encourage roots and flowers.

“K” (Potassium) finally helps encourage the plant to flower and bear fruit where necessary.

All in all you need a small amount of nitrogen to ensure compact growth, a larger amount of phosphorus to make sure the plant can develop underground and clump up, then finally another large portion of potassium – or commonly known as Potash – which is the key to encouraging flowers.

Chicken pellets are very high in nitrogen and low in potassium, which explains why you get lots of leaves but very little flower! So the question must be, which fertiliser can give you all of this? There is only one answer in my book, and that is “VITAX Q4”.

It is a pellet-based feed which means it will last for five months and if applied now it will easily see the plant through the growing season from March to July by means of feed, and with it being pellet-based it can last for that time, instead of a liquid feed being washed away by the rain.

As mentioned, now is the ideal time to feed your shrubs and perennials and it must be done before a rain so as not to scorch any plants. Sprinkle it on a handful to the square yard and watch the difference.

Just now at the nursery it’s all hands on deck potting up, rowing out and dividing existing plants ready for spring. The weather certainly seems more promising when the sun shines, so it seems just around the corner. But remember, to get the most out of your garden investing in a good feed for your plants is a must, so treat the garden this spring to a good square meal of Vitax Q4.