To avoid these issues, don’t overdo it by applying too much, too often. Even natural fertilizers can be easily over-applied, leading to several different issues, including nutrient deficiencies, pH imbalance, and/or fertilizer “burn” (yes, even some natural fertilizers are capable of this). With granular products, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Many gardeners find they get the best results by fertilizing their containers with granular fertilizers two or three times throughout the growing season. These compressed granular fertilizers are formulated especially for tomatoes, peppers, and other fruiting crops and are pushed down into the soil around the base of the plant.įor the best results, add granular fertilizer to your containers according to the label instructions. Fertilizer spikes are an easy way to add fertilizer to your container garden. Some complete granular fertilizer blends are even tailored for specific crops, such as tomatoes or flowers or bulbs, and are labeled as such. All of these products have different formulations and compositions, so be sure to chose appropriately according to what plants you’re growing in your container garden. What makes them “complete” is that they contain a combination of ingredients that provides some amount of all three macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), in addition to many trace nutrients, vitamins, and other things. Most of these products combine assorted plant, manure, animal, and mineral-based ingredients, and depending on the brand, they may have an N-P-K ratio of 4-5-4 or 3-3-3 or something similar. There are dozens of different brands of complete granular fertilizer blends. This post is an excerpt from Container Gardening Complete by Jessica Walliser Complete Granular Fertilizers for Container Gardening When it comes to organic fertilizers for container gardening, you have two basic choices: granular or liquid.

Liquid fertilizers for vegetables