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How to Choose Plant Fertilizer

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Uploaded by on Jun 15, 2009

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To grow beautiful flowers and plants in an outdoor garden, you need to feed your soil the right plant food -- a fertilizer that will help your plants thrive.

To complete this How-To you will need:

Soil test
Multipurpose plant food
Granular plant food
Water-soluble plant food
Slow-release plant food
Fertilizer spikes

Step 1: Test your soil to find out what nutrients it needs. Garden centers often sell do-it-yourself kits, or you can arrange a test through the Cooperative Extension System, a national agricultural network. Find a nearby Extension office on the USDA web site.

Step 2: Decide if you want to use organic fertilizer -- plant food found in nature, like manure, peat, or compost -- or fertilizer that contains synthetically manufactured nutrients. Organic fertilizer usually releases nutrients at a slower rate than synthetic.

Step 3: Consider a multipurpose fertilizer, generally the easiest to use. Its time-released nutrients cause plants to grow quickly, and the food can be used for almost all types of plants and bulbs.

Step 4: Consider granular plant food, which can be scattered on the surface of the soil and is an economical choice for larger garden beds.

Tip: Water the soil after using granular plant food, or the nutrients will not break down.

Step 5: Consider water-soluble plant food, which is mixed with water and then poured onto plants, allowing the plant to be fed through its roots. This type of plant fertilizer grows larger flowers and plants, and offers the fastest results.

Step 6: Consider slow-release plant food, which is easy to use and feeds slowly and steadily for three months up to a year. Dig a hole, add the fertilizer, and then plant your plant. Nutrients will vary depending on the type of plants you are cultivating.

Step 7: Consider fertilizer spikes, which are embedded into the soil and are best for fertilizing trees and shrubs. And now comes the easy part: admiring your beautiful plants!

Thanks for watching How To Choose Plant Fertilizer! If you enjoyed this video subscribe to the Howcast YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=howcast

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Top Comments

  • TOO MANY VIDEOS!!

    O_O;;

  • wow this must be one there best videos yet

see all

All Comments (26)

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  • people sniff this shit

  • Just shit on them.

  • This video is very good, but one thing is... why they show us the Soils Analysis Step since most of the people doesn't know how to interpret it? At the end... they recommend you to analyze your soil but they don't tell you what are you gonna do with the results... the true is that is kinda complicated to understand the results and then calculate the amount of fertilizer your soil need. Consider always using compost, it's natural and will never damage or contaminate your soils.

  • yes... definitely, but you might wanna let it compost it with the rest of the material you have until the smells disappear, otherwise you will be having bad smell coming from your garden... sure you don't want that.

  • yea

  • Hey guys can doggie doo doo be used as for compost?

  • It doesn't have to be that complex... really you just need some compost and/or Miracle grow and lots of water when you plant it in the ground [It encourages the roots to not be shocked and grow towards the water]

    Still, I love these videos. majority of them are very helpful.

  • BELLY BUTTONS!

  • beer? eww...

  • LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOL

    you just made my day xDDD

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